A COURT-MARTIAL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24633, 14 June 1941, Page 8

A COURT-MARTIAL

OFFICER AND TWO SERGEANTS CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS ILLICIT POSSESSION ALLEGED (P.A.) WELLINGTON, June 13. A court-martial was held to-day to, hear charges against Major George Farquhar Vance, officer commanding the Guards of Vital Points Company. Lieutenant-colonel H. C. Wolding was the president of the court, the prosecutor was Captain C. R. Powles, and Mr H. F. O’Leary appeared for Major Vance. Major Vance, an officer of the temporary staff, was charged with behaving in a scandalous manner, unbecoming to the character of an officer and a gentleman, in that on or about April 17, 1941, through the instrumentality of a certain non-commissioned officer under his command (Sergeant R. A. Godtschalk) he did illicitly obtain possession of official documents—(a) a nominal roll headed “ Draft of invalids returning to New Zealand,” showing the number, rank, name, home address, and disability of some 49 officers and other ranks returning to New Zealand by a hospital ship from service overseas; (b) a similar roll relating to 80 officers and other ranks returning from another hospital ship—and communicated these documents to VapceVivian, Ltd., an incorporated company in business in Wellington, of which the accused is a member, in order that the company might circularise some of the invalided soldiers whose names and addresses were set out in the documents, urging them to buy wares vended by the company. , Alternatively, the accused was charged that through the instrumentality of Sergeant Godtschalk he illicitly obtained possession of the documents and ..communicated them to the company of which he is a member. j Sergeant Robert Albany Godtschalk, of the Guards of Vital Points Company, was charged with conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, in that at the request of his commanding officer, Major Vance, he illicitly obtained from Sergeant J. A. McK. Wallace, of Sick and Wounded Records. Central Military District, possession of the documents alluded to in the other charges and handed them to Major Vance so that the contents might be used for the private benefit of Major Vance. Sergeant John Alexander McKane Wallace, New Zealand Temporary Staff, was also charged with conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline in illicitly giving Sergeant Godtschalk the documents, so that the contents might be used for the private benefit of Major Vance. - Circulars Sent Out The prosecutor said „ that Major Vance was a shareholder and managing director of Vance-Vivian, Ltd. Captain Bryan, an officer of Sick and Wounded Records, received on April 2 a report of the wounded soldiers who were returning on a hospital ship. They did not return until April 29, so that the reports in Captain Bryan’s possession were certainly confidential, if not secret documents. The evidence would show that as a result of a. conversation with Sergeant Godtschalk the accused obtained possession of some of the lists of .returning men. Under the accused’s instructions to his manager, circulars were sent out containing the names of these men, even before their next-of-kin knew the men were coming. There was, therefore, a considerable amount of concern amongst the next-of-kin. Major Vance pleaded not guilty to both charges. , , Opening the case for Major Vance, counsel mentioned that Major Vance had given overseas troops .goods of a wholesale value of £6OO. . ■ Giving evidence. Major Vance said he joined the army as a private in 1914, serving throughout the Great War and returning to New Zealand in 1919 as a second-lieutenant. As the officer_commanding the Guards of Vital Points Company, he had charge of 427 men. He had , worked seven days a week up to 18 hours daily on his job, and to be relieved from his civil work he had paid his manager double the salary he received personally from the army. He had used his own car for army work, travelling more than 1000 miles without claiming an allowance. He had advanced money to, and paid the fares of, soldiers in difficulties up to a considerable amount, and had, given men discharged through their own fault clothes free to assist in their civil re-establishment. His wife and he had provided comforts and extras in food for his men necessitated by the extraordinarily bad conditions many of them had to live under during the early months of the war. He had also raised funds for the same purpose. He had provided equipment for his office, including a £45 typewriter.

Personal Loss “ I am sorry to have to state all this, but I have to because of the nature of the charges against me.” Major Vance said. His absence from his business to devote his full time to army duty, he said, meant a personal loss of £IOOO to £I2OO a year. His firm spent £4OO a year on circulars. It secured Government classification lists, classified trade and professional lists, and other lists for the purpose of circulars. More than 100,000 had been sent out in this way. When he spoke to Sergeant Godtschalk about the circularising of invalided soldiers, he did not ask him for any list, but said he would like one of the names and addresses of all who were returning. He had previously had circulars sent out from press lists, but these did not have addresses, for which directory searches were necessary. Senior officers gave evidence of the high standing of Major Vance as a soldier and privately. Acquitted on Major Charge The court found Major ‘Vance not guilty of the major charge of scandalous conduct. On the minor charge of conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline, the court will deliver its recommendation to the officer convening the court, Brigadier .Weir, the officer commanding the Central Military District. ■ The court will resume to-morrow, when the case of the two sergeants will be heard.