Field General Court Martial

[ss002d6252]

I have a relative who was sentenced by a FGCM in Gallipoli.

The man in question is Pvt J M Suddick M.M 11357 2nd SWB and was sentence to death for sleeping on duty. Sentence later reduced to 5 yrs and the remitted.

His records show the verdict was entered on 27oct15, validated and reduced to as suspended sentence of 5yrs penal servitude by Lt Gen Birdwood on 8Nov1915 and wholly remitted on 12Feb16.

I have the service record showing what happened but I'm after a few details.

a) Ive checked the Brigade records and they dont say anythinf. Does anyone have the 2nd SWB or the divisional records for this period and could check for any mention ?.

How would the FGCM have been conducted ?

c) Why would it have been remitted ? I can understand the suspended sentence to keep a soldier in the ranks but the remission ?.

d) Are the records available anywhere of the cases ?

[sotonmate]

ss

There are quite a few records at Kew for Courts Martial. It might be that WO213/5 or 6 will cover your soldier's case.These records are for Field GCM and include the month of Oct 1915,though I would have expected to see discrimination between war theatres for the registers.

You can read a part of the LLT for this subject:

http://www.1914-1918.net/crime.htm

Sotonmate

[ss002d6252]

Thanks - I was hoping that they would be available at somewhere other than Kew as it'll be along time (if ever) before I get there.

[corisande]

2nd SWB War Diary appears to be downloadable here for £3.50

29 DIVISION , 87 INFANTRY BRIGADE : Headquarters 1915 Jan. - 1916 Feb./ 1 Battalion Border Regiment 1915 Jan. - 1916 Feb./ 1 Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 1915 Jan. - 1916 Feb. / 1 Battalion Kings Own Scottish Borderers 1914 Sept. - 1916 Feb. / 2 Battalion South Wales Borderers 1915 Mar. - 1916 Feb.

[sotonmate]

ss

I'll see what I can do a bit later,but no promises.

There may have been extenuating circumstances,such as being under a heavy burden of attack and lack of sleep,the penalty in normal circumstances is a death sentence,which was given,but then a mitigation has occurred.I guess if they kept him on duty there was every chance the Turks would carry out the sentence for them.

There should be a record of the Court Martial,just where is the question ! Probably not in the Unit War Diary.

Sotonmate

[ss002d6252]

Thanks for your help.

I'm sure its on file somewhere its just finding it as I'd veery interested to see what the circumstances were as I believe it was only a relatively small % of those who were given death sentences who were given it for sleeping on duty.

[roughdiamond]

Thanks for your help.

I'm sure its on file somewhere its just finding it as I'd veery interested to see what the circumstances were as I believe it was only a relatively small % of those who were given death sentences who were given it for sleeping on duty.

Hi mate

Surprisingly there were far more men sentenced to death for sleeping in Gallipoli than you think, the following info is from Gerald Oram's "Death sentences passed by military courts of the British Army 1914 - 1924".

On the same date as your relative was sentenced to death, 2 other men from the 2nd SWB Pte's 19696 James William Corcoran (KIA 01/08/1917) and 19589 Henry Hancock (who seems to have survived) as well as a man from the 7th N Staffs got the same, both SWB's sentences were reduced to 5 years PS, the man from the 7th N Staffs to 10 years PS.

Of 52 Men sentenced to Death in Gallipoli from 1st Sept - 31st Oct 1915, 41 were for Sleeping (of which 8 were 7th N Staffs between 16 - 31st Oct), 4 for Disobedience, 3 for Cowardice, 2 for Desertion, 1 for Mutiny and 1 for Striking/Threatening/Insubordination, none were executed but most received between 5 and 10 years PS.

Of 3362 men sentenced to death in all theatres, 449 were for Sleeping (2nd highest figure for any offence 13.3% of the total) of them only 2 (0.45% for that offence) were executed Pte's Robert Burton and Thomas Downing of the 6th S Lancs in Mesopotamia 19/02/1917. In contrast of the 2005 (60% of the total) sentenced for Desertion 272 (13.6% for that offence) were executed , the average of executions to sentences for all offences was 13.5%.

N.b. all percentages are approximate.

The only NA reference listed for your relative is "PRO WO 213/6" which seems to be standard for all of October and a big chunk of November 1915 for ALL theatres.

Out of curiosity, when did he win the MM?

Sam

[sotonmate]

Sam

Saves me looking in the wrong file,WO213/6 it is !

Sotonmate

[centurion]

Sleeping on duty is probably shorthand for sleeping whilst on sentry duty. In a situation where the enemy was in close proximity and surprise attacks very possible this was serious. He would have been nearly a fortnight under sentence of death before it was reduced and suspended. This, as Dr Johnson once said, would "concentrate the mind wonderfully". I suspect that this may have been the idea. I believe that there were limitations on what duties a soldier under a suspended sentence could and could not do (and consequentially the need for much paperwork) so that after he had shown himself to be a reformed character the sentence itself would be remitted.

[ss002d6252]

Hi

Thanks for the replies.

He won the MM in March 1918 for his actions in repelling a German attack on his company. The reccomendation specfically mentions his actions for bringing a machine gun in to action - I only found out when I contact the regimental musuem to see what records they held (emailed at 11:30 one evening and got a reply about 30 mins later from the curator) and they supplied information on the action and a copy of the officers notebook for which he was put forward for the MM. They said it was one of very few they stil held.

I was thinking the same with regards to the time it was left before being suspended and how it would tend to concentrate the mind.

A bit which which I was really interested in was to do with his past character. He signed up to the 6th DLI in Sep 2008 (youthful enthusiasm) but went AWOL when they got notification to go to France and reality appears to have hit. A court of enquiry was held and he was found to have 'absented himself without reason' but by that point he seems to have come to some sort of rational thinking and then re-enlisted shortly afterwads in the S.W.B under his real name but not declaring earlier service.

I dont know if this was known at the time of his court martial or if they had give hime credit for re-enlisiting but taken it in to account in their verdict.

[centurion]

He signed up to the 6th DLI in Sep 2008 (youthful enthusiasm) but went AWOL when they got notification to go to France and reality appears to have hit.

I have this vision of Recruiting Sergeant (lance chronarch) Who (of the Gallifrey Light Infantry) patrolling the time zones picking up a recruit now and then. Did you mean 1914?

[ss002d6252]

I have this vision of Recruiting Sergeant (lance chronarch) Who (of the Gallifrey Light Infantry) patrolling the time zones picking up a recruit now and then. Did you mean 1914?

I should think when I'm typing (not thinking is a habit drummed in to me by my employers and I sometimes forget to switch the brain back on when I leave). Your correct in that it should say Sep 1914.

[ss002d6252]

I tried looking that records for the 2 SWB's but didn't find any more info on their service records but if you look at Henry Hancock's records there are the records of another man included with this. This man served in Afghanistan, Egypt and S.Africa having enlisted in 1879. This man must have the longest hospitalisation and disciplinary record in the British Army and yet he still managed to served the best part of 2 decades. Its a very good read for those who are interested.