Family Name:
Crosthwaite
Given Names:
James Matthew (Jim)
Gender:
Male
Birth-Date:
16 May 1951
Death-Date:
NA
Marital Status:
Single
Age:
20 years old
Location:
NSW, Armidale
Occupation:
University Student
Primary Motivation:
Conscientious objector, Pacifism -humanist, opposition to military conscription
Reason for Court/ Tribunal Appearance:
NA
Court/ Tribunal Name and Location:
NA
Court/ Tribunal Hearing Date:
NA
Court/Tribunal Outcome:
NA
Military Event:
National Service and Vietnam War 1964-1972
Further Information:
James Crosthwaite was a 20-year-old originally from north-east Victoria. His father was a farmer and his mother a schoolteacher. His father was secretary of the local branch of the Country Party. Jim attended Tallangatta High School for three years, and then went to Ivanhoe Grammar from 1966 to 1968. His pacifist and anti-war beliefs began forming during this period.
Jim commented that, The Ivanhoe school culture was rapidly changing in the mid-1960s. Teachers were challenged in geography, history and even English classes. Daily TV news broadcasts about the Vietnam War, including the My Lai massacre in March 1968, were discussed in and out of the classroom. The curriculum included Alan Seymour’s play One Day of the Year about contested attitudes to Anzac Day. Older students had a big influence and included prominent historian Peter Cochrane who along with Fergus Robinson went from Ivanhoe to form part of a radical cohort at LaTrobe University.
Jim undertook studies in Agricultural Economics at the University of New England in Armidale (UNE) 1969-1972, followed by a year of Coursework Masters in 1973 He was a pacifist opposed to war and an opponent of military conscription under the National Service Act 1964 (NSA). In early 1971, he registered under the NSA, he was balloted in for the first military conscription intake of 1971. He then applied for deferment of call-up so he could continue his university studies on 26 August 1971. He refused to attend the mandatary medical including an X-ray on 24 October 1972.
His thinking on conscription and the Vietnam War was influenced and clarified by the humanist academics at the UNE. He was a member of the NSW Humanists for a few years. Jim stated that, I was a young country farm kid studying agricultural economics at a conservative university (UNE) in a small town. Knowing that I had to register, knowing that my birthdate would be in a ballot, etc. It was tough dealing with this. Deciding to become a C.O. was then not easy in that beer-drinking macho culture. We simply didn’t have the radical culture of the big city universities. Staff in humanities faculty at UNE, some of whom were members of Humanists NSW, gave me great advice, support and reading material. From then on, I was increasingly radicalised…
Jim was not prosecuted for his refusal to attend the mandatory medical examination. Also, he never appeared before a court to argue he should be registered as a conscientious objector because after the election of the Whitlam Government on 6 December 1972 the NSA was suspended.
In later life Jim worked at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, then the Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands before becoming a teacher of the Alexander technique.
Confirmatory Sources:
Personal Interview, James Matthew Crosthwaite, October 2024 and the SAM legacy for Jim Crosthwaite 50 years on, authored by himself.
National Service Department, Acknowledgement of Application to be Registered as a Conscientious Objector, 21 March 1971.
National Service Department, Submission for X-Ray Examination, 24 October 1972.
THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE HONOUR ROLL 