Introduction

This article deals with the courts-martial of soldiers during the First World War, and in the period 1941-1953.

The trials of the World War One spies courts-martialled and executed by firing squad at the Tower of London are contained in the "Spying" section of this web site.

Only those courts-martial which resulted in the death sentence being passed on soldiers from the Middlesex Regiment or Royal Engineers have been covered. I have started with these two British Army units, as I am especially interested in the history of the Royal Engineers and the Middlesex Regiment.

The various records concerning courts-martial are contained in the Public Record Office. The First World War courts-martial papers are now open for public inspection. An increasing amount of World War Two, and later, papers are becoming available for public inspection.

For those Middlesex Regiment and Corps of Royal Engineer soldiers whose papers I have examined, their details are shown on their own page.

Courts-martial Documents

There are two main types of record relating to individual courts-martial during World War One: proceedings and registers. When papers, which were compiled at the time of the courts-martial, arrived at the Judge Advocate General’s Office (JAGO), the contents were entered into volumes of proceedings. The JAGO also compiled registers of courts-martial, giving the name, rank, regiment, place of trial, charge, finding and sentence.

The Middlesex Regiment

The following list shows the soldiers from the Middlesex Regiment who were sentenced to death for various offences, and were actually executed. All of the soldiers were serving in the France & Flanders theatre.

Regt. Number	Rank.	Name.	Battalion	Charge	Date Executed
L/14164	Private	F. Sheffield	2	Desertion	12 Jan 1915.
L/14232	Private	J. Ball	2	Desertion	12 Jan 1915.
S/6922	Private	W. Scotton	4	Desertion	3 Feb 1915.
11/1799	Private	A. Beverstein	11	Desertion	20 Mar 1916.
G/335	Private	H. Carter	11(S)	Desertion	26 Apr 1916.
G/11296	Private	W.H. Simmonds	23	Desertion	1 Dec 1916.
G/8857	Private	E. Worsley	2	Desertion	22 Oct 1917.
G/52128	Private	D. Stevenson	13	Desertion	18 Jul 1918.

The Corps of Royal Engineers

The following list shows the soldiers from the Corps of Royal Engineers who were sentenced to death for various offences, and were actually executed. All of the soldiers were serving in the France & Flanders theatre.

Regt Number	Rank.	Name.	Unit	Charge	Date Executed
14780	Acting Corporal	A. Chisholm	20th Fortress Company	Murder	17 May 1915.
89173	Pioneer	E. Beeby	212th Field Company	Desertion	9 Dec 1916.
13224	Sapper	F. Malyon	12th Field Company	Desertion	4 Apr 1917.
94236	Sapper	A.P. Oyns	50th Search-Light Company	Murder	20 Oct 1917.
62536	Sapper	R. Bell	123rd Field Company	Murder	22 May 1918.

1941-53 Military Executions

During the period 1941 and 1953, a total of 47 soldiers were sentenced to death and executed by British courts-martials. The first executed person was Driver Shabani bin Salu of 1st (T) Field Ambulance. He was tried and sentenced to death by shooting, for murder, by a Field General courts-martial (FGCM) in East Africa, on 28 June 1941. His sentence was confirmed on 18 July 1941, and he was executed on 3 September 1941.

The last person was Private J.J. Itumo of 3rd (Kenya) KAR. He was tried by General courts-martial at Kuantan (in modern day Malaysia), on 5-7 August 1953 for murder. His sentence was confirmed on 5 September 1953, and he was hanged on 10 November 1953. The following table summarises the capital courts-martials during the period 1941 to 1953.

Offence	Punishment	Total
Murder	Hanged	10
Murder	Shot	33
Mutiny	Hanged	3
Treachery	Hanged	1

The only serviceman courts-martialled for treachery was Theodore Schurch. Although he was tried by a courts-martial, he was executed at London's Pentonville Prison in January 1946.

Cocos Islands Mutiny

The Cocos Islands Mutiny was a failed mutiny by Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) soldiers against their British officers, on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in May 1942.

The mutineers were to seize control of the islands, disable the British garrison and to transfer the islands to the Empire of Japan. However, the mutiny was defeated after the Ceylonese failed to seize control of the islands.

The men who were convicted of mutiny were:

Bombardier Gratien Fernando - Death
Gunner Carlo Augustus Gauder - Death
Gunner G. Benny de Silva - Death
Gunner R.S. Hamilton - Death (Commuted to penal servitude for three years)
Lance Bombardier Kingsley W.J Diasz - Death (Commuted to penal servitude for four years)
Gunner A. Joseph L. Peries - Death (Commuted to penal servitude for four years)
Gunner Gerry D. Anandappa - Death (Commuted to penal servitude for three years)
Gunner A. B. Edema - Imprisonment for one year without hard labour
Gunner M. A. Hopman - Penal servitude for three years
Gunner F. J. Daniels - Penal servitude for seven years
Gunner Kenneth R. Porritt - Imprisonment for one year with hard labour

The 15 mutineers were court martialed on the Cocos Islands. Seven men were sentenced to death and four soldiers received terms of imprisonment.

Gunner Samaris Jayasekera who was killed during the mutiny, attending to a wounded friend, was buried with full military honours on Horsburgh Island on the evening of 10 May 1942 and later reburied in Singapore's Kranji War Cemetery (Plot 46, Row C, Grave 13).

The condemned mutineers were shipped back to Ceylon and imprisoned at the military jail in Flagstaff Street and then at military detention barracks at Hulftsdorp.

Bomdadier G.H. Bernando was was executed on 5 August 1942, Gunner G.B. de Silva was executed on 7 August 1942 and Gunner. C.A. Gauder was executed on 8 August 1942.