PUNISHMENT/DISCIPLINE
The military authorities believed that if objection was made too easy then the war effort would suffer, therefore punishment was considered important and necessary for those who objected. As exemption was only granted on limited grounds, only 73 objectors had been offered exemption and 273 were imprisoned for refusing to serve. Ordinary punishment for objectors included imprisonment, fines and hard labour. All of those imprisoned faced tough punishment methods which were designed to break their resolve and ultimately get objectors to submit. Conditions in prison were harsh for objectors, where conversation was forbidden and more 'difficult' prisoners were sent to solitary confinement. At the Wanganui Detention Barracks, Lieutenant James William Crampton had brutal disciplinary measures, where he named the prison yard the "slaughter yard". Those who refused to wear uniform were held tightly and forcibly dressed. Those who refused to drill were pushed, pulled, kicked and punched. A few were dragged with rope around their necks and pushed into walls until they were grazed and bloodied. Those who didn't break after a month's imprisonment were court martialled at Trentham and sentenced to anything between 11 and 24 months' hard labour. Hard labour included work in the quarries, which caused extreme pain and was considered 'back-breaking'. 2600 conscientious objectors lost their civil rights, including being denied voting rights for 10 years and being barred from working for government or local bodies.
There was a change in government policy in 1917, where those who still refused were sent to the war as soldiers after their sentences had been completed.
The military authorities believed that if objection was made too easy then the war effort would suffer, therefore punishment was considered important and necessary for those who objected. As exemption was only granted on limited grounds, only 73 objectors had been offered exemption and 273 were imprisoned for refusing to serve. Ordinary punishment for objectors included imprisonment, fines and hard labour. All of those imprisoned faced tough punishment methods which were designed to break their resolve and ultimately get objectors to submit. Conditions in prison were harsh for objectors, where conversation was forbidden and more 'difficult' prisoners were sent to solitary confinement. At the Wanganui Detention Barracks, Lieutenant James William Crampton had brutal disciplinary measures, where he named the prison yard the "slaughter yard". Those who refused to wear uniform were held tightly and forcibly dressed. Those who refused to drill were pushed, pulled, kicked and punched. A few were dragged with rope around their necks and pushed into walls until they were grazed and bloodied. Those who didn't break after a month's imprisonment were court martialled at Trentham and sentenced to anything between 11 and 24 months' hard labour. Hard labour included work in the quarries, which caused extreme pain and was considered 'back-breaking'. 2600 conscientious objectors lost their civil rights, including being denied voting rights for 10 years and being barred from working for government or local bodies.
There was a change in government policy in 1917, where those who still refused were sent to the war as soldiers after their sentences had been completed.
THE FOURTEEN MEN SENT TO EUROPE
More punitive measures of punishment occurred when James Allen decided that fourteen conscientious objectors from New Zealand were to be sent to the Western Front as normal soldiers. There were 188 conscientious objectors doing hard labour in prison or prison camps where a change of policy was needed to deter further objectors. In 1917 James Allen decided that fourteen conscientious objectors from New Zealand were to be sent to the Western Front as normal soldiers, where they were subjected to pressure and punishment in order to make them agree to fight in WWI. These objectors were religious, socialist or pacifist objectors, who were unwillingly and unknowingly forced onto the Waitemata boat, which was set for France. They were mistreated while onboard the boat, where they were forcibly stripped, placed in uniform and subjected to haircuts. They were held at Étaples and Dunkerque in France and in Belgium near Ypres at Oudredoum and 'Mud Farm'. General Richardson, commander of the NZEF believed that firm treatment was necessary. He ruled that objectors should be separated, given detention, given field punishment, and sent to the trenches ‘even if they had to be carried on stretchers’. The punitive measures were enforced to attempt to break the will of the objectors and get them to submit to help the war effort. Most refused to obey orders and were sentenced to 28-days detention consisting of solitary confinement, forced dressing, handcuffing, bread and water diet as well as verbal and physical pressure to submit. This treatment was sufficient to gain the submission of three of the fourteen. Some were far more defiant and their will was not broken by this treatment. Non-cooperation was a way for conscientious objectors to continue to protest against war while in military detention. At Etaples Base, it was Colonel Mitchell’s task to make the conscientious objectors submit. Threats that they would ‘inevitably be shot’ were common. The remaining objectors were subjected to more extreme punishment. They were threatened with the death penalty, but were instead subjected to prison time, which punished but also tried to break the will of the objectors. The prisoners were permanently cold and hungry, denied underclothing and were forced to work from 6am, where illness was common. The objectors refused to work and were punished with solitary confinement, bread and water diet and shot drill, causing agonizing pain. A few then agreed to non-combatant work as stretcher-bearers. Prison did not break them but did compromise their objective to never submit. Archibald Baxter, Mark Briggs, Henry Patton and Lawrence Kirwin continued to refuse through the punishments and were subjected to Field Punishment No.1. This is where the men were tied to a post in the open with their hands tightly bound behind their backs and their knees and feet bound near the front line, however the rules around the punishment were widely ignored at the compound which was far from officials. Unable to get the men to change their minds, they were sent to the front line trenches. Briggs refused to walk and was dragged across the duck board. They were all regularly beaten. Baxter and Briggs were the only two remaining objectors who did not submit, but were practically tortured in the process.
Below is a papers past article that explains from first hand accounts the treatment that the fourteen men were punished with.
More punitive measures of punishment occurred when James Allen decided that fourteen conscientious objectors from New Zealand were to be sent to the Western Front as normal soldiers. There were 188 conscientious objectors doing hard labour in prison or prison camps where a change of policy was needed to deter further objectors. In 1917 James Allen decided that fourteen conscientious objectors from New Zealand were to be sent to the Western Front as normal soldiers, where they were subjected to pressure and punishment in order to make them agree to fight in WWI. These objectors were religious, socialist or pacifist objectors, who were unwillingly and unknowingly forced onto the Waitemata boat, which was set for France. They were mistreated while onboard the boat, where they were forcibly stripped, placed in uniform and subjected to haircuts. They were held at Étaples and Dunkerque in France and in Belgium near Ypres at Oudredoum and 'Mud Farm'. General Richardson, commander of the NZEF believed that firm treatment was necessary. He ruled that objectors should be separated, given detention, given field punishment, and sent to the trenches ‘even if they had to be carried on stretchers’. The punitive measures were enforced to attempt to break the will of the objectors and get them to submit to help the war effort. Most refused to obey orders and were sentenced to 28-days detention consisting of solitary confinement, forced dressing, handcuffing, bread and water diet as well as verbal and physical pressure to submit. This treatment was sufficient to gain the submission of three of the fourteen. Some were far more defiant and their will was not broken by this treatment. Non-cooperation was a way for conscientious objectors to continue to protest against war while in military detention. At Etaples Base, it was Colonel Mitchell’s task to make the conscientious objectors submit. Threats that they would ‘inevitably be shot’ were common. The remaining objectors were subjected to more extreme punishment. They were threatened with the death penalty, but were instead subjected to prison time, which punished but also tried to break the will of the objectors. The prisoners were permanently cold and hungry, denied underclothing and were forced to work from 6am, where illness was common. The objectors refused to work and were punished with solitary confinement, bread and water diet and shot drill, causing agonizing pain. A few then agreed to non-combatant work as stretcher-bearers. Prison did not break them but did compromise their objective to never submit. Archibald Baxter, Mark Briggs, Henry Patton and Lawrence Kirwin continued to refuse through the punishments and were subjected to Field Punishment No.1. This is where the men were tied to a post in the open with their hands tightly bound behind their backs and their knees and feet bound near the front line, however the rules around the punishment were widely ignored at the compound which was far from officials. Unable to get the men to change their minds, they were sent to the front line trenches. Briggs refused to walk and was dragged across the duck board. They were all regularly beaten. Baxter and Briggs were the only two remaining objectors who did not submit, but were practically tortured in the process.
Below is a papers past article that explains from first hand accounts the treatment that the fourteen men were punished with.
papers_past_—_maoriland_worker_—_30_january_1918_—_n.z._conscientious_objectors..webarchive | |
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