Family Name:
Saxton
Given Names:
Gordon Richard
Gender:
Male
Birth-date:
1946
Death-date:
Unknown
Marital Status:
Unknown probably single
Age:
21 years old
Location:
SA, Sandwell
Occupation:
Boiler Maker
Primary Motivation:
Draft Resister-Conscientious Objector
Reason for Court Appearance:
[1] Application for total exemption from military duties
[2] Refusal to obey a call-up notice
Court Name and Location:
[1] Magistrates Court, Port Augusta
[2] Unknown, South Australia
Court Hearing Date:
[1] 19 June 1967
[2] 13 July 1967
Court Outcome:
[1] Granted exemption from combatant duties only
[2] legal action pending
Military Event:
National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972
Further Information:
Gordon Saxton was from Sandwell, a suburb of Adelaide. He applied for total exemption from military duties as a conscientious objector under the National Service Act 1964 (NSA). On 4 June 1967, at a meeting in Adelaide, organized by the Society of Friends, Gordon stated that, he refused to be conscripted and would continue to do so even if he lost his personal liberty. On 19 June 1967, Magistrate Newman at the Port Augusta Magistrates Court Granted Gordon exemption from combatant military duties only. He may have made a second application but that too was dismissed. However, Gordon was issued with a call-up notice to report to the army on 13 July 1967. He along with another, Barry Starkey, failed to report on the same day. Gordon said, his conscientious beliefs had changed since an earlier application for exemption at Port Augusta had been dismissed…had changed vegetarian views, and now ate meat, but he still felt it wrong to take life. An Army spokesperson said the objectors had been included in an intake which had to report today. The Commonwealth Crown Solicitor would be notified of the position. The usual procedure is for legal action to be taken against the men to commit them to the Army. It is unknown if Gordon was prosecuted or entered the army to perform non-combatant duties.
Confirmatory Sources:
Peacemaker, July/ August 1968, p.2.
Canberra Times, 14 July 1967, p.3.
Bobbie Oliver, HELL NO! We Won’t Go! Resistance to Conscription in Post War Australia, Interventions, Melbourne, 2022, p.260.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 