British Free Corps - Courts Martial of Those Involved

Courts Martial of Those Involved

Newspapers of the period give details of the court-martial of several Commonwealth soldiers involved in the corps. One Canadian captive, Private Edwin Barnard Martin, said he joined the corps "to wreck it". He designed the flag and banner used by the corps, and admitted to being one of the original six or seven members of the Corps during his trial. He was given a travel warrant and a railway pass which allowed him to move around Germany without a guard. He was charged with aiding the enemy while a prisoner of war.

Another New Zealand soldier claimed at his court-martial that he joined the corps for similar reasons, to gather intelligence on the Germans to form a revolution among POWs, or to sabotage the unit if the revolution failed.

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