Family Name:
Wrigley
Given Names:
Kenneth William
Gender:
Male
Birth-Date:
Unknown, possibly 1933
Death-Date:
Unknown
Marital Status:
Unknown, probably single
Age:
19 years of age
Location:
QLD, Brisbane
Occupation:
Student
Primary Motivation:
Conscientious Objector, religious
Reason for Court Appearance:
Application for total exemption from military duties as a conscientious objector
Court Name and Location:
Magistrates Court, Brisbane
Court Hearing Date:
13 September 1953
Court Outcome:
Application was granted
Military Event:
National Service 1951-1959
Further Information:
Kenneth Wrigley was from Brisbane in Queensland and was a student. He was granted exemption from further non-combatant training under the National Service Act 1951 (NSA) on the 13 September 1953 by Magistrate McKenna of the Brisbane Magistrates Court. Kenneth gave evidence that he was a Methodist when he entered the RAAF for training in December 1951. Training for students such as Kenneth, is split in two periods of 88 days each. During the second half of 1952 he came to the conclusion that the Jehovah’s Witness doctrine was the true one. He stated, his objection to national service training was that the scriptures forbade anything to do with warfare. The oath of allegiance he had taken when he entered the R.A.A.F. had been taken in ignorance, before becoming a member of the Watch Tower Society, he added. Magistrate McKenna granted Kenneth total exemption from military duties under the NSA.
Confirmatory Sources:
Peacemaker, November 1953, p.2.
Bobbie Oliver, Hell No! We Won’t GO! Resistance to Conscription in Post War Australia, Interventions, Melbourne, 2022, pp. 32-33 and 239.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 