Shot at dawn files

[Michael]

Going through the 5 Buffs SAD files I notice that there are many notes in margins. There are also sections underlined in red or green pencil.

Who is responsible for these notes ? Are they put there by a researcher for the benefit of future readers ? I can't believe they are contemporary. Here is an example.

Mick

[Chris_Baker]

Let's hope they are contemporary, and not by the same modern hands that regularly deface cemetery registers.

[Rosemary Clarke]

Mick

I think you will find these lines were added to the files during processing and assessment of a court martial case, prior to confirmation of guilt and sentence.

In a nutshell, it seems they served the purpose of emphasising those comments within court martial statements which were most likely to incriminate the accused and must have been very useful for 'skimming' purposes, I imagine.

Rosemary

[Northern Soul]

I think you will find these lines were added to the files during processing and assessment of a court martial case, prior to confirmation of guilt and sentence.

In a nutshell, it seems they served the purpose of emphasising those comments within court martial statements which were most likely to incriminate the accused and must have been very useful for 'skimming' purposes, I imagine.

Rosemary, with all due respect, this is not the case in the example shown, and quite honestly you are not advancing your cause any by trying to score cheap political points.

It says:

"See conduct sheet. There is not a single entry for anything of the [?] or for any serious offence except the one Court Martial entry."

The context of the entry appears anti-execution and indicates that it is a comment added in recent years by someone with an axe to grind about SAD cases. To suggest it was a form of shorthand written during the war to reinforce the sentence is specious to say the least.

Andy.

[john w.]

I have a number of trial papers and do have witing in the margins, the example given is a bit fuzzey, but even looking at the content of the last posting I too would hope that it was a contemporary entry.

John

[John_Hartley]

Andy

I think your missing phrase reads "anything of the kind". Which presumably relates to the main entry which (putting 2 + 2 together) is saying that the man is "continually" doing something.

The margin note is then saying "There is not a single entry of anything of the kind......"

Makes perfect sense of someone, whether contemporary or otherwise, disagreeing with the orginal information

John

[Rosemary Clarke]

Rosemary, with all due respect, this is not the case in the example shown, and quite honestly you are not advancing your cause any by trying to score cheap political points.

Andy

Actually, I have very little interest in either point-scoring or politics; cheap or otherwise.

I should have clarified in my earlier post that my comments were an attempt to explain the underlining within court martial files. A number of examples of these can be found in my own copies of CM files.

I am very surprised to see the margin notes in this case and have not seen them in any of those I have read but I cannot imagine who might have added them to these particular files.

Rosemary

NB I believe the word you were having difficult with (?) is 'kind'.

[Michael]

Thanks for your thoughts

I would recommend anyone to read some of these files and draw their own conclusions on SAD. I have to say that one of these cases has left me with a nasty feeling

I'm going to revise my original post. I said that there were 'many' notes in the margins. On closer inspection, this is an exaggeration and in fact there are only a couple of notes. The underlining would appear to be contemporary because red pencil has been used to delete optional wording on some of the files.

For example

[Guest Pete Wood]

I would recommend anyone to read some of these files and draw their own conclusions on SAD. I have to say that one of these cases has left me with a nasty feeling

Are you able to say what has made you feel this way, Michael...??

I truly believe I am one who is undecided. I sway from one camp to the other, and it might help me come to a firmer decision. At present I am in favour of some cases (maybe the one you are uncomfortable with?) being heard again, rather than a blanket pardon.

[john w.]

red lines like that seem to point to the removal of certain phrases..

John

[Michael]

Pete

I haven't finished looking at them yet so I won't give my opinion yet although at first glance one of them stands out from the other four.

I've always believed that every scrap of evidence should be looked at with this highly emotive issue, rather than form opinions based on the writings of others.

By the way Pete, I hope your illness gets sorted quickly. Glad to see you're still with us after the recent debacle in Utterly.

Mick

[Hedley Malloch]

Rosemary, with all due respect, this is not the case in the example shown, and quite honestly you are not advancing your cause any by trying to score cheap political points.

It says:

... (snip) ...

The context of the entry appears anti-execution and indicates that it is a comment added in recent years by someone with an axe to grind about SAD cases. To suggest it was a form of shorthand written during the war to reinforce the sentence is specious to say the least.

Andy.

The hand is literate and well educated. And who uses red and/or green pencil today? This seems to have been written contemporaneously

[Michael]

This seems to have been written contemporaneously

I'm tending to agree with you Hedley. If someone had defaced this at the PRO (as I initially suspected) it wouldn't have been in coloured pencil.

I'm trying to look closer at this case to see who would have made the comments.

Mick