WW2 British Shot by firng Sqaud ?

[Alex Smart]

Hello,
It is generally known that during WW1 some 344 British servicemen were shot by firng squads. Also in WW2 t is known how many American servicemen were either shot by fring squad or hung.
But what is known of those British and Commonwealth servicemen who were either Shot by firing squad or hung.
How many and who were they and what were ther crimes ?

Thanks
Alex

[Alex Smart]

Hello,
So far there has been Nil response to this question that I posted in the "General " section.
So I thought that maybe Someone may in this section.

It is generally known that during WW1 some 344 British servicemen were shot by firng squads. Also in WW2 t is known how many American servicemen were either shot by fring squad or hung.
But what is known of those British and Commonwealth servicemen who were either Shot by firing squad or hung.
How many and who were they and what were ther crimes ?

Thanks
Alex

[alieneyes1]

Alex,

The only Canadian shot for desertion.

http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vo4/...vre-04-eng.asp

https://canadiansatarms.ca/a-secret-...arold-pringle/

Regards,

Dave

[Alex Smart]

Thank you Dave info most welcome

Anyone have access to or details of National Archives WO 93/40 ?

Alex

[Leendert]

Alex,
A 1930 law seems to have abolished the death penalty for desertion. This from WW1 experiences and better understanding of 'battle fatigue' vs. cowardice.

Above excludes any death penalties for criminal activities as would be sentenced after a regular judicial process.

You may find more info here: http://www.britishexecutions.co.uk/

Regards,
Leendert

[Alex Smart]

Thanks Leendert, it does give Germans in POW camps that killed. But nothing of British and Commonwealth servicemen except a couple. I was hoping that Some who were executed overseas could be found, as well as those in Britain. Those WW2 that are listed do not give any service details as far as I can see.
CWGC also does not seem to have them listed. For example Those mentioned in Dave's links .
I have names and details of all 96 American that were executed in WW2, but just why it is so difficult to find British and Commonwealth is frustrating.
Thanks
Alex

[alieneyes1]

Alex,

I went to Pringle's CWGC entry after reading "A Keen Soldier". I do not know why it is down. Using the Wayback Machine you can see it here: https://web.archive.org/web/20160305...AROLD%20JOSEPH

His victim, F55044 Pte. John Norman MacGillivary of New Waterford, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia does have an entry on CWGC. In my original version of this post, I stated he didn't have a CWGC entry. He does: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/fi...-macgillivray/ You'll note that CWGC spells it MacGilliVRay, while his service jacket spells it MacGilliVAry, not to mention his father's signature, the final arbiter for me.

He had five brothers (one was serving in the army in Europe when this happened) and four sisters. His service record is a delight ie. escapes from detention, field punishment camps etc.

I can find no connection to any of the chaps you've listed over on RAFCommands.

Regards,

Dave

[Laurent Rizzotti]

http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/hanged2.html claims to have the complete execution in England and Wales from 1932 to 1964, so WWII is included. It seems to me it show only people hanged for murder, the Axis spies executed in England are not included (but the German POWs executed in 1945 for killing one of their fellows are).

Similar pages exist for Scotland (no entry in 1939-1945), Northern Ireland (http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/nirish.html, one in 1942) and Channel Islands (2 French in 1941 and one German in 1942, all by Germans).

Webpage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocos_Islands_mutiny has the names of 3 Ceylonese soldiers executed in August 1942 and claim they were the only Commonwealth soldiers executed for mutiny in WWII.

For US, a list is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...States_militar.

Books listing details of death sentences (and others) by US Army in WWII were available last year on the Library of Congress website, but I can't find them now.

Here is an archived pdf: https://web.archive.org/web/20170220..._MTO_Vol-6.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20210815..._MTO_Vol-5.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20170221..._MTO_Vol-1.pdf

Books also existed for Pacific, one example:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170220..._BOR_Vol-2.pdf

And also for ETO, but a quick search had not allowed me to find one.

[Black6]

I looked at this some years ago and it seemed that the RAF discharged (most of) their servicemen convicted of capital crimes prior to execution and as such they would not be found on CWGC as they were civilians.

There are a number of military men who were hanged in the UK (presumably buried within prison walls) and are commemorated on Brookwood Memorial, which seemed very odd to me as they are commemorated alongside SOE agents, soldiers lost over the oceans when aircraft crashed or ships were sunk, captured Commandos who were executed by the SS and bodies disposed of (never found) and bomb disposal chaps.

[Alex Smart]

Many thanks for this info,, so their names are out there somewhere. I'll have to keep looking.