Northern Soul Posted 20 September , 2004 Share Posted 20 September , 2004 Were soldiers (or sailors and airmen) who were sentenced to deathfor civil crimes formally discharged from the services before they were hanged? If not, would they be entitled to CWGC commemoration...............and are there any such instances? Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 20 September , 2004 Share Posted 20 September , 2004 If they were executed whilst still in service, yes they are entitled to commemoration and are so listed by CWGC (excluding a couple of cases being looked into now). During WW2, the military forgot this principle and some early examples of men executed by civil courts appear. However, once it was realised that CWGC commemoration would follow automatically, a policy was instituted (by the RAF first) that men would be discharged from the service the day before their execution by civil authority. This meant that their death would not qualify for commemoration as they were no longer in the services and their death was not service attributable. (All such executions were for murder). There is one example of a man executed by civil court for treason but who was not so discharged for some reason and his name appears on the Brookwood Memorial in accordance with the rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Soul Posted 20 September , 2004 Author Share Posted 20 September , 2004 Cheers Terry. Any names? I know that one Pte. Thomas Clinton, executed at Strangeways in 1917, is not commemorated by the CWGC but the evidence I have gathered suggests that he was still a serving soldier when he was hanged. Is he one of the cases under consideration? Regards. Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 20 September , 2004 Share Posted 20 September , 2004 Any serving soldier who died must be commemorated - no matter how they died. However, there are different views about a very small number of cases. There is no clear cut evidence in some cases. The military did not pass on their names to CWGC - either through error, ignorance or for other reasons. These men do not have a pleasant history. I am undertaking research into these at the moment. If you contact me off-Forum, I'll give you more details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 20 September , 2004 Share Posted 20 September , 2004 Look for Clinton also on page 2 at http://1914-1918.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=18408&st=0 which I have just updated (Lt Col Rutherford) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Soul Posted 20 September , 2004 Author Share Posted 20 September , 2004 Terry - Thanks for this I have emailed you. If you don't receive it please let me know as I am not convinced that my email system is working too well at the moment. RT - thanks for the link. I have (tried) to email you some more details on the Clinton/Lynch case. Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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