"Breaker" Morant Items Found on Rubbish Dump
 

I just came across this, and thought others might also find it of interest:

"Breaker Morant relics found on rubbish tip, Tenterfield New South Wales, Australia"

http://breakermorant.com/?p=616

Thank you for that posting. It seems unbelievable that such items would just be discarded or even put away and forgotten about!

I'm not sure how accurate the 1980 film "Breaker Morant" with Edward Woodward was but it was a very good film and even if only half accurate shows what a grave injustice was done to those men.

Does anyone know whether they were ever pardoned?

Unless it has happened in the last six months or so, then the answer has to be no.

This article, from the same site, was published in February of this year:

"Why I am advocating for posthumous pardons for Lieutenants Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant, Peter Handcock and George Witton"

http://breakermorant.com/?p=640

Thank you for that. Makes very interesting reading and suggests that a lot of the film was accurate.

Why on earth should they be pardoned? Regardless of whether their trial was fair or not, and the circumstances ensured that any Australians sentenced to death during the Great War were not executed, murder is murder.

I seem to recall that the British and Americans held similar trials post Second World War - are we to assume that the Germans involved were denied natural justice and right of appeal because they were only following orders, or that not all of them had to face trial?

The film, like many, no doubt presented a particular viewpoint. Murder is still murder. For sure correct the record to ensure that the truth about the trials and the orders are known, but he was still punished for murder, and the truth be known apparently a lot of others should have been shot with him, probably including Kitchener. There is no reason to pardon Morant or the others.

Keith

I wasn't suggesting that they should be pardoned, merely asking whether they had been.

However, reading the article referred to (and some others rather than just watching the film!) it would seem that a lot of people, particularly in Australia, believe they should be pardoned. I don't know enough about the true facts of the case to have an opinion.