Scapegoats of the Empire
Encyclopedia
George Ramsdale Witton was a Lieutenant in the Bushveldt Carbineers
in the Boer War
in South Africa
. He was sentenced to death for murder
after the shooting of Boer prisoners. He was subsequently reprieved by Kitchener
, although Lieutenants Peter Handcock
and Harry "Breaker" Morant who had been court martialed
with him were executed by a firing squad on 27 February 1902.
, Australia
, and was from a farming family; prior to his VIB enlistment, he was a gunner in the Royal Australian Artillery. He enlisted in the Victorian Imperial Bushmen for the Boer War
, and was promoted from Corporal to Squadron Quartermaster-Sergeant. Major Robert Lenehan enlisted him in the Bushveldt Carbineers
with a commission as Lieutenant.
Kitchener commuted Witton's sentence to life imprisonment. He was released after protests on 11 August 1904, though not pardoned. He had been ill twice in prison in England
, once from arsenic
fumes in a metal shop and once from typhoid fever
. He returned to Australia 12 November 1904 embittered after three years in prison, and wrote a book giving his version of the events involving Morant, Handcock and the BVC.
was originally published in 1907 by D. W. Paterson of Melbourne
, but was long unavailable. Prior to its reprint in 1982 by the Australian publishing house Angus & Robertson
, it is claimed that only seven copies of the book survived in various Australian state libraries and in the possession of Witton's family. Although unsubstantiated, it has long been claimed that the book was suppressed by the Australian government and most copies were destroyed; another explanation is that most of the copies were destroyed by an accidental fire at the publisher's warehouse. The 1982 reprinting was inspired by the success of a film based on the book, entitled Breaker Morant
.
Witton's main assertion, as indicated by the book's provocative title, is that he, Morant, and Handcock were made scapegoats by the British authorities in South Africa
—that they were made to take the blame for widespread British war crime
s against the Boers, and that the trial and executions were carried out by the British for political reasons, partly to cover up a controversial and secret "no prisoners" policy promulgated by Lord Kitchener, and partly to appease the Boer government over the killing of Boer prisoners, in order to facilitate a peace treaty; the Treaty of Vereeniging
was signed on 31 May 1902.
Witton also claims that many of the accusations about them, which led to their arrest and trial, were made by disaffected members of their regiment whose rebellious behaviour had been suppressed by Morant and Handcock.
An embittered Witton did not rush to enlist in World War I
. After former and future Prime Minister
Andrew Fisher
pledged during the 1914 general election
that Australia would defend Britain "to the last man and last shilling," Witton intimated that he would be that last man. He lived in Gippsland
, Victoria
and in Queensland
where he was a dairy farmer. He married twice, but did not have any children. He had a heart attack while cranking his car engine, and died in a hospital on 14 August 1942. He was buried in Brisbane's
Lutwyche Cemetery which, coincidentally, is located on the corner of Lutwyche and Kitchener Roads.
. The British Government is considering the petition on behalf of the Queen and has yet to announce a review. The second petition was considered by the Petitions committee on 15 March 2010. Unkles appeared before the committee, along with others including historian Craig Wilcox. Committee member Alex Hawke MP stated, "There is in my view serious and compelling evidence that some form of redress should be given all these years later to those men executed by the British"(Hansard
Transcript, House of Representatives Grievance Debate, 15 March 2010).
Bushveldt Carbineers
The Bushveldt Carbineers were a short-lived, multinational mounted infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in South Africa during the Second Boer War. The BVC is recognized as the world's first modern Special forces for the use of counter insurgency tactics.The 320-strong regiment was...
in the Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. He was sentenced to death for murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
after the shooting of Boer prisoners. He was subsequently reprieved by Kitchener
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
, although Lieutenants Peter Handcock
Peter Handcock
Peter Joseph Handcock was a Veterinary Lieutenant in the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Boer War in South Africa. Handcock and Harry "Breaker" Morant were court martialed and executed by firing squad on 27 February 1902 on murder charges for shooting Boer prisoners and a German missionary, Jacob...
and Harry "Breaker" Morant who had been court martialed
Court martial of Breaker Morant
The court-martial of six officers of the Bushveldt Carbineers , an irregular British force in the Boer War, was based on charges asserting that, between July and September 1901, a Lieutenant Harry Morant had incited the co-accused, Lts Handcock, Witton and others under his command to murder some...
with him were executed by a firing squad on 27 February 1902.
Early life and involvement in the Boer War
Witton was born near Warrnambool, VictoriaVictoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and was from a farming family; prior to his VIB enlistment, he was a gunner in the Royal Australian Artillery. He enlisted in the Victorian Imperial Bushmen for the Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
, and was promoted from Corporal to Squadron Quartermaster-Sergeant. Major Robert Lenehan enlisted him in the Bushveldt Carbineers
Bushveldt Carbineers
The Bushveldt Carbineers were a short-lived, multinational mounted infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in South Africa during the Second Boer War. The BVC is recognized as the world's first modern Special forces for the use of counter insurgency tactics.The 320-strong regiment was...
with a commission as Lieutenant.
Kitchener commuted Witton's sentence to life imprisonment. He was released after protests on 11 August 1904, though not pardoned. He had been ill twice in prison in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, once from arsenic
Arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
fumes in a metal shop and once from typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
. He returned to Australia 12 November 1904 embittered after three years in prison, and wrote a book giving his version of the events involving Morant, Handcock and the BVC.
Scapegoats of the Empire book and Later life
His book, Scapegoats of the EmpireScapegoats of the Empire
George Ramsdale Witton was a Lieutenant in the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Boer War in South Africa. He was sentenced to death for murder after the shooting of Boer prisoners...
was originally published in 1907 by D. W. Paterson of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, but was long unavailable. Prior to its reprint in 1982 by the Australian publishing house Angus & Robertson
Angus & Robertson
Angus & Robertson is a bookstore chain in Australia. Its first bookstore was opened in 110½ Market Street, Sydney by Scotsman David Angus in 1884; it sold second-hand books. In 1886, he went into partnership with fellow Scot, George Robertson with whom he had worked earlier.- Bookselling history...
, it is claimed that only seven copies of the book survived in various Australian state libraries and in the possession of Witton's family. Although unsubstantiated, it has long been claimed that the book was suppressed by the Australian government and most copies were destroyed; another explanation is that most of the copies were destroyed by an accidental fire at the publisher's warehouse. The 1982 reprinting was inspired by the success of a film based on the book, entitled Breaker Morant
Breaker Morant (film)
Breaker Morant is a 1980 Australian film about the court martial of Breaker Morant, directed by Bruce Beresford and starring British actor Edward Woodward as Harry "Breaker" Morant...
.
Witton's main assertion, as indicated by the book's provocative title, is that he, Morant, and Handcock were made scapegoats by the British authorities in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
—that they were made to take the blame for widespread British war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s against the Boers, and that the trial and executions were carried out by the British for political reasons, partly to cover up a controversial and secret "no prisoners" policy promulgated by Lord Kitchener, and partly to appease the Boer government over the killing of Boer prisoners, in order to facilitate a peace treaty; the Treaty of Vereeniging
Treaty of Vereeniging
The Treaty of Vereeniging was the peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the South African War between the South African Republic and the Republic of the Orange Free State, on the one side, and the British Empire on the other.This settlement provided for the end of hostilities and...
was signed on 31 May 1902.
Witton also claims that many of the accusations about them, which led to their arrest and trial, were made by disaffected members of their regiment whose rebellious behaviour had been suppressed by Morant and Handcock.
An embittered Witton did not rush to enlist in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. After former and future Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Andrew Fisher
Andrew Fisher
Andrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation...
pledged during the 1914 general election
Australian federal election, 1914
Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 September 1914. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 36 seats in the Senate were up for election in a double dissolution...
that Australia would defend Britain "to the last man and last shilling," Witton intimated that he would be that last man. He lived in Gippsland
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
where he was a dairy farmer. He married twice, but did not have any children. He had a heart attack while cranking his car engine, and died in a hospital on 14 August 1942. He was buried in Brisbane's
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
Lutwyche Cemetery which, coincidentally, is located on the corner of Lutwyche and Kitchener Roads.
Petitions for Review of Courts Martial Convictions
Australian lawyer Jim Unkles has submitted two petitions, one to Queen Elizabeth II, and the other to the House of Representatives Petitions Committee. The petitions have been referred to the British Crown by the Attorney-General of AustraliaAttorney-General of Australia
The Attorney-General of Australia is the first law officer of the Crown, chief law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia and a minister of the Crown. The Attorney-General is usually a member of the Federal Cabinet, but there is no constitutional requirement that this be the case since the...
. The British Government is considering the petition on behalf of the Queen and has yet to announce a review. The second petition was considered by the Petitions committee on 15 March 2010. Unkles appeared before the committee, along with others including historian Craig Wilcox. Committee member Alex Hawke MP stated, "There is in my view serious and compelling evidence that some form of redress should be given all these years later to those men executed by the British"(Hansard
Hansard
Hansard is the name of the printed transcripts of parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of government. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard, an early printer and publisher of these transcripts.-Origins:...
Transcript, House of Representatives Grievance Debate, 15 March 2010).
External links
- Witton memorial at Australian Boer War memorial
- Text of Scapegoats of the Empire at Project Gutenberg of Australia