COURTMARTIAL

Grey River Argus, 13 December 1940, Page 10

COURTMARTIAL

At Territorial Camp CHRIST CHURCH December 12. Not guilty ,on both" charges was the verdict returned by a court martial at Addington yesterday, when Warrant Officer Leo Vernon Meyer was charged with using insubordinate language and alternatively with failing to salute. Meyer was a sergeant major and the complainant was Second Lieutenant Michael Clement Sellars, of the Ist Battalion, Canterbury Regiment. The defence was a denial that Meyer used the language or intended in any way to be rude to the officer, who reported the incidents immediately to a superior officer. Lieutenant-Colonel R. C. Wickens. D. 5.0., V.D., N.Z.P.S., was the president of the Court, and with him as associates were Captains G. R. Park, P. R. Wilberg, and Lieutenant J. Macpherson. The Judge Advocate was Major G. T. Weston. The prosecution was conducted by Captain R. L. Anderson, and Captain E. P. Wills was the defending officer. ' » Lieutenant Sellars gave evidence that, as orderly officer on the day of the alleged offences, he found a mo-tor-car owned by Meyer parked in an unauthorised place. He sent a noncommissioned officer to Meyer’s quarters with an order that Meyer was to report to the witness. The non-com-missioned officer returned and said that Meyer would be there in a minute. He waited a considerable time, five or 10 minutes, and when the accused arrived he reprimanded him for keeping him waiting. He asked the accused why he had parked his car in an unauthorised place, and received a reply that as it had been raining the night before he had not wanted to walk from the authorised parking area to his quarters.

Lieutenant Sellars said he ordered Meyer to remove the car immediately, and the accused got into the car, using the language complained of. As he was going away, the accused did not salute. Cross-examined, the witness said he expected an instant answer. He would say that Meyer would be mistaken if he told the Court that he had reprimanded Meyer without asking him why he had not come at once, though he could not remember what reason Meyer gave for being late. He still thought after reflection on the case, that it was reasonable to reprimand a senior non-commissioned officer for not attending on the instant, even though it was 7.45 a.m., and the non-commissioned officer might have been engaged in any one of the many tasks that had to be performed at that hour. Occasionally, said Lieutenant Sellars, he had addressed the accused as “Vern,” and the accused frequently referred to witness as “Mick.” He did not encourage informal conduct, but had made no specific objections. He admitted that he had asked Meyer to call him "Mick” at Burnham while they were off parade. Meyer howthey were off parade. Sellars," however, made it a rule to address the accused as sergeant-major. He was really pained and surprised when Meyer used the words complained of to him. He denied that he had dispensed with saluting even on informal occasions. "If he thought he could say those things about me,” answered Lieutenant Sellars to another question. "I thought I would report him.” He said he did not slink from the sergeantmajor, but he went straight back and reported him. On the completion of the little incident, he expected the ac- 1 cused to salute.

The accused’s version was that he was changing his clothing when he received a message from Lieutenant Sellars. He dressed in not more than three minutes and went down to see what was required of him. Lieutenant Sellars appeared to be in a bad temper, and witness apologised for keeping him waiting. Meyer, gave details of the conversation, and said that he did not salute Lieutenant Sellars because Sellars gave him no opportunity. Sellars gave no indication that the interview was over, but turned sharply on his heels and walked away. Meyer denied using the words complained of. He said that one of the words was particularly distasteful to him, he did not use it himself, and did not like others to use it. That was why he could say definitely that the word was not used by him in conversation with the complainant.