Drumhead court-martial
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A drumhead court-martial is a court-martial held in the field to hear urgent charges of offences committed in action. The term is said to originate from the use of a drumhead as an improvised writing table[1]. The term has connotations of summary justice, with an implied lack of judicial impartiality, as noted in the transcripts of the trial at Nuremberg of Josef Bühler[2]. According to Bryant, such courts-martial have ordered lashings or hangings to punish soldiers (and their officers) who were cowardly, disobedient – or conversely, acted rashly; and especially as a discouragement to drunkenness[3].
[edit] Popular culture
- This kind of military proceeding forms the main plot of the Star Trek:The Next Generation episode "The Drumhead".
- ^ Definition from Brewer's Dictionary
- ^ Transcript at tne Nizkor project
- ^ Years of Victory (1802-1812), Arthur Bryant, 1944
