Robert Martin (born 1949) is an Australian historian who
resisted conscription
Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
for military service during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
.
Martin refused to register for conscription, holding an objection to the Vietnam War in particular. In late 1971 he was sentenced to one week in
Adelaide Gaol
Adelaide Gaol is a former Australian prison located in the Park Lands of Adelaide, in the state of South Australia. The gaol was the first permanent one in South Australia and operated from 1841 until 1988. The Gaol is one of the two oldest bu ...
as a conscientious non-complier with the
National Service Act, and in February 1972 he was sentenced to eighteen months for refusing to report at
Keswick Barracks
Keswick Barracks is a barracks of the Australian Army in Keswick, South Australia. The barracks are located on Anzac Highway adjacent to the Adelaide Showground. The base is separated from the showgrounds by the Adelaide-Wolseley railway line. ...
. He was released by the
Whitlam Duumvirate in December 1972 having served ten months - one of seven men in Australian prisons for refusing conscription freed at that time.
[Interview with Robert Martin ound recording Peter Donovan, 1989 Adelaide Gaol Oral History Projec]
State Library of South Australia
/ref>
References
External links
Conscription after 1945
The National Service scheme, 1964-72
Australian conscientious objectors
Australian pacifists
Anti–Vietnam War activists
Activists from Adelaide
1949 births
Living people
Vietnam War draft evaders
{{Australia-activist-stub