How conscription changed New Zealand society 100 years agoARCHIVES NEW ZEALANDPenny Douglas recalls her grandfather, James Worrall, as a staunch Methodist with very strong Christian values. The Military Service Act required all non-Maori men aged between 20 and 46 to register. Kiely and Skinner took his body to Reefton, and were arrested under the Military Service Act. But it was another piece of legislation – which took effect 100 years ago on Monday – that would have an equally severe effect on the Worrall brothers and other "military objectors" like them. Between the introduction of conscription and the end of the war two years later, almost 300 men were imprisoned for refusing military service.

Source: Stuff July 31, 2016 03:56 UTC