Family Name:
Clarkson
Given Names:
Stanley Reginald
Gender:
Male
Birth-Date:
Unknown, possibly 1938
Death-Date:
Unknown
Marital Status:
Unknown, probably single
Age:
18 years old
Location:
NSW, Pagewood
Occupation:
Unknown
Primary Motivation:
Draft Resister, religious
Reason for Court Appearance:
Failure to obey a call-up notice
Court Name and Location:
Magistrates Court, Sydney
Court Hearing Date:
27 June 1956
Court Outcome:
Fined £25 plus £3/2/- costs and committed to army custody
Military Event:
National Service 1951-1959
Further Information:
Stanley Clarkson was from Pagewood a suburb of Sydney and was a Christian by religion. He appeared before Magistrate J McCauley in Sydney as did another Malcolm Edward Morgan on the same day. He adopted a response to the National Service Act 1951 (NSA) as conscientious non-compliance. He told the magistrate, no matter what the Court or the Army did to him he would refuse to do National Service training. Stanley pleaded guilty to a charge of having failed to comply with a National Service call-up notice on 4 January 1956. He was fined £25 plus £3/2/- costs and committed him to army custody. Stanley had sent a letter to the Department of Labour and National Service informing it that he objected to all forms of military training. He later told an officer; my beliefs prevent me from taking up arms or anything to do with war. It is for me to say what I do, not them. He informed the magistrate, If I am told to do the training, I just won’t do it. Magistrate McCauley in imposing the fine said, One respects every man’s religious beliefs…But the law lays down certain obligations on all of us as citizens. A heavy penalty is provided, and I do not feel happy to inflict penalties in these circumstances. But you must abide by the law. It is unknown what the future fate was for Stanley, but he appears resolute in his non-compliance with the NSA.
Confirmatory Sources:
Bobbie Oliver, Hell No! We Won’t Go! Resistance to Conscription in Post War Australia, Interventions, Melbourne, 2022, p.217.
Peacemaker July 1956, p.2.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 