Theodore Schurch

Theodore William John Schurch
Born 5 May 1918
London, England
Died 4 January 1946 (aged 27)
HM Prison Pentonville, London, United Kingdom
Allegiance  United Kingdom
 Nazi Germany
 Kingdom of Italy
Service/branch Royal Army Service Corps
Years of service 1936–1942
Unit Royal Army Service Corps
Battles/wars Tobruk

Theodore William John Schurch (5 May 1918 – 4 January 1946) was a British soldier of Anglo-Swiss parentage who was executed under the Treachery Act 1940 following the end of the Second World War. He was the last person to be executed in Britain for an offence other than murder.

Early life

Schurch was born at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, London while his Swiss father was living in Britain. During his late teens Schurch was a member of the British Union of Fascists.[1]

On 8 July 1936 he enlisted in the British Army as a Royal Army Service Corps driver.

Betrayal

In June 1942 Schurch was captured by Axis forces at Tobruk during the North African campaign. Shortly afterwards he began working for both Italian and German intelligence. He often posed as a prisoner of war to gain the trust of Allied prisoners, including Colonel Sir David Stirling, founder of the Special Air Service.

Trial and execution

Schurch was arrested in Rome in March 1945, and charged with nine counts of treachery and one count of desertion. He was tried by court martial at the Duke of York's Headquarters in Chelsea, London in September 1945, Major Melford Stevenson presiding. He was defended by Alexander Brands KC. He was found guilty of nine charges of treachery and one of desertion with intent to join the enemy.[2]

Schurch was hanged on 4 January 1946 at HM Prison Pentonville, at the age of 27.[3] His execution was conducted by Albert Pierrepoint.

British Security Service files on him are held by The National Archives under references KV2/76 and KV 2/77.

Schurch was the only British soldier executed for treachery committed during the Second World War. However, Duncan Scott-Ford, a merchant seaman, was also hanged for treachery, and New-Zealand-born Captain Patrick Stanley Vaughan Heenan of the British Indian Army was convicted of espionage, and shot by a guard. Harold Cole, a British POW who betrayed the French Resistance was shot dead by the French police in January 1946 after he escaped from custody a month before.

Civilians William Joyce and John Amery were executed for treason, a different offence.

References

  1. ↑ Graham Macklin (2007). Very deeply dyed in black: Sir Oswald Mosley and the resurrection of British fascism after 1945. International Library of Political Studies 14. I.B.Tauris. p. 34. ISBN 1-84511-284-9.
  2. ↑ "News in Brief." Times, London, England, 3 Jan. 1946: 4. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
  3. ↑ "Soldier Executed." Times, London, England, 5 Jan. 1946: 2. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.