Archibald Baxter

Who was Archibald Baxter?

Archibald McColl Learmond Baxter was a New Zealand pacifist, socialist, and anti-war activist.

He refused to serve during World War I on the grounds that "all war is wrong, futile, and destructive alike to victor and vanquished." He was arrested in 1917, imprisoned, then shipped to the western front and beaten, starved and tortured by the army in an effort to get him to put on a uniform and serve. Still refusing, he was given Field Punishment No.1 - in effect, being crucified on a pole in open fire - and later was tied to a shed being used by the Germans for artillery practice. He suffered a complete physical and mental breakdown, but survived, and returned to his Otago farm after the war

In 1921 he married Millicent Amiel Macmillan Brown, daughter of John Macmillan Brown, foundation chair of Canterbury College.

His autobiography We Will Not Cease was published in 1939. It covers in detail his experiences in World War I.

His eldest son Terence was also imprisoned for refusing to serve during World War II. His son James Keir Baxter is one of New Zealand's most famous poets.