Peter Handcock

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Peter Joseph Handcock (1869 – 1902) was a Veterinary Lieutenant in the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Boer War in South Africa. Handcock and Harry "Breaker" Morant were court martialed and executed by firing squad on 27 February 1902 on charges of shooting Boer prisoners. A third defendant, George Witton, who had also been sentenced to death by the court-martial, was reprieved.

Handcock was born near Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia and was apprenticed to a blacksmith at age 12. He worked as a blacksmith with the Railways Department. Married at 21, he had three children by 1900.

He served in South Africa with the 1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles, and was promoted to Farrier-Sergeant. When the NSWMR returned home he obtained a commission in the Bushveldt Carbineers as Veterinary and Transport Officer, and was subsequently court-martialed for shooting Boer prisoners. The court-martial and sentence has subsequently been controversial in Australia.

[edit] Reference

The Bushveldt Carbineers and the Pietersburg Light Horse by William (Bill) Woolmore (2002, Slouch Hat Publications Australia) ISBN 0-9579752-0-1[[Category:Australian Army soldiers]