On 16 November 1916, the first conscription ballot of the First World War was drawn (a film of the event exists at www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/video/first-ballot-under-the-1...). This ended volunteering as the sole means of recruitment, and began a tumultuous debate that would lead to police manhunts, arrests, and imprisonment of military defaulters.

As nzhistory.net.nz notes, ‘conscription for military service was introduced to maintain New Zealand's supply of reinforcements. Only four MPs opposed its introduction. The Military Service Act 1916 initially imposed conscription on Pākehā only, but this was extended to Māori in June 1917… By the end of 1916 conscientious objection to being conscripted for service had become a major issue.’ Objection to conscription arose in a number of quarters, including women’s groups, socialist and trade union organisations, iwi, Irish families, and churches. By the war’s end 30,000 conscripts had joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, while 273 objectors were imprisoned for refusing to serve. A further 2600 conscientious objectors lost their civil rights for 10 years.

This Army Department poster informed all eligible men of their obligations under the Military Service Act, and what would happen if they failed to do so. Archives New Zealand holds many other records relating to conscription, including conscientious objection, military defaulters, and the response by Māori. The most informative were created by the Army Department [AD], but files can also be found in Justice Department Prison Branch records [J40] (restrictions apply).

To find these, go to the Advanced Search 'records' page on Archway, the search tool of Archives New Zealand: archway.archives.govt.nz/CallItemAdvancedSearch.do. Now put the department's code (AD or J40) in the 'Former Arch ref' search box, and use terms like objector or defaulter in the ‘Keywords' box. You can also find records on courts martials, discipline, deserters, and aliens by using these as keywords with the same search. For further enquiries please email Research.Archives@dia.govt.nz

Archives Reference: AD1 9/169/2/1

More information on conscription can be found at www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/first-world-war/conscientious-ob...

For updates on our On This Day series and news from Archives New Zealand, follow us on Twitter twitter.com/ArchivesNZ

Material supplied by Archives New Zealand

New Zealand Expeditionary Force [NZEF] - Recruiting posters - Dominion of New Zealand - Military service Act 1916 - Enrollement of Expeditionary force reserve.