File:Police raid Christchurch home harbouring WWI deserters, 17 May 1918 (41191106755).jpg

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After First World War conscription was introduced in August 1916, a number of men chose to appeal or evade conscription. Some gained and exemption or accepted non-combatant duties: over half of the 43,500 men who appealed on grounds of hardship or engaged in essential work for the public were granted exemption. Some objected to military service on political, moral or religious grounds and defied the process every step of the way. Others faked illness in order to fail the medical examination, and some evaded the state entirely – many ignored the call-up, left the country or went into hiding.

By August 1917 the police were seeking 3,054 defaulters on the run from the military. Being smuggled out of the country in a ship’s coal bunker was one way to escape. Another was to remain in New Zealand and go into hiding. One man joined the circus; another lived a vagrant’s life around Auckland’s One Tree Hill, while in nearby Waitemata Harbour a defaulter took flight in his boat, mooring one wharf ahead of the police for some time.

Others had support from friends and family despite the consequences of harbouring evaders. When police raided the Christchurch home of William and Ella Price early one morning in 1918, they found two defaulters hidden between the roof and the ceiling. One was their son, William Price junior, who had been on the run from the military for four months (personnel file: <a href="http://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE19551027" rel="nofollow">ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServle...</a>). The other was Frederick Paintin (<a href="http://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE19861016" rel="nofollow">ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServle...</a>).

Eager to make an example of the family, the military had the parents dragged before the court and punished with six months’ imprisonment. However the jailing of a mother for protecting her son troubled even the stoutest of hearts and a mild outcry led to Cabinet remitting her sentence.

This is the report of the raid carried out on 17 May 1918.

Archives New Zealand reference: AD1 Box 738/ 10/610 <a href="https://archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=22429875" rel="nofollow">archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=22429875</a>

Material from Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
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Source Police raid Christchurch home harbouring WWI deserters, 17 May 1918
Author Archives New Zealand from New Zealand

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This image was originally posted to Flickr by Archives New Zealand at https://flickr.com/photos/35759981@N08/41191106755. It was reviewed on 17 December 2020 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

17 December 2020

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current14:03, 17 December 2020Thumbnail for version as of 14:03, 17 December 20203,346 × 5,442 (2.49 MB)Eyes Roger (talk | contribs)Transferred from Flickr via #flickr2commons

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