CROONAERT Posted 18 January , 2003 Share Posted 18 January , 2003 In Piet Chielens' and Julian Putkowski's book "Unquiet Graves" ,about the execution sites in Flanders is a quote from Achiel van Walleghem's diary stating : 24 September 1916: "In the meadows in front of the house of the mayor of Reningelst,there is a large camp for Australian prisoners. Yesterday,an Australian was shot dead through the head for having deserted from the trenches on three occasions" van Walleghem was present at several other executions in the area,and there are rumours about other executions "without trial" happening to Australians in the rear areas. Can anyone shed any light onto the identity of this particular Australian,give any information about the "camp for Australian prisoners",or has anyone heard of any similar stories? Thanks, Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 18 January , 2003 Share Posted 18 January , 2003 Hi Dave I've heard similar stories of executions of Australian soldiers that were supposed to have happened in and out of the line but from information that I've seen it's only been from second hand sources or trench rumours. I've never seen information where a soldier has stated to be an eye-witness to these executions. Would be very interested to hear if someone has some definite evidence. While the AIF didn't impose a death sentence on their troops, two Australians were 'legally' executed. However they were serving in the New Zealand forces at the time and therefore had the death sentence imposed on them. Regards Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 19 January , 2003 Author Share Posted 19 January , 2003 Through various cross references,I think I've come up with a name to the "mystery Australian". I don't want to tarnish someones name ,if I'm wrong,by plastering his details over a web site.So,if anyone's (genuinely) interested, contact me direct and I'll give you the details. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 22 January , 2003 Share Posted 22 January , 2003 Just to add to the confusion regarding members of the AIF who may have been executed, the latest edition of 'Wartime' the Australian War Memorial's quarterly magazine, has an article about Corporal V Asser, who was executed in England on 5 March 1918. He had been convicted for murdering another AIF soldier at Sutton Veny Camp near Salisbury. Another Australian, Pte A Fraser, was hanged for murder in 1920, but he had deserted from the AIF. Both soldiers were tried and found guilty of crimes under British civil law, rather than Australian military law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 22 January , 2003 Share Posted 22 January , 2003 That was a very interesting article in Wartime Dolphin. Of the three names Dave supplied me off list, one of the men was listed in the Red Cross files as 'accidentally shot'. Could be a coincidence......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 22 January , 2003 Author Share Posted 22 January , 2003 Andrew. I don't know whether you noticed in the Red Cross Files on this man,but there also seems to be a conflict in the stories from "eyewitnesses",such as timings,light and even where the "accident" was supposed to have happened. A possible cover-up? Who'll ever know for sure? Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 23 January , 2003 Share Posted 23 January , 2003 Hi Dave That was my first impression also but after researching the Red Cross files on several soldiers who were missing believed killed in various battles, some of them have so many different 'eyewitness' reports as to that soldiers fate that the different reports could be put down to the statement being made a fair while after the event, confusion of the battle, mistake over the identity of the person killed etc. But for this soldier you gave me the name of, the sector that his unit was then in was rather quiet and something like a sentry shooting their own man would be bound to have some sort of inquiry from the Company or battalion commander, so the differing stories do seem a little suspicious. Cheers Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 23 January , 2003 Share Posted 23 January , 2003 Andrew Have you looked at the entry for Cpl Asser in the Nominal Roll of the AIF on the AWM site? The notation 'Hanged' certainly stands out among the fates of the other troops on the relevant page! Cheers 5F.1 Dolphin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 24 January , 2003 Share Posted 24 January , 2003 Hi Dolphin It certainly does stand out from the usual KIA, DOW or Disch. Though I did notice an officer who had 'dismissed' next to his name. Haven't noticed that before. Cheers Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 25 January , 2003 Share Posted 25 January , 2003 G'day Andrew If nothing else, the 'Dismissed' notation could have led to a very interesting conversation in some post War RSL club, starting with: "What did you do in the War, digger?" I wonder what story lies behind it? Do you remember his unit? Cheers Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 27 January , 2003 Share Posted 27 January , 2003 Hi Gareth I found that 'dismissed' notation when I had been trawling through the AWM nominal rolls looking for 'RTA' dates for the Fremantle research I'm doing. Annoyingly I never recorded the officer's name but I do remember that he belonged to the 30th Battalion AIF. It would be interesting to know what sort of behaviour would force an officer to be dismissed from his unit. Cheers Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 27 January , 2003 Share Posted 27 January , 2003 G'day Andrew There's an interesting story waiting to be researched there, isn't there? However, his descendants may not be too interested in having the details brought to light. On the other hand, the family might not care at all. I wonder if he came from one of those communities who insisted in putting every enlisted man's name on their local War Memorial, not just the casualties (see K S Inglis's 'Sacred Places'). Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 29 January , 2003 Share Posted 29 January , 2003 Hi Gareth I've got the 30th Battalion history at home so I'll check the officers listed against the AWM nominal roll to see if I can re-discover his name. If I do find it again I think I'll have to order his service record to see if it sheds any light on the 'dismissed'. Cheers Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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