Obituary: Fred Harrison

By KEVIN TAYLOR

Conscientious objector. Died aged 90

Fred Harrison was one of the first conscientious objectors to be jailed in New Zealand during the Second World War.

A teacher in the upper North Island from the 1930s until his retirement in 1974, he endured four years in prison camps with about 800 others who refused to fight and failed to convince the military appeals board that they were sincere.

Harrison's case was heard in mid-1941, an appearance recorded in Herald archives.

"I am purely neutral," he told the board. He added that he did not want to create a hatred against any particular people, and believed in putting both sides.

The chairman replied: "I would be very upset if I knew my child was under you. I would take him away from your school."

Harrison wrote in an early 1990s account of his experiences that two of the three "judges" voted that he was conscientious, but the trade union member disagreed and the appeal was dismissed.

Pacifists in Britain during the Second World War were generally left alone and most worked in non-military tasks to help the country.

Not so in New Zealand. They could not even vote again in a general election until 1951 and could not work for the Government.

Harrison was sacked from the Auckland Education Board for refusing to sign the Oath of Allegiance - an oath he had already signed.

After his appeal was dismissed, he was arrested and jailed in Mt Eden prison for a month. From there he went to Papakura camp, where he refused to put on a miliary uniform, and worked for a short time as a civilian in the officers' mess.

Soon after he was shipped with other pacifists to a camp at Strathmore, near Rotorua. He spent the rest of the war there and at other camps such as Rangipo.

With him were humanitarians, Methodists, Jehovah's Witnesses, communists and trade unionists. During his fourth year of imprisonment they were given a few days' parole to go home, but only after much agitation from outside supporters.

Harrison understood he was out of step with the prevailing public mood.

"I felt that under the circumstances the majority of the people wanted to go to war. The Government could not let us be free to undermine their effort to keep everyone supporting the war, and so they had to confine us."

His teaching career was from 1932 to 1974, but after the war it was not until 1967 that he returned to the classroom, because he refused to sign the oath.

He taught in schools in Northland, Auckland, the Waikato and Coromandel.

His son, Henry, said his father was let out of prison on August 6, 1945, the day Hiroshima was destroyed by the atomic bomb.

He died on August 6 at his Northland home.

"I think he was very brave to stand up for what he believed in," said his son.

Harrison is survived by four children and 10 grandchildren. His wife, Emilie, died in 1979.