ARmy Rumour SErvice

Originally Posted by Markintime

You're quite right, it's hanged. I'm hung.

Didn't mean to be 'right' just wondered. .......are you hung like a Gorilla?

Originally Posted by Nato Standard123

Didn't mean to be 'right' just wondered. .......are you hung like a Gorilla?

Like a horse, well, a horse fly anyway.

William Joyce became a naturalized German in 1940, he was however born in New York and had never held British citizenship.
Of the three charges laid against him he was acquitted of the first two when his American nationality came up.
The third charge was for Treason between the dates of 18 September 1939 and 2 July 1940, during this time Joyce was in possession of a British passport which entitled him to British diplomatic protection whilst in Germany and therefore he owed allegiance to the King while working for the enemy.
To this charge he was found guilty.

I am also led to believe that another 17 soldiers who committed Murder or other crimes for which they were hanged, are also commemorated on the same memorial as Gunner Kemp.

Unlike the Royal Navy or RAF, soldiers were not discharged from the services once sentence had been pronounced.

We are such an honourable nation !

Why were they all comemorated on Brookwood war memorial? Was it like the "Held Strength" of war memorials?

I believe, although I am not certain, that soldiers who died with no known grave, either in the UK or elsewhere, are commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial to the Missing. However, since all 17 are likely to have been buried within the grounds of the prisons in which they were executed, it may have been a policy at the time not to release the location of their graves. Technically they were all still serving at the moment of their death.

Originally Posted by rifleair

William Joyce became a naturalized German in 1940, he was however born in New York and had never held British citizenship.
Of the three charges laid against him he was acquitted of the first two when his American nationality came up.
The third charge was for Treason between the dates of 18 September 1939 and 2 July 1940, during this time Joyce was in possession of a British passport which entitled him to British diplomatic protection whilst in Germany and therefore he owed allegiance to the King while working for the enemy.
To this charge he was found guilty.

Thanks for clearing that up, I'm a little confused as to how you can hold a British Passport if you're not a subject but accept your word. There was clearly a lot of weirdness going around in those days. I'm glad we no longer take our radio stars so seriously.

Edited to add: Just read a brief synopsis of his life, interesting! He went to KCS, we used to regularly beat them at rugby!

Originally Posted by maninblack

He gave up pretty quick, I reckon; about a second after someone pulled the lever.

Actually the lever is pushed once the safety pin has been withdrawn. Health and safety at its best so that the official executioner and the prison officers do not accidentally trip the gate and fall down into the pit.