YEO, Victor

Family Name:

Yeo

Given Names:

Victor

Gender:

Male

Birth-Date:

1898

Death-Date:

Unknown

Marital Status:

Single

Age:

14 Years old

Location:

SA, Broken Hill

Occupation:

Unknown

Primary Motivation:

Conscientious objector, opposition to conscription

Reason for Court Appearance:

[1] Failure to attend the medical examination

[2] Failure to attend the medical examination

[3] Failure to attend the medical examination

Court Name and Location:

[1] Magistrates Court, Broken Hill

[2] Magistrates Court, Broken Hill

[3] Magistrates Court, Broken Hill

Court Hearing Date:

[1] 15 November 1912

[2] Late August 1913

[3] Late August 1913

Court Outcome:

[1] Convicted and fined £12 in lieu of a 2 months jail sentence

[2] Convicted on the same charge and sentenced to 1 months jail

[3] Prosecuting officer failed to appear at court, case dismissed

Military Event:

Boy Conscription 1911-1929

Further Information:

Victor Yeo from Broken Hill in South Australia, refused to register for compulsory military training under the Defence Act (DA) He was convicted and imprisoned on two occasions. His older brother Vivian was convicted and imprisoned for the same offence. His father was described as, a thoroughly respectable well-read man…opposed to war on humanitarian and economic grounds and is strongly opposed to the ‘oath of allegiance’ in the present Act. Many years ago he himself served for four years as an artillery-man, but he says that if he had to take the oath again or be shot, they might shoot him.

Victor was 14 years old when charged at Broken Hill on 15 November 1912 for failing to attend the mandatory medical examination under the DA. Victor was described as being ‘manly and straight-forward, with nothing of the larrikin about him. He was convicted and fined £12, but refused to pay it so he was incarcerated for 2 months from January 1913..He was released early in August 1913. On his release from jail Victor remarked humorously that he knew now how little a pound of bread was . Victor was strong in his conscientious beliefs and he refused to allow his father pay any fine on his behalf. He displayed courage and loyalty to his family, and socialist convictions.

Victor was charged in late August 1913 and convicted and sentenced to 1 months jail. During his incarceration he knitted socks but spent time on a bread and water diet. He was confined to his cell except for two hours of the day. Soon after his release he was brought before the courts again. The prosecuting officer did not attend the court because of the publicity to Victors case. and the unpopularity of his continued prosecution. The authorities did not pursue Victor after that.

In a letter to the Editor of the South Australian Advertiser, in October 1913, Sydney Patridge was most concerned about the poor diet of bread and water served to Victor during his military incarceration. He also expressed concern about the risk of dying. He concludes with the words, It is therefore a piece of cruel tyranny, which is an astounding anomaly for this century and this country, If all our young Australians possess Victor Yeo’s pluck and stamina there will not be much need of ‘training’ if ever they should be called upon to go to war. Another unnamed writer to the editor expressed outrage at the persecution of ‘Master Victor Yeo”. He wrote, It seems incredible that treatment hitherto prescribed for only the most incorrigible criminals should be meted out to a defenseless boy whose only fault is that he and his parents object to a course oof military training…The aims of the Defence Act seem to be to crush out the pride of independence, which is so notable a feature of Australian youth, and reduce Australia’s coming manhood to a condition of abject servility to the military.

Confirmatory Sources:

John Barret, Falling In: Australians and “Boy Conscription”1911-1915, Hale & Iremonger, Sydney, 1979, pp.177-178, 199, 214, 238 and 254.

Bobbie Oliver, Peacemongers: Conscientious objectors to military service in Australia 1911-1945, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1997, pp. 24 and 27.

Advertiser, 3 October 1913, p.6.