The Legend of Breaker Morant is Dead and Buried by Charles Leach
Signed by the Author Charles Leach on the Title page,
The Legend of Breaker Morant is Dead and Buried by Charles Leach
A South African Version of the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Zoutpansberg : May 1901-April 1902
Title The Legend of Breaker Morant is Dead and Buried: A South African Version of the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Zoutpansberg : May 1901-April 1902
Author Charles Leach
Publisher Charles Leach, 2012 First edition.
ISBN 0620520566, 9780620520560
Length 220 pages
For the film, see Breaker Morant (film). For the play, see Breaker Morant (play).
Harry "The Breaker" Morant
Breaker Morant.jpg
Harry "The Breaker" Harbord Morant
Born Edwin Henry Murrant
9 December 1864
Bridgwater, Somerset, England
Died 27 February 1902 (aged 37)
Pretoria, South African Republic
Cause of death Execution by firing squad
Criminal status Executed
Spouse Daisy May O'Dwyer Daisy Bates (1884; separated)
Conviction(s) Murder (12 counts)
Criminal penalty Death
Details
Victims 9
Span of crimes August – 7 September 1901
Country South African Republic
Target(s) POWs and civilians
Military career
Nickname(s) Harry, The Breaker
Allegiance British Empire
Years of service 1899 – 1902
Rank Lieutenant
Unit South Australian Mounted Rifles
Bushveldt Carbineers
Battles/wars Second Boer War
Harry "The Breaker" Harbord Morant (born Edwin Henry Murrant, 9 December 1864 – 27 February 1902), more popularly known as Breaker Morant, was an Anglo-Australian drover, horseman, bush poet, military officer, and war criminal who was convicted and executed for murdering six prisoners-of-war (POWs) and three captured civilians in two separate incidents during the Second Anglo-Boer War.
While serving as a lieutenant with the Bushveldt Carbineers, Morant was arrested and court-martialled for committing murder on active service – one of the first such prosecutions in British military history. According to military prosecutors, Morant retaliated for the death in combat of his commanding officer with a series of revenge killings against both Boer POWs and many civilian residents of the Northern Transvaal. Morant's defence attorney, Major James Francis Thomas, demanded the acquittal of his clients under what is now called the Nuremberg Defence, alleging that his clients could not be held legally or morally responsible because they only followed orders.
Morant was accused of the summary execution of Floris Visser, a wounded POW, and the slaying of four Afrikaners and four Dutch schoolteachers who had surrendered at the Elim Hospital, five of whom were members of the Soutpansberg Commando. Morant was found guilty and sentenced to death. Morant and Lieutenant Peter Handcock were then court-martialled for the murder of the Reverend Carl August Daniel Heese, a South African-born Minister of the Berlin Missionary Society. Heese had spiritually counselled the Dutch and Afrikaner victims at Elim Hospital and had been shot to death the same afternoon. Morant and Handcock were acquitted of the Heese murder, but their sentences for murdering Visser, the eight victims at Elim Hospital, and three others were implemented by a firing squad from the Cameron Highlanders on 27 February 1902.
Morant and Handcock have become folk heroes in modern Australia, representing a turning point for Australians' self-determination and independence from British rule. Their court-martial and death have been the subject of books, a stage play and an award-winning Australian New Wave film by director Bruce Beresford. Upon its release during 1980, Beresford's film both brought Morant's life story to a worldwide audience and "hoisted the images of the accused officers to the level of Australian icons and martyrs".[1] Despite the seriousness of the evidence and charges against them, some modern Australians regard Morant and Handcock as scapegoats or even as victims of judicial murder. They continue to attempt, with some public support, to obtain a posthumous pardon or even a new trial.
According to South African historian Charles Leach, "In the opinion of many South Africans, particularly descendants of victims as well as other involved persons in the far Northern Transvaal, justice was only partially achieved by the trial and the resultant sentences. The feeling still prevails that not all the guilty parties were dealt with – the notorious Captain Taylor being the most obvious one of all."[2]
This book presents a South African version of the story. It reveals no less than 35 known murders committed by 'Breaker' Morant and the 'A' Squadron of the Bushveldt Carbineers.