Traitors II.

This is coolbert:

The second Englishman executed for treason at the end of World War Two [WW2] was John Amery. And the case of Amery is much more complex than was the case with William Joyce. And much more confusing too. Click here to see a posed picture of Amery and ladyfriend.

Amery was a man, who in the years prior to WW2, professed fascist beliefs and tendencies. Was a friend and confidant of some of the leading figures in fascist movements all throughout Europe.

Amery was also a man suffering from mental illness. He was treated with electro-shock therapy, a treatment now looked upon with disdain my those in the medical profession.

Amery did come from a distinguished and influential family. His father was a major player in the British government of the day. Amery's father had been a government minister to India and Burma and WAS A MEMBER OF CHURCHILL'S CABINET DURING THE WAR. Furthermore, Amery's brother was a member of British domestic counter-intelligence [MI5] during the war.

It is unquestionable that during the WW2, while residing first in France and then as a guest of the Germans, Amery did commit treasonous acts against his own country. Click here to see a site about Amery.

Amery did make seven propaganda broadcasts for the Germans, directed at the British people. This is similar to what William Joyce did. Typical of what Amery said was:

"Betrayed by our Government, undermined by Communism, ours is an uphill fight against the power of vested Jewish interests, but we must win it, we must achieve British freedom of action and thought".

Amery went even further than Joyce did, however, in his treason. Amery set the goal to become the leader of a British brigade [1500 men, a large battalion], consisting of disaffected British POW's being held by the Germans. This brigade would take up arms and fight on the side of the Germans. Presumably on the eastern front, against the forces of the Soviet Union. NOT against his own British nationals. This was the purported goal of Amery. In keeping with fascist beliefs held at the time, the war Germany was fighting was a war against the enemies of "World Jewry" and "international Bolshevism". British fascists such as Amery felt England was just on the wrong side in the war, and were dupes of "World Jewry". This brigade was to be the British Free Corps, called BFK from the German name for the brigade [Britisher Freikorps].

The effort of Amery to raise such a brigade was a total failure. British POW's [tens of thousands??] being held by the Germans were just not in the slightest bit amenable to the blandishments of Amery and his German mentors. Of all the many British POW's under the control of the Germans, only about fifty volunteered to serve in the brigade of Amery. And these were men mostly of the lowest common denominator. Men that in British parlance would be referred to as "cads" and "bounders". Indeed, of the fifty "volunteers", about twenty were already under a punishment regimen for having had "romantic liaisons" with German women while POW's [this would allow one to reasonably infer that their POW status was not that extreme to begin with]. Amery's hope for a British brigade to fight on the eastern front for Germany were totally rooted in fantasy, a fantasy existing in the mind of Amery. Click here to see a site about this "brigade".

And the end of the war, Amery was captured by Italian partisans and turned over to the British. Tried for treason, Amery received what can be only be called swift justice. Brought before a judge, he was read the charges against him, was asked his plea, to which he replied, "guilty". At which time the judge ascertained the mental state of Amery and deemed in his own mind [the judge's], that Amery did understand the charges brought against him, after which the judge sentenced Amery to death. This all took EIGHT MINUTES!!! Within one month after sentencing, Amery was executed by hanging. The executioner, Albert Pierrepoint, reported that Amery was the bravest man he had ever executed [most composed??]. Click here and here to see an interesting site about the trial of John Amery.

In my own mind, I think Amery probably lived in a fantasy world exacerbated by mental illness. Not properly understood or diagnosed. But at the end of the war, justice was swift and relentless, as is seen in the case of John Amery. John Amery can only be seen as a pathetic figure!

coolbert.