Elsie Locke

Overview

Elsie Locke (née Freeman) born Hamilton, New Zealand August 17, 1912. (d. 2001). Author; historian; peace activist; communist; defended Maori rights; opposed conscription and nuclear weapons; co-founded Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which led to nuclear free zone; opposed Korean, Vietnam and Iraq Wars.

Quotations

"I don’t like it when they’re trained for jungle warfare. We haven’t got any jungles to be warfaring in."

"The (first) Gulf War was about oil and if it had not been there, there wouldn’t have been all that action." (in Maureen Birchfield, "A Life of Elsie Locke." Peace Researcher, vol. 39, Jan. 2010; photo NZ Nat. Lib.)