EBEL, John

Family Name:

Ebel

Given Names:

John

Gender:

Male

Birth-date:

Unknown, possibly 1949

Death-date:

Unknown

Marital Status:

Unknown, probably single

Age Range:

Early 20s

Location:

VIC, North Caulfield

Occupation:

Unknown

Primary Motivation:

Draft Resister

Reason for Court Appearance:

Court Name and Location:

Court Hearing Date:

Court Outcome:

Military Event:

National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972

Further Information:

John Ebel was from North Caulfield, a suburb of Melbourne. He burnt his national service registration card on 3 July 1969. This was an offence under the National Service Act 1964 (NSA). He signed a ‘Declaration of Conscientious Non-Compliers with many other draft resisters at the May 1969 Conference of Non-Compliers. It declared in part that, We, the undersigned believe that the National Service Act is unjust and undemocratic. Some of us are opposed to coerced servitude of any nature. Others object to conscription as the machinery that is inflicting misery and destruction on the Vietnamese people. We declare that we cannot, in conscience, comply with any aspect of this Act. During 1969 John refused to attend the mandatory medical examination required under the NSA. It is likely he may have been summonsed to court for two offences under the Act which would have attracted a fine for each. They are a failure to register for national service and a failure to attend a medical examination. It is unknown what the future was for John. He may have continued his non-compliance, which is more likely, or he may have sought exemption as a conscientious objector, or he may have decided to undertake national service.

Confirmatory Sources:

Peacemaker, July/ August 1969, p.4; November/ December 1969, p.8; May/ June 1970, p.4.

Bobbie Oliver, Hell No! We Won’t Go! Resistance to Conscription in Post War Australia, Interventions, Melbourne, 2022, p.248.