The Crimes of Breaker Morant | The Retrial (Australian History Documentary) | Timeline

[Music] at the turn of the 20th century men from all over the British Empire including Australia arrived in South Africa to help Britain fight a vicious war against the Boer settlers it was supposed to last three months but it dragged on for almost three years during that conflict the British executed two Australians famed Horseman and bush poet Harry the Breaker Morant and Peter Hancock for shooting poor prisoners the feeling of injustice has persisted ever since but were they guilty or did they receive secret orders to do so from British commander in chief Lord Kitchener Harry the Breaker Morant is an Australian legend you don't get called the breaker for nothing and during the 1880s and 1890s he was famous throughout Australia the obviously he stared down a bullet and said you know she'd straight you bastard so I think he was a genuine man Morant was a horseman of great courage and daring with more than a touch of the larrikin there was no one quite like him a hard drinker a hard puncher he roared his way through the bakbox of Queensland and New South Wales and his deeds of derring-do on horseback are still legend in outback towns [Applause] well Coleman is comfortable in the company of gentlemen is with the swag ease and rough diamonds he met in the bush Marant was a rare mix who kept a book of Byron any saddlebag along with his bottle of grog he was also a renowned Bush poet who immortalized life in the outback Australia was about to become a new nation with its own distinctive voice and character forged in the heat and dust of the outback and one of the men that inspired that new identity was breaker Marant [Music] my name's Neil Pickett and for years I've been fascinated by Harry the Breaker Morant who was executed by the British during the Boer War but what I want to know is how did an Australian bush legend end up in front of the firing squad now to find that out I need to journey back in time over a hundred years to outback Australia South Africa and the United Kingdom to discover who Marant really was and why his story persists to this day bye Peter [Music] Morant was executed in 1982 by the british military during the Boer War in South Africa after being convicted of shooting ball prisoners on orders he claimed his superior officers gave him I have direct orders from headquarters not to take prisoners now a new campaign has been launched to clear his name Jim uncle's is a military lawyer on a crusade the trials were a fuss that were not tried according to war it's time for these convictions to be overturned and posthumous pardon stranger I'm going to follow all his highs and lows as he takes it all the way to the Australian Parliament the High Court and the Queen of England herself but first Jim has to overcome a century of resistance from the British and Australian governments and from the descendants of the Boers who was shot by Morant in South Africa murder he's guilty he's a murderer [Music] during the very birth of our nation twenty-three thousand Australians deserving with the British Empire forces in a bitter campaign against the BIR Republic's in South Africa now although nearly a thousand Australians lost their lives in that conflict only three names are remembered Hancock Witten and Moran I've come to the shrine of remembrance to meet Jim uncles who's on a mission to write what he sees as a long-standing historical wrong the descendants of lieutenant Aaron Hancock and Witten want a judicial inquiry they ultimately want pardons for these men it's long overdue of 111 years of controversy it needs to come to an end Jib has put tireless effort and I was into this campaign you know I untied everything possible I'd been to London not know where I've just stand well it feels like a lifetime but in actual fact it's been about four years I was working in Canberra I wanted to do something in my spare time and I decided I'd do some research and while I was thinking about that I was watching of all things the Breaker Morant movie chod seen before like most Australians I'd send it a number of times but I dunno orders that one would consider barbarous have already been issued in this war before I was asked to defend these men I was intrigued by the role of Jack Thompson of major Thomas the defending officer James Francis Thomas it was a military figure in Australian history who had sorely not been recognized I was transfixed on some of his writings that he did from 1902 just after Moran had been executed major Thomas did this extraordinary campaign of letter-writing to various state premiers in Australia and I thought to myself why would Amanda vote 30 40 years of his life for testing the innocence of his clients and demanding that the Australian government try and get an inquiry and I was touched by his determination and I said well let's have a look at it and I know a crooked prosecution when I see one and there were some troubling features about what I discovered these were serious breaches of military law and common law that existed in 1902 these men made political scapegoats for the flaws of the senior British commanders Hancock Whitman and Moran or serving you know in a British military unit the jurisdiction for military law violations light with the British military hints the British government and one of the time-honored traditions of any Commonwealth citizen is to be able to petition the Queen having failed to get a response Jim has travelled to London it's been six months since this petition was submitted and I think six months is plenty of time for to decide what it's going to do what sort of inquiry its going to have the buck stops right there with her majesty I wanted to grant these pardons overturn the conviction and quash the services at Her Majesty's a very astute woman she would know about the history the Boer War she would certainly know about breaking rent she's probably seen the film she knows about this case I know that because I wrote to it finally Jim got an answer from the British government but it wasn't what he expected one reason he cited was that the matter had been reviewed in 2002 when I read it it was poorly written poorly reasoned did not address the new evidence of course that I have since discovered I started to suspect that there was a very strong political dimension to this case despite the criticism Jim's continuing with his campaign his next move is to march on Parliament House with the Australian descendants back in the 1880s Harry the Breaker Morant legend was growing it was said he was the most reckless man ever to throw his leg over a wild horse in Australia he would have came to a property you know like Fanning downs or wherever he was at the time had been a mobile forces he might have done six to seven at a time so he'd get in there saddle them up get them ridden and then you know he'd tell the manager of the owner like this force will make a good workhorse and maybe this horse is better for this and go out the matter and just work through them in a processor bull mount and they'd build from there than his reputation grew from that word of mouth is a strong thing it's a great advertising tool and you know he would have been breaking in horses on on properties around the district and just would have been here so amongst the ringers off who's that fellow well that's the breaker well what's his name Oh Moran Breaker Morant it sort of sticks you know a little bit like a catchphrase and that's how I think and he probably liked it he started to use the handle and it grew from that from what you know you read and the history of it and you obviously you know he stared down a bullet and said you know she's straight you bastard so I think he was a genuine man but there was another very different side to his character he was also a noted Bush poet encouraged to write verse by none other than banjo Patterson Patterson and Marant of course were contemporaries friends and rivals they wrote in steeple chases against one another and they both wrote verse Patterson tells the story of an amateur steeplechase race at Rose Hill in which there was a mayor that all the other riders were afraid to ride she was unmanageable around agreed to rider but of course she cleared off with him fell into a ditch and rolled on rent was carried unconscious to the grandstand and called Patterson in as he was a solicitor to listen to the last words of Marant Patterson walked into the room looked at Marant and said in a loud voice what will you have Marant brandy and soda was the quick reply [Music] banjo Patterson once wrote of me he was the flashes man I ever knew he could dance like the devil ride like the wind there was nothing he couldn't do in the late 1800s the bulletins strongly supported a distinctly Australian voice and regularly published works by the bush poets men like Patterson Lawson Ogilvy and Moran's all of these men portrayed a bold tough-minded free-spirited country more importantly different from Britain the bush was being mythologized and the breaker was very much a part of that myth let's see why I tell you a marette between 1892 and 1914 published about 60 of his poems [Applause] there's a band of decent fellows on a cattle run our back heel hair the timber smashing if you follow in their traffic their ways are rough and hardy they call a spade a spade and a pretty rapid party are the brig allure Brigade they've painted parts per million and they've colored orange blue and the broken lots of top rails tooks the C in the Dan de loop they like their grog and palings just as stiff as they are made these are two little failings of the brig all over again [Applause] this is verse five the brig alert brigade are fastidious in their taste and the matters of a maiden and the inches of her waist she must be sweet and tender hmm and her eyes a decent shade that Omar may safely send her to the brig alow brigade not to you there's nothing safe eleven one with you mate it's pretty clear why the breaker was a legend which makes me want to find out more about him but when I looked into the records there is no hairy high board morant registered as having been born in Australia or having arrived here it seems he just appeared out of nowhere the archives revealed a long-standing mystery a mrs. veal of charters towers northern Queensland told the editor of the northern minor that Morant had been married in her house under the name of Edwin Henry Merrin to prove her story she showed him the Bible that Mont had brought with him from England now a check of the immigration record shows that an 18 year old named Merrin t' arrived in Townsville on the 25th of June 1883 from Plymouth in England aboard the SS Warren go he headed inland to this place the gold mining town of charters towers they already called it the world because people had come from all over the place to find their fortunes here and money insured you could get just about anything you wanted and Edwin Henry Mont was not the kind of man to say no [Music] this is Fanning down station it was one of the largest in the area and he found employment here as a Stockman we're going to meet Peter and Judy Costello they're fourth generation owners of this property they take a really keen interest in the history of the place we're on the main road from Charlie's house to Bowen and I've been picking stuff up all around the place and I've just noticed please what do you think we're standing on the side of here I'd say it was a birdie can hotel right which you know it would have been a good place forward on the banks of the bird acun there would have been wolf breakers you reckon young 19 year old as he was then Edmund Marant might have snuck over to the Burdick and for a beer yeah also employed at the homestead as a governess to the children was a young woman recently arrived from Ireland she was well presented cultured had good references she was surprisingly feisty and had already turned many heads in the booming town of charters towers her name was Daisy O'Dwyer she was later known as Daisy Bates the renowned anthropologist that's that Lauren fellow from Fanning downs we needn't concern ourselves with her Minari in Australia at the period when she arrived when both she and Marant arrived being Irish and Catholic was very very low-class there were even signs up in Queensland pubs no drugs no Irish well she might have seen him out riding the horses across the black soil plain fear one day and romance blossomed on the banks of the vertical River and he he was very funny you could tell funny jokes I mean you know this is not the first woman to have been laughed into bed and although she said that she was a member of the Anglo Irish aristocracy if she said the truth my father was the boot maker in Ross Kray and he was Catholic and an alcoholic she demand out there scrubbing the pans in the scullery Daisy was a girl on the look out to marry well and rise above her station with me Dublin that's recently London are you doing here better suited to the climbers but what about you mr. Morris that's my right I thought you were in Laurent that's a long story lighter he revealed to her that although he was born with the name Marant his real father was in fact captain Digby Moran's of the British Royal Navy so although both claimed to be descended from the landed gentry neither of them had two farthings to rub together he wrote to captain Moran seeking some money to help him get established but as usual he received no reply nevertheless on the 13th of March 1884 they did tie the knot but because she was a Catholic and he was an Anglican they couldn't get married in a church so the ceremony took place in this house in plant Street charters towers we are gathered here in the eyes of God to bring these now the legal age for a man to get married back then was 21 and if you look at the marriage certificate that's the age that Ed wouldn't gave but if you look at his birth certificate in fact he was only 19 and she was 24 which might explain why he didn't want to have his photograph taken it's pretty clear that Daisy married Edwin because she believed he was a member of the English Chantry you take Daisy Mae O'Dwyer to be your lawful wedded wife I do [Music] but the honeymoon period didn't last long in April 1884 less than a month after they'd been married the northern minor reported that Edwin had been arrested for stealing a saddle and 32 pigs they also said that he tried to skip town but had been captured and brought back to justice Eddie daddy on that satellite interestingly Daisy didn't come forward to post the forty pound bail and Edwin said he wasn't living with his wife but at another address Edwin Henry Marit you've been accused of stealing a saddle belonging to mrs. Brooks how do you plead not guilty or worship you worship this is not a case of theft this is a case of misunderstanding I pride myself on my good name in my honor and I would never commit a crime I also would never pay that much for an old saddle as I think she knows ever eloquent he managed to convince the magistrate that it was all a misunderstanding case dismissed he was so charming no we would all have fallen for him the judge might have believed him but not Daisy they came and took my room this morning you want to tell me what's going on just a mistake okay actually the romance was over her prints turned out to be a pauper [Music] in not much more than six weeks Daisy and Edwin parted company and went their separate ways into Australian history [Music] despite the break-up Daisy did change it wouldn't Moran's destiny thanks to her influence he first signed his name Marant on a dud check for two horses which he was forced to return it was around here between charters towers and the vastness of the Queensland outback that Edwin Henry Miran 'the remittance man and petty thief disappears and an extraordinary charismatic Horseman named Harry har board Marant begins his ride into history but I want to be absolutely certain that they're one in the same man Neal Holland is one of Australia's foremost forensic document examiner's know the last 35 years he's helped to solve a lot of high-profile cases and we're here to see if he can shed a little bit of light on our mystery this type of examination is a comparison here on the screen you've got a to you in the signature of Edwin Moran's you can actually see at the end of morantz signature is a long sweeping straight to the top this style of tea is prevalent throughout the handwriting and also signature of Marines there the examination being a microscopic examination revealed with almost every letter form similarities in construction what about the Eamon marooned here what I can discern is written like a sawtooth we look on this document here which is the that where he signed up for the Boer War in 1899 and we've got that same M heavily we do have the same M so here we have is the t and the M are significant in both cases so we've established that they were one in the same but who was marooned and why did he change his name to Moran's to answer that question we've come here to the town of Bridgewater in the English county of Somerset where Edwin Henry Marant was born on the 9th of December 1864 he was named after the man who appears on his Bertha together Edwin Henry Marat a man he never met because tragically three days before he was born Marantz senior passed away from a fever following infection and he's buried here in Bridgewater Cemetery these walls are what remains of an institution that housed the poor and the old in very basic conditions and Catherine Marantz lived in that workhouse with her two children is that right yeah and she was the matron of the workhouse we know that the children were allowed into the workhouse after her husband died maybe that's how she took to drink she was certainly an alcoholic here at the West Somerset records office in Taunton are these theater minute books from the Bridgewater workhouse here's an entry from 1876 which shows that Catherine's wage was 40 pounds a year that means it hadn't increased in 12 years effectively the marantz were becoming increasingly poorer but what we know is that at this time young edwin was going to solidia college and the fees there were 36 pounds per annum now that begs the question how does a workhouse widow from a poor family afford to send her son to a private school [Music] well the twist of the tail really is that Edwin Merrin claimed to be hairy hardboard Marant son of captain Digby Moran of the British Royal Navy who had recently returned from service in the Crimea and the marantz were a venerable English family part of the landed gentry part of the establishment you think that Digby paid for the education well put it this way Katherine's entire annual wage barely matched Edwin school fees so someone had to be paying because she couldn't really afford it and we know that he moved down to North Devon to Biddeford where he moved in with her a chuckle Melville white who we refer to his uncle Nova white was a horseman yes no well white was a fine horseman he was the master of the hunt in hunting circles he was known as one of the best horse riders best breaker horses that's possibly where Breaker Morant learned his horse riding skills and he was a poet a poet and a writer so you think there's a chance that Digby marine who was a hunter would have known or for what Digby Marant was also in the same hunting set you couldn't be in the same hunting set and not meet all those other people they would have been acquaintances Melville white and thinking Ryan were close piece by piece the breakers story is starting to fall into place for me the stealing of the saddle the bouncing of the chicks they're the acts of a boy from the poor house living on his wits but the literature the culture and exceptional horse skills belong to someone of better breeding now there are a lot of theories as to why edwin laurent ended up in australia what what do you think's most likely it met a young girl and they had got engaged and then I looked unfortunately should turn out to be still a ward of Chancery which meant she was underage arrived yes and of course this created a huge scandal and it would have been enough for a patron like Digby Marant to cut off young edwin and send him to australia where all the black sheep and the near do wells were sent in those days the fight to get justice for Breaker Morant continues more than a century later when G Mughals takes the case all the way to the Australian Parliament House of Representatives has a petitions committee in March of 2010 I persuaded the committee to consider the petition and the evidence it was the first Australian institution that had considered this case since the executions happened in 1902 what difference will it make well there are a lot of relatives here today they have carried this burden throughout their family histories from for many decades what it's to the nation this case is an unjust stain on Australia's identity and military history would like to understand why there was no option for appeal you're just simply saying it's because that's how it was soldiers serving in uniform come come under a different standard there's no limited liability clause in their soldiers contract so you feel as a historian that Kitchener didn't make those orders virtually to shoot to kill Kitchener issued harsh exhortations to the army saying I want you to behave harshly mmm not very good but those orders were far short of saying you should round up everybody and start killing them Barret Hancock and Witten have been fitted out with all sorts of murders children use adults aye they are the word in the area at the time or be there's no proof and that this book on scapegoats of the Empire is a very valuable book it's one of the original few that has survived I have got a copy as well you've got the true copy we had a full day hearing the petitions committee considered the evidence for and against my opponents who were historians who came from the war memorial who want to support the British position as an individual myself questioning decades of tradition and rehearsal that these men got they deserved of course they're going to be resistant you claimed there was no evidence of secret orders by Kitchener as if that was a certainty no such orders have been found we really have no evidence of any kind of order there's evidence at rep that Moran was reprimanded for not obeying those orders I was very quietly confident that the evidence and material I had would get us over the at the end of the day in the deed I think it didn't matter what side of the house you're on the members of this committee felt that there was a story here that needed to be answered and I think the further you look into this matter the more details you'll find that there has been some injustice and something that has been unresolved for a long time one of the members of the committee have went into Parliament on hand side and described the case for pardons as strong and compelling so armed with that significant event an outcome I then pushed on with Robert McClelland and sought his support and assistance it's August 2011 and Jim's recruited Melbourne barrister David Denton to help him lobby the Australian Attorney General Robert McClelland it's our approach David now said look I need some pro bono assistance am I too close to it and I also came to the conclusion that they did not obtain a trial according to law and that they had therefore being a miscarriage of justice there are unquestionably fundamental flaws in the legal process that resulted in these convictions why would these men denied access to judicial review or an appeal how many could have left it at that but he said no I'm going to now write to the British government to note his concerns however early in 2012 a cabinet reshuffle saw the appointment of a new Attorney General I expected the advice would simply roll over to Nicola Roxon but as the months ticked by I started to get nervous and in April 2012 Jim suffers a serious setback sure enough she met me and she explained she wouldn't support the case I got an underlying sense that again the detractors had lobbied and influenced the Attorney General Nicola Roxon Peter later is a lawyer representing the Bohr descendants we are very pleased with mrs. roxxon's decision the views of the Australian government in 2012 support my view that there was no procedural unfairness the British government in 2011 supports my view meeting one of the locations in South Africa where Murray and his men shot Boer prisoners the descendants welcomed the Australian decision we are standing at the steps where that night attack happened the turning point of the whole bush veldt Carbineers saga you have to look at the facts what I know Marant was a murderer and to my mind if they give him a pardon well then they should all say he'll still be guilty of me he will still be guilty if you have prisoners of war they in your unu need to look after them they've laid down the arms so if we're not fighting anymore and then they go with him for a few days and then he decides to shoot them I'm sorry it doesn't make sense he murdered young children and unarmed soldiers I mean that's murder and anyone's eyes and as far as we concerned as South Africans and causes promoting war crimes with his pardon to come to South Africa where they are descendants of people who are massacred and to bring this burden to them is totally unacceptable we very pleased that the Australian Government is not supporting this I felt very let down for the trailing descendants about the decision by the Australian government and I felt very tired I thought I've done enough I've raised the profile I've raised the issues it's time to step back and wipe the white flag [Music] after 16 long years in exile Harry Marant had also hit rock bottom those hard years in the bush took their toll in letters to banjo Patterson he would often curse the harshness of the conditions and spoke about his longing to return to England how I hate this brittle oh desert sometimes 30 years next Christmas but I feel 50 would like one whole season well carried in Leicestershire and wouldn't growl of a broken neck at the finish a lot better than dreary years in the bush with periodical drunks but events across the globe would change Marantz life forever in South Africa the tensions between British colonies and Boer farmers were about to turn to war [Music] the outbreak of the war saw the breaker in Renmark South Australia working on pouring gas station and it was there that he met a Colonel Charles Moran who owned a station called Bangalore and who was quite coincidentally a cousin of the English Marantz Charles wrote to his cousin Digby Moran to plead the Breakers case but the only reply he received was no comment it was yet another blow for Moran's in now aged 35 he decided that drastic action was required to reverse his fortunes determined to prove his worth to his father he decided to enlist in the South Australian Mounted Rifles and the night before he left Renmark he famously rode his horse through the local pub and as the 20th century dawned he embarked for South Africa with the second contingent the bulletin paid him its own special tribute and farewell the British had thought this would be over by Christmas was a few farmers they'd knock him over in no time at all two and a half years later 20,000 deaths it cost him twenty million dollars this is a big conflict Australia responded enthusiastically to Britain's era of need sending 23,000 men that is the third largest deployment in Australia's history [Applause] the young Victorian volunteer George Ramsdale Witten wrote I could not rest content until I'd offered the assistance one man could give to our beloved Queen and the great nation to which I belong [Music] this is South Africa in this monument here in Johannesburg commemorates a war the British thought would be over in months the Empire builders at this ideal and a people like Cecil John Rhodes having British territory all the way from south to north in fact he said one day I want to build a railway line from Cape Town to Cairo running all the way on British territory but in his way with two small little brewery publics and they refused to come into the fold of the British and of course the discovery of gold led to the influx of large number of foreigners from all over the world the British government demanded the Boers give the thousands of British gold field workers the vote the Boers refused saying they were not citizens and the numbers would give Britain de-facto control of its most valuable territory the British issued an ultimatum comply or go to war seizing the initiative on the 11th of October 1899 President Kruger put as he said his trust in God and the Mauser and launch surprise attacks on the Cape Colony catching the British off-guard the Bliss took the initiative they invaded the British territories and if they besieged the British Garrison's in Ladysmith and method King and Kimberley everyday just bombing into the town the British start to mobilize the troops in their territory since Africa and despite their early setbacks by the time Marines arrived here rather ironically on April Fool's Day 1900 the British under Lord Roberts had regained the initiative the mighty British military machine was rolling northwards engaging the Boers on every front his mate banjo Patterson was already in South Africa as a war correspondent but when he started writing articles critical of the war he was awed at home after only six months he spent the rest of the war touring Australia speaking out against it the South African war is an unjust war and I say Australia should withdraw from this ill-fated adventure I am recently returned from South Africa and I saw with my own eyes women and children not much older than your own mam and in these camps they died of hunger and disease [Music] what he said tragic about this war is that about 28,000 women and children died in the camps 28,000 women and children so it was the British who created the first concentration camps during war now find out more about that I've arranged to meet Charles leach who's an expert on the Boer War in the Transvaal he leads tours to sites where hostilities took place and he's gonna show me around the side of one of those concentration camps near Petersburg how many people were in these concentration camps in total in South Africa they were under a possible war this one was known as hell camp it had the highest percentage of deaths per inmate most of them children and these women and children became hostages Kitchener was basically holding a gun at the head of the boys saying if you want your women and children back stop them to stop fighting stop trying don't fight him yeah had England really budgeted for this did they have adequate medical supplies in the Cape's no did they have an adequate vegetables and fresh meat no did that have adequate sanitation no so there were those who said those boys don't need sanitation they don't know what the hell it is those are the things that caused the disc now unusually there'd be no acts of gallantry for Marantz after a low-key stint in a remount section he'd been assigned as a dispatch rider to the veteran London Daily Telegraph journalist Bennett Burleigh riding on the coattails of the British Army Marant and Burleigh swept north was when Burley was sent home also for writing articles critical of the war Marant went with him as the guest of an English gentleman he'd met on the front a guy called captain Percy hunt before departing for England they stayed at Cape Town's most glamorous hotel the Mount Nelson and he asked that the bill for the considerable sum of 16 pounds and 13 shillings be sent to his family the marantz of Hampshire in England but it wasn't a Hampshire but to Biddeford in Devon that Morant returned when he arrived back in England this place held happy memories for him it was here that he learned to hunt with George Melville white and earned his Spurs as a horseman Percy hunt was Marantz entree to English society there's a photograph taken around that time of Moran looking very much the English gentleman and really in that moment were captured all the hopes and all the dreams that had sustained him during his long exile in Australia he and Percy hunt would come back from South Africa with him were really the men about town right you know there's hunting there was pheasant shooting there were balls there were parties and of course the even found time to get engaged to a couple of sisters repeatedly the daughters of a local Squire but he still was entitled to reconcile with Digby was he no he wasn't so in British upper class Society once you were cut he stayed cut the absolutely yes [Music] the marantz still live in Hampshire today and I'm on my way to ask them what they know about Harry hardboard Moran's everything's for having us here in the beautiful Moran home and you've got some documents well this is the original letter from the Mount Nelson hotel where breaker had been staying this gentleman whom we understand is your son left without discharging his liability mountain 216 pounds 13 shillings well reply from flora yes my great-grandmother and that's for rabbits all right now so you may safely write to the hotel they're saying that we don't know who he is yeah hmm so that's the denial that's another yes now I thought the trail had gone cold until Edward showed me another document admiral dick beamer and always denied that the breaker was his son but the veil of secrecy was about to be lifted this letter which was written by your my father yeah yeah when he attained the age of 21 he inherited broken has part in it there was the Munim entron which were all the deeds and other documents were kept in and what this letter is saying that he and his sister found an envelope in Hetty but written on it and what we've got masterís Asterix underlined Marines illegitimate child but the asterisk is explained at the bottom in the morning that his name the name wasn't left blank he knew the name he knew the name but he hasn't told you it hasn't told me what's your view on this I I think the more one looks tit the more truthful must be in it that he was him around it albeit perhaps illegitimate well that was extraordinary after a century of denial to here it would say that in all probability he thinks that Moran was a member of his family well that's a staggering as a former horse breaker and soldier morant didn't have many prospects in britain so in early 1981 when hunt asked if he'd join him in returning to South Africa he went saying that this time he winner Gong and milked the old boy's heart but when he returned to South Africa in April 1901 he found that the ward endured a much more brutal phase what Marans was faced with was a guerilla war when Lord Kitchener started with a scorched earth policy at the catalyst off from their supplies for sent to stop this war the birds just carried on and made use of guerrilla tactics he didn't run they carried on with the war the so-called bitter Enders this extraordinary building is Melrose house in Pretoria and it was kitcheners headquarters during the Boer War [Music] kitchner it was a sort of man that the British Army has often used when things get tough he's the sort of man who gets things done but when we looked back at him in the cold light of history we were pretty appalled he's the sort of man that made the Empire in other theatres of war Kitchener was no stranger to controversy I mean his great nemesis in the Sudan was Winston Churchill who exposed what he did a table demand there are thousands of men wounded on the battlefield and Kitchener said to his men yeah just go around and finish them all off but she did and Churchill wrote about this and said this is not exactly conduct becoming a British officer this block house at vidcom is living testimony to kitcheners desperation to end this war he built a staggering 8,000 of these man block houses across the country and then he joined them up with 4,000 miles of barbed wire then each section was cleared until the Boers were either captured or they were dead and then the British realized they can't fight these birds on their own ground you know that birds were good horsemen good cavalry man good marksman so eventually they decided to create original similar to what the bliz said Moran joined one of these so-called a regular units the B squadron of the bush veldt Carbineers which was based at streets port a squadron of the bvc was based further north in the spelunking area of the northern Transvaal or did the fortress Apatow's blue gum tree yeah so that it had this commanding view over the whole Valley towards the mountain and also the Elam roads they came onto my great-grandfather's farm this was his property this is your grandfather's this was my great-grandfather yes and this is where the bushveld company has arrived to take action against any book amando members who were still around it's important to know that company I at Fort Edward had already engaged in killing prisoners and suspects long before Marant arrived their reputation was rather unsavory they were must behaving amongst the locals they were stealing runs and certainly not recognizing their rank of the Robertson their commanding officer but the bvc were under the overall command of a rather shady character called captain Alfred Taylor who based himself here at Sweetwater's farm he been with Cecil Rhodes when they claimed Rhodesia and he'd earned himself a pretty nasty reputation the natives called him bull allah the killer he was actually headhunted by Kitchener he made it clear from the very beginning that he was the commanding officer of that area Taylor and he had this incredible influence the Carbineers were rudely awoken on the 2nd of July 1901 when they were summoned to captain Taylor's headquarters here at nearby Sweetwater's farm he stood on that step and told the troopers you're not to take prisoners anymore Morrison turned to Robertson and said do we take orders from this man and Robertson said yes indeed you do he's the commanding officer of this area so where are we now we at Valdivia and we're about 20 kilometers east of Fort Edward about 20 yes about that and this is the place where the BBC patrol that had been ordered by Taylor found the six boys flying a white flag yes Shari's on Nantucket [Applause] worse was to follow when trooper van Buuren one of the so-called board joiners was seen talking to the families of the men they just shot and he was labeled by the Carbineers as a spy again on the orders of Taylor and Robinson van Buren was shot by Lieutenant Hancock on a routine patrol also during the period remember before break and Rhonda arrived at Fort Edward because either the killing started before the break ago yes absolutely Colonel Hall received the report on the killing of the bers Robinson also reported that that fund Buren had been killed in action between the worst and the most surprising thing of all is that we have no reaction eventually he did have to act when two troopers absconded from Fort Edward and reported the shootings to him Sir we witnessed some innocent people being slaughtered also one of our own Robertson should have been charged as captain Taylor should have been charged they should have both been charged with murder it was a cover-up of great proportions to protect the British officers and they were never held to account the cover-up of atrocities was complete with the dismissal by Kitchener of the English officer Robinson but the killing of unarmed Boers used to continue when captain percy hunt moran solved mate from Devon was put in charge of the BBC the breaker and 60 other men from B company moved up here to port it with drinking marita was just the sort of soldier that you needed at Fort Edward and he assumed a position of leadership he was answerable to his close friend and British a superior captain hunt and marine bought a steely discipline to the bush veldt Carbineers it also made him unpopular with a number of troopers who resisted his discipline a photograph taken shortly afterwards shows Marant hancock hunt and taylor altogether george Whitten the young victorian gunner who'd expressed such passion for his country joined them shortly afterwards and so the stage was set for one of the most controversial incidents of the Boer War it was evident that because of the jacking up of discipline and more patrols being sent out that more prisoners were being brought in they were sweeping this area clean and obviously they their supply of provisions was limited it was at this point that captain hunt told Moran's about the new orders he'd received from Army Headquarters no prisoners were to be taken and it's recorded that morant was actually reprimanded for bringing in prisoners with Hunt telling him if you do that you'll have to feed them on your own rations to which Marant replied they're not a bad lot I've got nothing against them but the events of the night of July the 6th 1901 would change Moran's mind and his destiny forever [Music] Percy hunt was amending in about 40 kilometers from Fort Edward and his patrol received intelligence that a group of Boer commandos were holed up in a nearby farm house and I'm standing on the remnants of it now hunt decided to lead an ambush under the cover of darkness [Music] captain hunt without any reconnaissance literally walked up the front steps of the faloona homestead as if he walked up there and committed suicide when they returned the next morning they found sergeant Leland and captain hunt dead on the ground some depositions have said that Hunt's body had been stripped yet a boot mark on his forehead and his genitals had been removed my god it's hands for I saw where the bastards done to him [Music] hunts did you mean hunts dead it's been shot at the house where I got a met I don't know who where's the body I don't know this must have been a terrible blow to Marant that he's let us say his ticket to the UK and to a better life than he had in Australia and been whacked out of his hand [Music] [Music] Morant arrived too late for the funeral of the man he called the best mate I had in the world and hunts remains are still here in medding Tain's Emma tree but his grief turned to anger when he heard about the treatment of Hunt's body he reportedly said if that's the way they want it and he hand-picked a patrol that included Witten and Hancock and he set off in hot pursuit so traumatized was Marines about his superior officer and good friend being butchered and tortured and killed he then swore an allegiance to hunt that he would now evade those orders and that's exactly what he did this provocation would later become an important part of Moran's defense but wasn't the Boers who mutilated hunts I've said that the mutilation of bodies and the cutting out of body parts for mutti medicinal purposes or whatever cannot really be ascribed to the birds who were in is in essence a Christian nation if Marant knew the culture of this country then you would have known that that was the culture of the blacks that's what they did they took moody from the strong people the leaders and that's why they mutilated hunt and that's why they mutilated my my grandfather's brother he hunted down some of the boars that he thought was responsible for killing hunt and we come to the first shooting of the first boar visit did you kill hunt no you're wearing his jacket visit was found wearing the articles of hunts clothing and it was well known through the British forces any prisoners found caught wearing British car key in other words I'd lifted clothing off British officers soldiers was where to be shot Sameera Lee this man was concerned in the murder of Captain hunt I have direct orders from headquarters not to take prisoners Hancock found your firing party and don't have him shot hurry some of the men have asked me Harry no George you didn't know hunt hunt was my best friend and then make a fuss I'll shoot him myself aim fire and he entered the period of moroseness it was evident to the men at the fort that this man was not the man of before Hunt's death I have always maintained that Taylor was that evil if I may use the word evil influence who seldom pull the trigger himself in public he did it in a bush but the influence that that man had was remarkable less than two weeks later on the 23rd of July 8 Boers were sitting on a cart on the Elam road not far from Fort Edward coming in to surrender again we see Taylor manipulating events when he tells Moran that these Boers were part of the commando unit that killed hunt visiting missionary the Reverend Daniel Hess knew some of the men in the cars move on and we're on accosted yes sir and told him that he was to produce his travelling pots Kevin got the missionary out of the why there were no restraints on Marant and his men [Music] on the way back to Petersburg he came upon the scene of the bodies of these eight people which must have been quite traumatic he confronted Tyler and told him that he was going to report it to the authorities in Petersburg he then went to Fort Edward and presented his Travel Pass to morant at this stage he must have been aware of how dangerous this was for him attached to work like my cat follow you on the road the Reverend Daniel Hess and his driver were ambushed on this road here and although there were no witnesses of course suspicion immediately fell on the Carbineers if any of the killings make sense that will make sense s is clearly about to blow the whistle and it's vital to Marant if they feel that they're gonna get off for this murderous regime that they they kill Hess and that is uh normas it certainly what happens the evidence was pathetically weak it was there was no direct evidence that they were that they were implicated in whose's murder despite the death of his investigations by the clergy and questions at diplomatic level neither hall nor theater made any attempt to rein in the BBC and the killings continued [Music] the last of the killings it's difficult to say one killing is worse than the other but I think poignant said regrettable there are a lot of words roof on starting and his two sons and this is the exactly this is this is where they were buried exactly they were on their way to captain Taylor's office which is left on the drag here to get permission for the youngest one who was suffering from a fever to be admitted to hospital and they were met by a young black guy ride horses and he knew that when you hear horses you run like hell and he fled into an acacia tree he said these men were handed spades and I were told to dig their own grave so those three wars were short our dispute Charles leeches climbed that thou made to dig their own graves there's no evidence that that happened Kitson 'as policy in the northern Transvaal in 1901 was basically to terrorize the remaining population of bor bitter Enders into submission [Music] there were telegrams to London saying we need to really get on with this war I need to prove prosecuted in a much harder fashion but the British right no no no you go softly softly we'll have to bring these people to peace the last thing we want is a bloodbath so Kitchener was being stifled by London on the same time because he wasn't delivering the result they wanted he was being blamed so he was a very anxious man after the review of the morant case was turned down by the Australian Attorney General Jim took some time out I took a break gathered my thoughts spoke to the descendants and I felt very energized and I knew exactly what I was going to do what Jim is hoping to find is evidence that the Carbineers were not the only ones killing prisoners these records go back over 100 years right first of all we've got British troopers shot in cold blood by balls deliberately shot with his hands up another case of for troopers shot by the balls shot by the rebels in cold blood and what's this one they were shooting of two 1900s by Boers a little too cold stories boys on the fifth thing this indiscriminate killing going on everywhere this is a sort of evidence that I've been looking for over three frantic months 18 bores a Carboni a trooper and a missionary were all killed [Music] the real heroes in the case of Marant Hancock and Witten are those 15 largely Australian soldiers where the courage to stand up and say we do not want to be seen here while these Australian people are massacred innocent people shooting wounded soldiers shooting people who have surrendered the Cochran letter detailing the killings that had taken place at Fort Edward didn't contain anything that Colonel Hall didn't already know Taylor himself was under investigation by another department of the British administration Kitson his hand was finally forced it seems by the Native Affairs Department who accused Taylor of killing and stealing from the very people he was supposed to be protecting a party was sent out to arrest Taylor but Kitchener interceded and had the entire unit of the BBC ordered back to Petersburg and placed under arrest I think Kitchener was a very smart man Kitchener knew that to order the shooting of bored prisoners was indeed illegal so Kitchener thought if I make out there are a couple of rogues that were out there shooting people without my knowledge I can very quickly close this off they were kept in solitary confinement without even telling the Australian government their government that they were in peril they were kept in solitary confinement from October 1901 right through until the first trial started on January the 16th at 1902 the prosecution had unlimited resources to round up whatever witnesses they wanted but tenant Colonel Hall a primary witness for the defense he was quickly spirited off on posting to India they didn't have a lawyer they got a country solicitor who happened to be serving in the force to defend them at the last moment one day before the trial started boys I made a thomas friend of major linens i'm here to defend you harry better they had no chance their graves were dug even before they were convicted hey sorry I'm late major Thomas and had come from Tenterfield where he had a small practice specializing in conveyancing and wills and he certainly didn't have any experiences of military advocate he was really unlucky to get caught up in the Marant affair he'd actually become a little bit disillusioned with the war I had decided to return to Australia and he got a telegram orders that I didn't even follow until the death of hunt we were told if someone was found in a car key they were to be executed not to take any prisoners that's what we would tell major Thomas confronted with running very complex cases for five accused who facing serious charges of murder for which the sentences is capital punishment they're fixable I never would have done anything major Thomas asked the convening authority for an adjournment surely that's the appropriate thing to do this was all denied to Thomas the court-martial took place in Petersburg in the British Army officers mess and part of the mess was set aside for the trials and one of the rooms was used which had to hold three accused the defense counsel the prosecutor and the members of the court and other support staff the tension and drama must have been enormous in such a confined space it could have cut the year with a knife [Music] [Applause] lieutenant George Wilson Bush [ __ ] Carbineers lieutenant Peter Hancock bush veldt Carbineers lieutenant Helmer and which that car veneers or the charge that oddly lifts the longest 1901 that you did murder bore citizen by the name of Visser I heard you plead now guilty no one tried to hide the fact that orders were abide and visible shot he was complicit in the torture of captain hunt I believed I was entitled to shoot him as he was involved in the murder of a brother officer and was found wearing car key captain hunts trousers and tunic to be precise therefore we convened a field court-martial Bangkok Ranger firing party I don't have a shot have no authority of an order go by Lord Kitchener sake that boys were a cocky would be shot but legal records discovered by Jim uncles contradict the prosecutor this one is of a concern because this is a case that involves a bore found wearing British car key prisoner found wearing car key but no rifle prison states he was unaware of Proclamation saying all Boers in kharkiv he'd been here and he was shot and this is signed Kitchener Kitchener's brother Walter Kitchener the he was a general as well he was yep this is beast oh well it raises questions about the prosecution Marant was not acting with murderous intent Thomas's our main line of defense was provocation following the murder and mutilation of Captain hunts mentally marine was acting under extreme provocation and provocation was recognized as a defence at law and it should have reduced the charge to one of men she would have been told I was never the same after the death of captain hunter and I must admit that his debt weighs on my mind when I think of the brutal treatment that he received gentlemen if we were undertaking a civil trial in a civil court Marantz actions could be argued as vengeful but let us not forget this is a military court at a time of war in a court-martial a time of war retaliation can be a valid defense but in this case the prosecution denied Marant any claim to that defense retaliation has a definite beating military law but it certainly doesn't mean that subordinate officers but allowed to shoot prisoners that fall under their control there's not a greater evidence to connect Visser with Hertz death nor to say that Hunt was not killed their fair fight even though the prosecutor in the judge advocate at the time in the trial disputed that hunt was ever tortured and murdered by the Boers I say that that's not the case because if you examine the recommendations for mercy made by the court who assess the evidence they clearly state not just provocation they use the word extreme provocation that marine acted under at the mutilation of his friend and superior officer captain hunt that the commission of a wrongful aunt could scarcely be earned as justification for the repetition of that act a deputy judge advocate who makes also a fair point which is that one killing in no way justifies another you can't say these sort of killings are happening all over the battlefield therefore it's alright for us to do them during the course of the trial itself the Boers attacked Petersburg and the queues were in the unusual position of having to defend their jailers they were given guns and said guys get out there and shoot at the board and after that the court should have reconvened and said actually gentlemen there is a British custom called condonation it simply means that when someone's undergoing sentence or arrest and they called to bear arms they will be exonerated of the offence for which they're being held if they render duty condonation was relevant to commute the sentence of death to a sentence of life imprisonment but I don't agree that condemnation wipes out the original crime so the trial just continued after four attack it finished it continued on in the other two courts Marshall followed soon after now they moved on to the most contested issue of the trial Morant was not acting with murderous intentions he was acting on the orders of superior officers as were the other accused you must see this as the one and only truth in this case captain Hunt was charged with clearing the Northern District of Bors and was acting under orders to take no prisoners Colonel Hamilton military secretary to log Kitchener gave him the orders when he delivered two ponies to his private residence ever on the BBC knew of the orders now I had previously disregarded the orders and been reprimanded by captain Hunt but when I learned of the circumstances of his death and the way in which he had been mutilated I vowed that I would follow the order I never questioned its validity because I was certain it was correct Maurice Hancock in Witney they held an honest and reasonable belief that the orders that have been given to them had come from Lord Kitchener they'd been relayed through Taylor in Hunt they obeyed the orders because that's what they were told to do listen here major you can cross-examine me as much as you like but you will not blame these young men they were simply obeying orders given by myself and Lord Kitchener and if this Court is not prepared to accept my word then I will have Lord Kitchener cross-examined he can answer questions as to the orders he gave and the way in which he has prosecuted this war my feeling is the kitchen is a bit of a red herring and all of this I don't believe that Kitchener ever issues those orders in the first place and that if he'd have peered at the trial he simply would have said exactly the same thing it wouldn't have done the defence any good to have got Kitchener to the trial this Court will have to reconvene to hear evidence from Lord Kitchener's office well thou miranne demanded Kitchener testify his military secretary lieutenant colonel Hamilton appeared instead there's no doubt in my mind that Hamilton when he turned up to court and he was cross-examined perjured himself leftenant the rent of his evidence states that captain Hope told him that he received orders for view that no prisoners be taken alive this is true absolutely untrue sir if I may ask do you remember captain hunt taking two polo ponies to Lord Kitchener last July on which you had a conversation with captain hunt do you remember this conversation now I have no recollection whatsoever the facts as we know them without the court-martial record clearly show that there were no superior orders given if you can find an order from Kitchener saying prisoners are not to be taken particularly those prisoners wearing cocky I will change my views but I simply don't believe that such an order ever existed [Music] here at Kew Gardens of the British National Archive and it's in this place that Jim uncle's made a dramatic discovery that has blown them around case wide open [Music] the legal opinion of Colonel Sinclair is a significant aspect of the materials that I've put together he was Lord Kitchener's judge advocate the most senior legal officer in South Africa and he made this official legal opinion the idea that no prisoners were to be taken in the spelunking a pierced had been drafted by the late captain hunt and after his death continued by orders personally given by captain Taylor and he goes on to say the verbal order given by captain Taylor to the officers and Men of the bvc at various times not to take prisoners rendered him primarily responsible for these massacres and I think he is liable as an accessory before the fact so why didn't Kitchener have Taylor charged why did the court judge and the prosecutor deny the existence of waters to shoot prisoners because it's not convenient he knows what Taylor might have said he may have been in the witness box being cross-examined where he points the finger and he says well the person he should be sitting in the accused dock his a lord kitchen of my boss what hold did Taylor have over Mehran picton Witten and the others why did they not rat on him why did they let him get away what had he told him despite overwhelming evidence against him he was acquitted of all charges of shooting boars and natives the Pretoria archives also revealed that the final court-martial the murder of the Reverend s nearly didn't proceed major Bolton who was the prosecutor against marine and Hancock yeah the murder of reverend hess yeah made written application to withdraw the charges on on the basis that there was insufficient evidence and I withdraw a charge against Murray and absolutely no evidence in this case now this is actually prior to the prior to the trial and he was still in that they were both still tried was the shooting at the river and his Hancock who was accused of pulling the trigger produced a surprise Alibi at lunch at mrs. shales and then deserves mrs. Bristow's and then at dusk I went back to the fort he just had to the women on his side and she was prepared to lie in Hurley's behalf but I think Hancock was the guy who killed the missionary they were actually cleared of that case there was no evidence to connect him to the murder at all and the day that that happened the the court-martial actually sent them a case of champagne saying well that was the main case you had to worry about so you're off at the end of the trial they weren't told what the verdicts were now this was contrary to the procedure of the manual of military law the only one that they found out about of their acquittal was the house matter if they thought their ordeal was over they was sadly mistaken because the next morning they were sent down the line to Pretoria where they were held in the civilian prison there's a very interesting letter between the Secretary of State for war at that time Sinjin Broderick to Kitchener this is three days before the men are actually executed in which he says I've seen the report what these men have done is absolutely indefensible and that if I had been in your position I would have shot all three officers not just two of them you send the reply message received effect immediately it was at this desk on the 25th of February 1902 that Kitchener signed the execution orders for Hancock and Marant Oh Hamilton I'd like you to carry out those orders please they have been approved by London and there will be no reprieve I'm off to Harry Smith and it will be very difficult to contact me honor about the 25th of February they were paraded before the governor of the prison at Pretoria and told what the verdicts were Marant and Hancock would be executed at dawn they were given about 18 hours notice written was told that he was also sentenced to be executed that Lord Kitchener had reduced his penalty to one of life imprisonment Thomas rushed Apertura that see Kitchener about a stay of execution so he could appeal to the king or the Australian government he was met here at the front door by Major General William Kelly who told him that Kitchener was uncontacted all and that the sentences had been approved by London the denial of Appeal is significant because under military law in common law they had a right to petition the king it is time now gentlemen goodbye George [Music] do I win when you go home it's other people at the bulletin I'll be writing a more verse yeah [Music] in Peter Hancock's last letter to his sister he describes his version of events and denies the charges of murder for which he was to be shot dear sister I have been an hour or so longer to exist and although my brain has been harassed for for long weary months I will face my God with the firm belief I am innocent of murder I obliged my orders and served my king as I thought best and I will die brave for the fate of all from your phone brother lieutenant Peter Hancock yes where's your firing party Marines the bush balladeer saved his best for last in a prison cell I'd sadly sit a damned crestfallen chappie and owned you I feel a bit a little bit unhappy it really ain't the place no time to reel off rhyming diction but yet will write a final run while awaiting crucifixion no matter what end they decide quicklime or Billy I'll sir we'll do our best when crucified to finish off in style sir but we bequeath a parting tip for sound advice as such men who come across in transport ship to finish off the Dutchman if you encounter any bores you really must not loot him and if you wish to leave these shores for pity's sake don't shoot him and if your earn a DSO buy every British sinner should know the proper way to go is ask the board to dinner let's toss a bumper down our throat before we pass to heaven and toast the trim set petticoat we leave behind in Devon better fire all those bullets lads are on coming down those barrels forum [Music] deval Harry Pepita it's what comes of empire building you should strike you bastards don't make a mess of it curiously official records show that Lord Kitchener who was supposedly unavailable and uncontacted did in fact receive a cable from HQ that morning that read executions carried out at 6:00 a.m. stop but if he thought he'd heard the last of Harry the Breaker Morant he was very much mistaken I think this shows perhaps the politics that were behind the executions they needed a couple of sacrificial victims did the British establishment to pin the blame the Australian soldiers here in Pretoria was so incensed by the execution that they had to be forcibly paraded by the British in the end along with Thomas they saved Moran's and Hancock from a shallow grave and a pint of quick lime and had them buried here at Church Street Cemetery for Thomas any feelings of patriotism or pride that had carried him to the war quickly evaporated this was not England he'd come to Revere although his headstone bears a fairly innocuous quote he'd requested a more blunt passage that read a man's foes shall be those of his own household the betrayal continued by the man he'd always claimed to be his father following the executions Digby Moran denied any connection with the breaker in a public statement published in the London Times the Australian government was not made aware of the trial until April 1902 they were shot in February the Australian Prime Minister Edmund Barton heard the news from the returning servicemen and was forced to cable the British for more details now despite assurances he'd received he clearly had no idea that the executions had taken place and when it hit the press and questions were asked in the parliament he had no answers he was forced to cable Kitchener for more details there was a massive outpouring of emotion in Australia initially it was one of shock and grief and I think Shane's Prime Minister an urgent telegram from London sir Lord Kitchener's reply arrived on April the 6th he made various claims that simply weren't true he said nothing about the recommendations for mercy in fact he said that there were no extenuating circumstances but as Australian troops started returning home it became clear there was another side to the story the breakers old publisher The Bulletin was the first to break ranks with a savage satire of Kitchener and soon others follow poor Witten was in prison in England these men were not guilty alone and they did not get a fair trial that was obvious in 1902 the petition to the king based on the legal opinion of Isaac Isaac's who would later become Australian attorney-general was signed by over 80 thousand Australians at a time when the population was only 3 million Isaac says as I say Hancock and Marant were improperly tried wrongly convicted and certainly wrongly sentence following his election in 1903 Prime Minister Alfred Deakin championed the case and threw his weight behind an appeal and it worked after two and a half years George Whitman was released from life imprisonment and he returned to a hero's welcome he was met by the Prime Minister in Sydney and to lay out the truth of what had happened he wrote a very famous book had it published in 1907 called scapegoats of the Empire having failed to convince the British or Australian governments to review the Marant case Jim's only option is to go it alone he's looking for support from within mell burns legal community dan Mori defended Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks the good news is this is where it really begins after four years of hard work what we do is we make application under the British inquiries Act because the British government has jurisdiction on this matter and we can make application to the High Court in London and and I suppose put the case for pardons as it should have been but has Jim convinced Dan that he's got a strong case and the British government can do the pardons they've just learned many soldiers from war one there were that were executed for cowardice and then they can they can do that in this case - if they wanted to absolutely politically they have to want to do it some of Australia's top legal minds have gathered here at the Supreme Court in Melbourne for law week to run an application for a stay of execution that was denied to Hancock and Moran's by kids now 18 hours before that was shot it means putting four years of hard work and his whole legal case on the line will the case stand up to close legal scrutiny both the prosecution and the defense will be represented by eminent barristers and the case will be tried according to British military law of 1902 here the applicants admitted all the ingredients of murder if I plead guilty I cannot in the absence of circumstances which did not exist here bring an appeal against my conviction it's been pleaded not guilty and it is the case that in this situation with and I throw no disrespect on major Thomas finding himself in the position that he did but with competent trial counsel perhaps their evidence may not have been presented in such a Cavalier official it's clear that major Thomas wasn't the best litigation lawyer but the applicants could have had to run the case they are fixed with the way he ran it I was sitting in or looking at Jerry Nash QC one of Australia's leading counsel he was prosecuting the case as if it was a matter of life and death euros what one has to prove is for the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that it was the accused who knew at the time it was an unlawful order I'm thinking myself being in that prison cell with lieutenants Murray and Hancock and Witten the tension and the drama of the hopes that this appeal will stay there execution let me put this example for you let's suppose let's suppose lieutenant grant was given an order to shoot women and children is there a defense in such a manifestly the illegal order for say well I believed it was a lawful order Your Honor I entirely accept if the accused knew it was an unlawful order it would not have been one where he could raise this issue but what lieutenant Moran said was after captain hunts death and brutal treatment of him live or dead I resolved as his successor and survivor to carry out the orders he had impressed upon me orders which other officers have in places and in other corpse carried out with the provocation we have received their honors in our respectful submission the relevant question is but for those orders would he have carried out the executions in an hour respectful submission that's the source of a doubt if such a reasonable doubt existent myclass should have been acquitted with the core places this Court will deliver its ruling in 15 minutes time temporarily adjourned thank you and how do you feel it's kind of you feeling it I think like all cases one hesitates before one give us an assessment yeah but I think in reality it is a case where Breaker Morant should never have been convicted and there should be a stay Thanks thank you however the principal thrust of the submission of counsel for the applicants was that they were each denied natural justice the applicants were not accorded their respective rights in relation to their participation in the court of inquiry nor in relation to the court-martial proceedings this court is satisfied that evidence of a breach of natural justice and procedural fairness has been made out of defecting the applicants trials their convictions and their sentences and there has been a substantial miscarriage of justice this Court will now adjourn sigh need I elation and a sense of vindication that the hard work of four years has come to fruition today albeit it's a moot court it's not legally binding but it carries great gravitas following the mock appeal other prominent members of the Australian legal community have thrown their weight behind the case the case represented a gross miscarriage of justice but this was the great sister of British justice which was on trial nothing he's three men and was the system that broke down there was an underlying wrong there was the selection of scapegoats rather than an inquiry into all of those involved proper allocation of responsibilities an appropriate trial and appropriate treatment and punishment at an appropriate level for everybody we know these wrongs were done do we do nothing about it or do we in fact seek to at least we can't reinstate life correct the formal record by one method or another here or in Great Britain however the board descendants of the men shot by Maria remain opposed to any pardon or any appeal that may justify his actions so now to come and take what came later on in the evolution of law and retro actively backdated to that trial is not fair law so I disagree that you can now have an appeal why now after a hundred years they want to pardon them if you told him to jump in the fire would have jumped in the fire so he did he thought for himself even though if it was under order he followed it at the end of the war war captain velu Litella received a medal for special services from Lord Kitchener and retired in comfort to his farm in Rhodesia Lord Kitchener returned to England a hero and was rewarded with a gratuity of fifty thousand pounds the equivalent of between three and five million pounds in today's money Marines and Hancock were dead but they left an important legacy after their executions the defence Act was amended so that no Australian servicemen would ever be executed by a foreign power sometimes our heroes are not civil sometimes what they say and do is not comfortable Lord Kitchener brought here and cross-examine but then the truth really is [Music]

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

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Keywords: History, Full Documentary, Documentaries, Full length Documentaries, Documentary, TV Shows - Topic, Documentary Movies - Topic, 2017 documentary, BBC documentary, Channel 4 documentary, history documentary, documentary history, breaker morant, bruce beresford, edward woodward, boer war, breaker morant ending, breaker morant boer attack, breaker morant court scene, bruce beresford-redman documentary, boer war documentary, history channel

Id: oRWiC7Az2Zg

Length: 97min 30sec (5850 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 09 2020