Catherine Morant

Townsville, Queensland

4810

Australia

The Most Honourable Robert Gascoyne-Cecil

3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Prime Minister

10 Downing St London SW1A 2AA

United Kingdom

20th February 1902

Dear Prime Minister,

As the mother of Lieutenant Harry “Breaker” Morant, I am writing this letter to reiterate that the charges laid against him were unjust, and should be revoked. Last week, I was appalled to find out that my son had been trialed, and sentenced to death, with the execution commencing a week away on the 27th of February 1902.

The reasons that were given behind his execution were as follows. After having previously fought in the war (one year in the 2nd South Australian Mounted Rifles), he enlisted to join the British Army, to fight in the Second Boer War, located in South Africa. He was appointed to “a British irregular unit,” named the Bushveldt Carbineers. After a patrol, on a group of Boer’s, Captain Percy Hunt was maimed, having his neck broken, face stamped on, legs sliced with a knife, resulting in his death and his clothing removed. This put my son, Harry Morant, in charge of the Carbineers, but it had also left him sullen and vengeful, as Hunt had been one of his close friends. Harry, infuriated about the death of his comrade, spotted a Boer, wearing the Captain’s clothes, and shot him. Ensuing this, Harry, along with the other soldiers in his unit, continued to patrol the Boer’s, and execute multiple groups of Boer prisoners, on varying occasions. He had also been accused of ordering the death of a German missionary, who had previously spoken with the prisoners. This led to the arrest of him and his comrade, Peter Handcock, along with George Witton on 22 October. They were court-martialed in January, where they were all charged for the murder of approximately a dozen Boer prisoners. Initially, they had been sentenced to the same fate, death, but George’s sentence had been decreased to life in gaol. To confirm the death sentence, Kitchener, the Supreme British Commander, signed off on them on the 4th of February, this year.

If you were to withdraw the death sentence on my son, I would be forever grateful. To begin with, no other soldier was charged aside from Morant and Handcock, both Lieutenants. Why were none of the other soldiers charged for war crimes? They had been involved too, they had shot the prisoners, and yet they were let off, without any charges, as if they had not been involved. Having a lower power status does not justify not being punished, not even a gaol sentence. But they were not the only ones who were let off. Another soldier working closely with Morant and Handcock, Witton, had all charges dropped against him (as stated above). He was originally sentenced to death penalty (as the other two were), which reduced to a life sentence in gaol, which has now been dropped to 28 months in prison. This is unfair that the charges against him have been dropped, yet they still apply to my son.

But this is not the only reasoning behind the injustice of the decision. Although he may have been enraged over the death of Captain Hunt, he was acting under orders to “take no prisoners.” These orders had been given by the Supreme British Commander, Lord Herbert Kitchener. He had given the instruction, for no one to take prisoners. My son had been following orders, and if he had of acted against them, then in turn he would have been accused of not obeying orders.

Lastly, the court’s decision was prejudiced, as they would not understand the conditions under which the soldiers, especially Harry, had been fighting under. The soldiers in their unit (and every other unit/ battalion), have seen countless deaths and have been ordered to shoot any of the enemy. The effects of war have hardened them, and made them numb to the impacts of killing. Your government have trained these men to kill, and now their only purpose is to kill the enemy, not to protect them. Shooting a dozen Boer prisoners, who were enemies, would not have the psychological effects on them as a man who has never experienced war. Imagine if you had been ordered into war. You would be expected to shoot the enemy on sight, otherwise you may lose your life. These are the conditions that they had to fight under, so they should not be accused of being insensitive killers, as this was their way of life, which they were willing to sacrifice so we did not have to experience the same thing.

My son was just the same as any man you may encounter, the only difference being he was forced to sacrifice his own life, to fight for ours. The killing of a dozen enemy, should not be as highly shamed upon as you have suggested, these things are expected in war; thousands of innocent civilians may be killed, but they are the consequences in these situations.

Harry Morant, had the blame pinned upon him, and had been unfairly accused of other people’s mistakes. As many people have said, he is the “scapegoat,” in this situation, which I truly believe. His actions were the result of a higher officer’s orders, and their words, resulted in his actions. He physically completed their requests, so the consequences were that he was charged for their crimes. I hope my letter has managed to convince you to revoke, or even reduce the charges laid against my son, and you can understand the reasoning behind this. Please reconsider your decision, I will be entirely appreciative if you do.

Yours sincerely,

Catherine Morant

feelings on the execution of breaker morant as family

Having found out about the execution of my son, I am extremely distraught. He did not deserve to die this way, and he had so much more to do on this Earth. His execution was unfairly sentenced, and the British government did not even talk to the Australian government about the fate of my son. He was unjustly charged, as the reasoning behind his death sentence was unfair. He has been executed because he had supposedly murdered a dozen Boer prisoners, who were labelled as innocent. But the mission to kill the prisoners had not been his idea. He was only following orders, on behalf of Lord Kitchener, who had told him that he was to take no prisoners, following the death of the previous Captain, Percy Hunt. My son had been trialed for the murder of these men, when in reality he was only following orders. Kitchener, knowing of the arrest of these men, obviously, immediately passed the blame onto my son (along with one other soldier), so that none of the charges would be laid against him and he could be let go, uncharged. I am horrified to know that these men weren’t the only ones involved in the trial, as they were a part of the mission against the Boer prisoners. Which leaves me wondering, why wasn’t anyone else charged for these offenses and war crimes, when they too were a part of it? They may have been of less significance but they still played a fundamental role in the death and murder of these Boer prisoners. They shot these prisoners, but were still let off, without being charged with a single offense. Why is it fair to have my son shot, and the others be let off without even a gaol sentence? I still believe that these men were unfairly sentenced, when there were others out there such as Lord Kitchener (who was of even more importance the Breaker Morant), who could easily be written off, as “not guilty.” My son had fought bravely in a war, under conditions far worse than anyone could imagine, and is then charged for murder. I am completely and utterly enraged, that the British government is willingly ordering the execution of a war hero, as all the other men who have fought in a war are. I believe that this trial was entirely unjust, and disrespects everything he has fought for.