Braithwaite file ‘might be made public’

Press, 14 September 1988, Page 11

Braithwaite file ‘might be made public’

By

GLEN PERKINSON

in Wellington The file on Jack Braithwaite, the New Zealand soldier executed during World War I by the British, might be made public, said the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, yesterday. Mr Lange said the Ministry of Defence had asked the British Judge Advocate-General to return the record of Braithwaite’s court-martial. If the record was brought to New Zealand its public release would be at the “discretion of the New Zealand Judge Advocate-General.” Mr Lange said the Government was “urging” Britain to release the record. However, the New Zealand Judge Advocate-General, Mr Justice Savage, who is not subject to Government directives, is the final authority on whether the record is published. The Judge Advocate-General advises the Ministry of Defence on legal matters. He is also the custodian of all courts-martial records. His position is a traditional one. Britain has records of Judge Advo-cates-General dating back to the seventeenth century. The Ministry said it was working hard to have the, Braithwaite record released because of the interest in

him in New Zealand but there were technical problems surrounding the release. Because Braithwaite was technically subject to British jurisdiction at the time of his courtmartial he was actually regarded a British soldier. Also, the British Armed Forces had an “exclusion” rule on courts-martial records. This meant they could not be made public for 75 years. Braithwaite was tried for mutiny and executed in 1916, therefore his record cannot legally be made public until 1991. His saga was made known in New Zealand after a Wellington historian, Mr Nicholas Boyack, called for an inquiry that could clear his name. The Dunedin-born journalist-soldier lies buried in France. Braithwaite was tried and shot after getting caught up in disturbances at the British military prison at Blargies. He was sent there in July, 1916, after escaping from earlier confinement.

After “mutineering” at the conditions in the prison — leg-ironing of prisoners, bad diet and harsh punishments — Braithwaite was ordered to be shot by firing squad by General Sir Douglas Haig, com-mander-in-chief of the British Armies in France, on October 25.