Women, Conscription, War

Some basic information about the issues discussed across this entire podcast series. Transcript.

A lottery barrel used to select the birthdays of men who registered for National Service; men whose birthdays were drawn out were required to attend a medical and then, if fit, to complete military training. Photograph c/ The National Vietnam Veterans Museum, Phillip Island

A history of National Service in Australia:

• Pre World War 1: compulsory military training for males between 12 and 26 years old; didn’t include service overseas.

• World War 1, the government tried to introduce overseas service, but plebiscites held in 1916 and 1917 saw the Australian population reject the idea of conscription.

• Compulsory training was ended in 1929.

• At the start of World War 2, compulsory military training was reintroduced for service within Australia.

• In 1943, the federal government expanded the definition of Australia to include New Guinea, then under Australian mandate - so men could be sent there as part of that compulsory military service.

• Compulsory training discontinued after World War Two.

• Compulsory training revived again in 1951 and discontinued again in 1959.

• 1964: the Liberal (conservative) government of Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies introduced National Service for military training within Australia.

• 1965: national servicemen may now be sent overseas.

What the National Service Act required:

• Every 20 year old Australian man  legally required to register for national service (the legal voting age was 21).

• Birth dates were chosen as marbles from a lottery barrel, a few times a year

• Deferment, exemption, and conscientious objector status all legally possible.

Over 15,000 national servicemen served in the Vietnam War, 200 being killed and 1,279 wounded. National Service was abolished by the new Labor government under Gough Whitlam in December 1972.

(With thanks to The Australian War Memorial, “Conscription”, last accessed 13 July 2023.)

The Vietnam War

• The first Australians arrived in South Vietnam in 1962, as military advisers.

• 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, arrived in South Vietnam in June 1965.

• Australia started winding back its involvement in late 1970.

• Many troops withdrawn in 1971 (under the Liberal government of John Gorton).

• Australian combat troops completely out of Vietnam by December 1972.

• Australia officially out of combat in January 1973.

During Australia’s involvement, 60,000 Australians served in the war, with 521 being killed and over 3000 wounded.

(With thanks to The Australian War Memorial, “Vietnam War 1962-75”, last accessed 13 July 2023.)

By-law 418

• A Melbourne City Council statute that prohibited the distribution of leaflets without a permit.

• Prior to the mid 1960s this by-law was largely ignored.

• Using this by-law, many people distributing political pamphlets were arrested and given fines for their actions.

• Protestors argued that their right to freedom of speech was being impinged.

• By-law repealed in April 1969.

(See Roger Sanders and John Hamilton, “From the Archives, 1969: Archaic Melbourne pamphlet by-law repealed,” The Age 8 April 2021.)

Transcript.

Who you hear in this episode, in order:

Lyn Hovey (b. 1950) * Ceci Cairns (b. 1944) * Faye Findlay (b. 1950) * Melita Alford (b. 1953) * Marion Harper (b. 1932) * Andra Jackson (b. 1948) * Janet McCalman (b. 1948) * Joan Coxsedge (b. 1931) * Anne Sgro (b. 1943) * Jean McLean (b. 1943) * Carol Goldson (b. 1937) * Judith Buckrich (b. 1950) * Marion Harper (b. 1932) * Kay Setches (b. 1944) * Sandra Goldbloom Zurbo (b. 1943) * Jill Reichstein (b. 1949) * Jean McLean (b. 1934) * Jane Stewart (b. 1950) * Alva Geikie (b. 1936) * Joan Coxsedge (b. 1931) * Caroline Hogg (b. 1942) * Kelley Johnson (b. 1947) * Sherryl Garbutt (b. 1948) * Jane Stewart (b. 1950)

Image is from Ross Campbell (dir.), As Long As I can Walk, 1971. The documentary, about the third moratorium against the Vietnam War which was held in September 1971, can be viewed here. Used with permission.

Transcript

Who you hear in this episode, in order:

Jean McLean (b. 1934) * Tony Dalton (b. 1948) * Ceci Cairns (b. 1944) * Joan Coxsedge (b. 1931) * Ceci Cairns (b. 1944) * Joan Coxsedge (b. 1931) * Fiona Lindsay (b. 1950) * Frances Newell (b. 1948) * Diana Crunden (b. 1948) * Martha Kinsman (b. 1947) * Andra Jackson (b. 1948) * Jean McLean (b. 1934)

Image is from Ross Campbell (dir.), As Long As I can Walk, 1971. The documentary, about the third moratorium against the Vietnam War which was held in September 1971, can be viewed here. Used with permission. The woman in the photo is Jean McLean.

Image from “A tip worth a heavy plunge,” The Tribune, 15 November 1967, p3. Used with permission of SEARCH Foundation. The two women are Jean McLean and Ceci Cairns, at the Melbourne Cup.

Image from Rebecca McLean (dir.). Save Our Sons. S.O.S Pictures, 1996. It can be viewed here and is highly recommended. Used with permission. Jean McLean is the woman wearing sunglasses; this is during her time in North Vietnam.

Bibliography:

Primary sources

• Dalton collection. Political Ephemera relating to Save Our Sons, 1965-1968. Held at the State Library of Victoria.

• Mary Sticklan to Miss Abraham, letter, 14 November 1965.

• Miller, Irene (compiler). Save Our Sons papers: manuscripts, typescript, printed, photographs, postcards 1966-1973. Held at the State Library of Victoria.

• Various authors, telegrams of support, Box 1/2.

• Letters to Mothers Clubs, Box 1/4.

• Irene Miller, notes for a speech (?), Box 1/5.

• Irene Miller, “Why I was willing to go as far as prison,” Box 1/5.

• University of Melbourne Archives. Papers of Alvie Booth. University of Melbourne, Baillieu Library Special Collections: 2016-04-01T11:17:53Z

• SOS newsletter, April 1969.

• SOS newsletter, April 1970

• A Victorian correspondent. “The stirring saga of the "Fairlea Five’.” Tribune, 21 April 1971: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/237868449.

Secondary sources

• Armstrong, Pauline. A History of the Save Our Sons Movement of Victoria: 1965-1973. Master’s thesis, Monash University, 1991.

• Collins, Carolyn. Save Our Sons: Women, Dissent and Conscription during the Vietnam War. Melbourne: Monash University Press, 2021.

• Francis, Rosemary. “Women in protest movements: the Women's Peace Army and the Save Our Sons Movement.” Hons thesis, The University of Melbourne, 1984.

• Gibson, Ralph. One Woman’s Life: a memoir of Dorothy Gibson. Sydney: Hale and Iremonger, 1980.

• McLean, Rebecca (dir.). Save Our Sons. S.O.S Pictures, 1996.

Transcript.

Who you hear in this episode, in order:

Elisabeth Jackson (b. 1950) *

Julie Stafford (b. 1954) *

Liz Porter (b. 1951) *

Janet McCalman (b. 1948) *

Viven Santer (b. 1949) *

Jill Reichstein (b. 1949) *

Fiona Lindsay (b. 1950) *

Gwen Goedecke (c/ her daughter Pauline Jones)

Image courtesy of Museums Victoria Collections: https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/268769
Accessed 27 July 2023.

YCAC stood for Youth Campaign Against Conscription.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Baker, Ian. “Anti-war campaign hits school.” The Age, 18 April 1970.

• University of Melbourne Archives. Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament. University of Melbourne, Baillieu Library Special Collections: Unit 48, 2012.0286.0028 6-7.

• Handwritten note from C. Landis (?), “Chairman of MacRob Moratorium Committee”.

• Various authors. Pallas. MacRobertson Girls’ High School. 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1969.

• Various authors. Silver and Green. Methodist Ladies College. 1966 and 1968.

• Various authors. Patchwork. Presbyterian Ladies College. 1966 and 1971.

Secondary sources

• Carolan, Jane. A Row of Goodly Pearls: one hundred and twenty-five years of Loreto in Melbourne. Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 2014.

(and a brief mention of RMIT and Swinburne Technical College)

Transcript

Who you hear in this episode, in order:

Sue McCulloch (b. 1949) *

Frances Newell (b. 1948) *

Diana Crunden (b. 1948) *

Erika Feller (b. 1949) *

Elisabeth Jackson (b. 1950) *

Frances Newell (b. 1948) *

Sue McCulloch (b. 1949) *

Erika Feller (b. 1949) *

Diana Crunden (b. 1948)

Image from Museums Victoria: https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/268768.

Accessed 27 July 2023.

Some students at the University of Melbourne were involved with “Students for a Democratic Society.”

Possibly the weirdest story I’ve come across in all my research.

I don’t know whether any women were involved in it, and I don’t even know if it’s real or a wind-up.

In 1966, the October 21st edition of Farrago (the Melbourne University student paper) featured a headline screaming “LBJ Assassination: Student Attempt exposed”. That’s bizarre enough, but the really weird thing is the claim that the assassination was going to happen by way of an “intense radio-thorium source” that would apparently deliver “a fatal dose … to anyone in a slowly-moving vehicle near the centre of the road.” It was apparently all uncovered because of a road fatality.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Catalyst (RMIT student paper):

• No author, “Commonwealth Building’s Sit-in,” 1 May 1968, p2.

• No author, “Moratorium,” 20 April 1970, p6.

• Scrag (Swinburne student paper):

• Margaret Haste, “Turning a blind eye” letter, 7 May 1970, p4.

• No author, 11 March 1971, pp5-6.

• Farrago (University of Melbourne student paper):

• No author. “Conscription Referendum.” 22 April 1966.

• No author. “SRC Acts of Vietnam Poll Results.” 23 Sept 1966.

• No author. “500 Protest on Conscripts.” 7 October 1966.

• Garrie Hutchinson. “The Continuing Story of Civil Disobedience.” 3 May 1968.

• No author. “Awaiting this Call.” 14 March 1969.

• Nine signatories. Letter to the editor about by-law 418. 14 March 1969.

• Helen Clark. “NLF Policy.” 9 May 1969.

• Erika Feller. “Feller at the demo.” 11 July 1969.

• “Draft signatories.” 6 October 1969.

• Several authors. Vox populi. 24 April 1970.

• No author. “City Anti-Draft Demonstration.” 17 July 1970.

• Frances Newell. “Australian Anti-War Students in Saigon.” 17 July 1970.

• No photographer listed. Images, “Vietnam Moratorium.” 25 September 1970.

• No author. “Police Vandalism Raid.” 30 September 1971.

• University of Melbourne Archives. Records of the Melbourne University War Resisters International. University of Melbourne, Baillieu Library Special Collections: 1974.0004.

Transcript

Who you hear in this episode, in order:

Jan Muller (b. 1949) *

Deborah Towns (b. 1949) *

Fiona Lindsay (b. 1950)

*

Jane Stewart (b. 1950) *

Deborah Towns (b. 1949) *

Jan Muller (b.1949) *

Deborah Towns (b.1949) *

Jane Stewart (b. 1950) *

Fiona Lindsay (b. 1950) *

Deborah Towns (b. 1949) *

Jane Stewart (b. 1950)

Image c/ Barry York. Used with permission. This pamphlet was published after the so-called “Waterdale Road massacre,” or Waterdale Road marches, in September 1970.

Bibliography:

Primary sources

Rabelais:

• Watts, Robert, David Muller, Grant Evans, Fiona Lindsay, Beryl Cousland, Peter Dan, Michael Constable. Letter to the editor. 17 June 1968.

• Guthrie, Ailsa. “NS & Non-Violence” letter to the editor. 19 September 1969.

• Academic and non-academic staff. “Moratorium.” 30 April 1970.

• York, Barry and Jill Jolliffe. “July 4: Two Views.” 15 July 1970.

Secondary sources

• York, Barry. “Asserting the right to protest: the Waterdale Road marches.” Museum of Australian Democracy blog, 11 September 2020. (Last accessed 13 July 2023.)

• York, Barry. “Fifty years ago – gaolings, resistance and a win.” C21st Left, 20 August 2022. (Last accessed 13 July 2023.)

Further information on La Trobe University activities: Barry York, Student Revolt! La Trobe University 1967-73.

Transcript

Who you hear in this episode, in order:

Jeni Thornley (b. 1948) *

Christine Ross (b. 1948) *

Kerry Langer (b. 1949) *

Judith Buckrich (b. 1950) *

Kaye Lovett (b. 1947) *

Helen McCulloch (b. ?) *

Kaye Lovett (b. 1947) *

Judith Buckrich (b. 1950) *

Kerry Langer (b. 1949) *

Andra Jackson (b. 1948) *

Shirley Winton (b. 1948) *

Kerry Langer (b. 1949) *

Martha Kinsman (b. 1947) *

Andra Jackson (b. 1948) *

Liz Aird (b. 1946) *

Shirley Winton  (b. 1948)

Image c/ Ken Mansell ephemera collection. Used with permission.

Image c/ Ken Mansell ephemera collection. Used with permission.

Bibliography:

Primary sources

Lot’s Wife:

• Minahan, Kay. “Defending the Teach-In: a letter.” 5 September 1967.

• Leitch, Catharine. Letter to the editor. 26 September 1967.

• Simmons, V. Letter to the editor. 26 September 1967.

• Fletcher, Helen and John Price. “Street-corner stirring.” 23 April 1968.

• Rogers, Shane, Kevin Fell, Glen Alsop, Margaret Indian. “A better impression” letter to the editor. 25 June 1968.

• Jackson, Andra. “USA: the Villain of the peace.” 26 June 1969.

Secondary sources

• Hyde, Michael. All Along the Watchtower: Memoir of a Sixties Revolutionary. Melbourne: Vulgar Press, 2010.

• Hyde, Michael, et al It is Right to Rebel. Sydney: The Diplomat, part of Free Association Press, 1972.

Transcript

Who you hear in this episode, in order:

Kaye Lovett (b. 1947) *

Helen McCulloch (b. ?) *

Martha Kinsman (b. 1947) *

Kaye Lovett (b. 1947) *

Christine Ross (b. 1948)

Image c/ Ken Mansell, ephemera collection. Used with permission. This pamphlet was published to explain why students were raising money to send to the National Liberation Front (NLF), against whom Australian troops were fighting in Vietnam.

Gallup poll question, September 1967:

       Do you think people here SHOULD - OR should NOT - be allowed  to send money to the Viet Cong - other than through the Red Cross?

9.8%     ALLOW

90.2%  NO, DON'T

0%        UNDECIDED

Bibliography:

Primary sources

• No author. “‘Send students to see Vietnam war’.” The Age, 28 July 1967.

• Campbell, Martha. “On National Liberation.” Lot’s Wife, 8 August 1967.

• Committee for Aid to the National Liberation Front. “Which Way Treason?” 28 August 1967.

Secondary sources

• Mansell, Ken. “Taking to the streets against the Vietnam War.” Labour History in Melbourne. (Last accessed 13 July 2023.)

Transcript

Who you hear in this episode, in order:

Sue McCulloch (b. 1949) *

Tony Dalton (b. 1948) *

Caroline Hogg (b. 1942) *

Frances Newell (b. 1948) *

Sandra Goldbloom Zurbo (b. 1943) *

Tony Dalton (b. 1948) *

Anne Sgro (b. 1943) *

Caroline Hogg (b. 1942) *

Lyn Hovey (b. 1950) *

Ceci Cairns (b. 1944) *

Frances Newell (b. 1948) *

Jean McLean (b. 1934)

Image c/ Ken Mansell ephemera collection. This booklet, designed to assist men who wanted to refuse participation in National Service, was published in 1971.

The wig worn by Frances Newell as part of her disguise when visiting husband Michael Hamel-Green, while he was avoiding arrest for being a draft resister.

Photographer: Hannah Perkins

Museums Victoria

https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/249333.

Accessed 27 July 2023.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Talbot, Jennifer (secretary). Letter about Conscientious Objectors (non-Pacifist), appeared in several student newspapers, including:

  • RMIT’s Catalyst (20 March 1968);

  • La Trobe University’s Rabelais (1 April 1968);

  • Melbourne University’s Farrago (19 June 1970).

• University of Melbourne Archives. Margaret Frazer. University of Melbourne, Baillieu Library Special Collections: 1993.0158.

• “Further information about non-registration,” Box 1.

Secondary sources

• Oliver, Bobbie. Hell No! We Won’t Go! Melbourne: Interventions, 2022.

• Oliver, Bobbie. “The Peacemaker’s Role in the Anti-Vietnam War movement.” Fighting Against War. Ed. Phillip Deery and Julie Kimber. Melbourne: Leftbank Press, 2016.

• Scates, Bob. Draftmen Go Free: a history of the anti-conscription movement in Australia. Melbourne: Bob Scates, 1988.

• Witham, Rennis. “The Safe House Project: An Oral History.” Victorian Labor History Foundation, on Victorian Labor Party website. Last accessed 24 July 2023.

• Bob Muntz, Michael Hamel-Green, Tony Dalton.

Transcript

Who you hear in this episode, in order:

Carol Goldson (b. 1937)* Jean McLean (b. 1934) *

Sandra Goldbloom Zurbo (b. 1943) *

Andra Jackson (b. 1948) *

Christine Ross (b. 1948) *

Frances Newell (b. 1948) *

Sandra Goldbloom Zurbo (b. 1943) *

Margret RoadKnight (b. 1943) *

Liz Aird (b. 1946) *

Shirley Winton (b. 1948) *

Jan Muller (b. 1949) *

Janet McCalman (b. 1948) *

Kaye Lovett (b. 1947) *

Jenny Gerrand (b. 1948) *

Andra Jackson (b. 1948) *

Christine Ross (b. 1948) *

Deborah Towns (b. 1949) *

Faye Findlay (b. 1950) *

Alva Geikie (b. 1936) *

Mairi Neil (b. 1953) *

Sue Garner (b. 1952) *

Sandra Goldbloom Zurbo (b. 1943) *

Joan Coxsedge (b. 1931)

Image: Richard J Hogg, 1970, “Crowds gathered at Bourke Street outside Myers store, watching speakers during Vietnam War Moratorium march, Melbourne, May 1970,” National Library of Australia, nla.obj-4672138. Used with permission.

Images c/ Tim Aickin. Used with permission. Jean McLean is the woman in the white coat, in the centre of the picture, in the image on the left. Dr Jim Cairns, federal Labor politician and key anti-war figure, is sitting to her right, with badges on his coat; the woman to his right in dark glasses is his wife, Gwen. The blonde man behind Jean is Nicky Farrelly, who acted as a bodyguard to Cairns. (Thanks to Des Files for identifying Gwen and Nicky).