INGLE, Herbert Ambrose

Family Name:

Ingle

Given Names:

Herbert Ambrose

Gender:

Male

Birth-Date:

4 August 1897

Death-Date:

Unknown

Marital Status:

Single

Age:

15 years old

Location:

SA, Adelaide

Occupation:

Unknown

Primary Motivation:

Conscientious objector, pacifist-religious, opposition to military conscription

Reason for Court Appearance:

Failure to register for compulsory military training and refusal to drill

Court Name and Location:

Magistrates Court, Adelaide

Court Hearing Date:

December 1913

Court Outcome:

Convicted and imprisoned for 15 days

Military Event:

Boy Conscription 1911-1929

Further Information:

Herbert Ingle and his family emigrated to Australia from Scarborough in the United Kingdom to Adeliade, South Australia. They were Quakers. Herbert was 15 years old. He was mandated to register for military training under the Defence Act (DA). His Quaker conscience did not permit it. His father, William Ingle, refused to ensure his son registered for compulsory military training. Herbert wrote a letter to Captain Hutchinson the area officer for Magill where Herbert was located. The letter was almost certainly heavily under the influence of his father. He stated, In answer to your letter requesting me to drill, you never enclosed forms. Seeing you have registered me against my father’s and my wish, I thought you would have been manly enough to fought against a man instead of a boy, for that is only what I am – 15 years old, August 4 – only 3 years older than Christ was when he chose to do our Heavenly Father’s will, and I am just as prepared as He was not to stand in my own strength, but to stand with God against this Military Act. After a passive insult about manliness, Herbert continues to challenge the authority of Captain Hutchinson. He continues, I wish you to let it be a fight to the finish, and test whether the military power or the power of God within is the strongest. Only one request, and that is that I am treated with the same respect and food equal to a man sentenced for murder. For what I read of the treatment of boys in New Zealand, I think they are being treated worse than many a murderer. So I shall be pleased if you take proceedings at once, as I refuse to acknowledge the Act in any way whatsoever.

The authorities took proceedings against Herbert, and he was summonsed to court for refusing to drill. During December 1913 he was convicted and sentenced to 15 days imprisonment at Fort Lags. He was moved to Fort Glanville after Herbert refused to co-operate to be put in solitary confinement, stale bread, unsweetened tea and was threatened with a beating. Perhaps murderers were better treated. The military denied that Herbert was beaten or threatened with a beating. Major Brand said, An officers word and honor is as good as a Quaker’s any day. Other cadets claimed that he was threatened with a beating. Later no doubt under pressure some retracted their statements. Herbert made a statutory declaration that he was threatened with corporal punishment by Captain Page. His father William, said of the military inquiry, Enquiries held at camps and forts are almost useless if intended to give a fair show to the trainees, and the public an insight into, the conditions of the training. The enquires should take place in public, at a place easily accessible to the public , and be conducted by the civil authority, with reporters present…Three slices of bread a day is starvation, and solitary confinement in a cell in acute mental agony….It is no punishment for lads of tender years, and least of all for such as are simply standing by their conscience.

It appears Major Brand flogged at least two boys 0ne at Sydney Grammar School, and another elsewhere, and justified it by stating that the boys preferred the flogging to paying a fine.

Herberts father, William, was summonsed to court and fined £1/10/-, in lieu 14 days in prison for not ensuring Herbert drilled. William refused to pay the fine and was sentenced to imprisonment. He was also imprisoned a second time for continued non-compliance with the Defence Act. After serving their imprisonment terms the Ingle family returned to Scarborough, no doubt disappointed with their Australian experience

Confirmatory Sources:

John Barrett, Falling In: Australians and ‘Boy Conscription” 1911-1915, Hale & Iremonger, Sydney, 1979, pp.111, 172, 175,182 and 195.

Bobbie Oliver, Peacemongers: Conscientious objectors to military service in

Australia 1911-1945, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1997, pp. 23-27.

Advertiser, 9 February 1914, p.16; 10 February 1914, p.11; 27 May 1914, p.7; 2 June 1914. p.7.

Mail, 13 December 1913, p.6

Register, 13 December 1913, p.19.