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Teacher’s notes

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This clip is an excerpt from a documentary about Harry 'Breaker’ Morant. A narrator details aspects of the courts martial of Lieutenants Morant, Handcock, Picton and Witton during the Boer War. Black-and-white archival photographs, sketches and a letter written by Morant from prison are combined with an interview with a former soldier. The clip concludes with a re-creation of the execution of Morant and Handcock, accompanied by the strains of a brass band, while the narrator reads Morant’s final poem, 'Butchered to make a Dutchman’s holiday’.

Educational value points

• The clip refers to the courts martial of Lieutenants Harry 'Breaker’ Morant, Peter Handcock, George Witton and Harry Picton at Pietersburg, South Africa, in January 1902. The four men were members of the Bushveldt Carbineers, a British unit of irregular soldiers stationed in northern Transvaal with orders to round up bands of armed Boers and bring in Boer families willing to sign an oath of allegiance to the British Empire. They were court-martialled by the British Army for the murders of 12 Boer prisoners and a missionary. Picton was British and the other three, including the British-born Morant, were Australian.

• The Boer War (1899–1902) was fought between Britain and Dutch–Afrikaner settlers, known as Boers, over the control of resources in southern Africa, which at the time was divided into British colonies and independent Boer republics. Australia, as part of the British Empire, sent about 12,000 troops to serve in the War and Australian men also joined British and South African colonial units in South Africa. The Australians were concentrated in mounted units that were active in the final phase of the conflict, when guerrilla fighting replaced standard warfare. It is this aspect of the War that is revealed in the clip.

• British-born Harry 'Breaker’ Morant (c1864–1902) is portrayed in the clip. He was an adventurer and skilled horse-breaker (hence the nickname) who came to Australia in 1883. He served two tours of duty in the Boer War, first enlisting with the 2nd Contingent, South Australian Mounted Rifles, in 1899. After acquitting himself with distinction, he was commissioned in 1901 into the Bushveldt Carbineers, which had a reputation for lawlessness and brutal treatment of Boers. Morant was a balladeer whose work was published by the Bulletin magazine under the name 'The Breaker’.

• The clip indicates that Morant, Handcock, Witton and Picton were acquitted of the murder of the Reverend Predikant Hesse, a German-born missionary who was allegedly on his way to report the murders of the 12 prisoners when he was shot. Handcock’s alibis were largely responsible for the charge being dismissed, but Witton later claimed that Handcock admitted to shooting Hesse. Witton described the incident as 'premeditated and cold-blooded’. It has also been speculated that the missionary was killed by Boer commandos, who may have suspected him of being a spy.

• The four men were found guilty of the murder of the 12 Boer prisoners. The Australians were sentenced to death, but Witton’s sentence was reduced to life imprisonment, of which he served 28 months. Picton was cashiered (dismissed from the army for misconduct). The men admitted to killing the prisoners, but claimed they were acting on unwritten orders from General Lord Kitchener, commander-in-chief of British and colonial forces in South Africa and that Kitchener was aware that the Bushveldt Carbineers were carrying out executions.

• The clip depicts the execution of Morant and Handcock in Pretoria, South Africa, on 27 February 1902. The execution of the two men by firing squad was carried out at dawn outside the British fort in Pretoria the morning after they received their sentences. The two refused the offer of blindfolds and Morant is alleged to have called out 'Shoot straight, you bastards. Don’t make a mess of it’ (not 'lads’ as reported in this clip). The executions created some disquiet in Australia in 1902, with opinion divided over the fairness of the trial and the severity of the sentences.

• The clip implies that Kitchener deliberately absented himself after the verdict. Kitchener’s absence meant that the defence lawyer, Major James Thomas, was unable to make a personal appeal to the General for clemency. Many see his absence as confirmation that Morant and his co-accused were used as scapegoats for atrocities committed by the British forces. While there is no proof that the trial was fixed, it was conducted in secret, with key military witnesses hastily redeployed to India. Major Thomas, who was appointed by the court for the defence, was an inexperienced solicitor and given little time to become acquainted with the particulars of the case.

• This documentary may have informed Bruce Beresford’s feature film Breaker Morant (1980), which concluded with the execution and, like this clip, included a voice-over of Morant’s final poem. In Breaker Morant, Beresford evokes emotion by keeping the camera fixed for 28 seconds as Morant and Handcock walk hand-in-hand away from the camera to their execution. This retreat into the distance suggests their abandonment, a view reinforced by Morant’s poem. Beresford’s film rekindled the controversy surrounding the case.

• Morant’s story has been the subject of numerous fictional and academic accounts, a series of paintings by Pro Hart and Beresford’s 1980 film, which have tended to valorise Morant as a victim of British military injustice. Morant’s enduring appeal has been linked to his status as a mythic hero who, like Ned Kelly, represents a national self-image of Australia as a nation of 'battlers’ who face great odds with courage and swagger, reject authority, particularly that of Britain, and are always loyal to their mates.

This clip starts approximately 49 minutes into the documentary.

Voiceover accompanied by still photos of details of the judicial process leading to the execution of ‘Breaker’ Morant and Peter Handcock. We see photographs of the men accused and illustrations and images of the men celebrating, then being marched through town and sent on the train. There is a photograph of Morant and Handcock in uniform. We see the poem written by Morant the night before execution.

Narrator At the court martial, Handcock stated that he had spent part of the evening of the 23 August at the farmhouse of Mrs Bristow, the wife of a non-competent Boer, a mile from Fort Edward; and at Mrs Schiels’, wife of a captured German artillery captain, where he lunched. Mrs Schiels lived four miles from Fort Edward. Both women testified in court for Handcock. Since Heese was shot 12 miles from Fort Edward in the opposite direction, the court acquitted the men of the crime. The court then promptly sent the men half a dozen bottles of champagne. To all concerned, it appeared that the matter was finished and a celebration followed in the cells that night. But at 6:00 the next morning, the men were awakened, placed in irons and marched to the station under heavy guard. There they were placed on a train for Pretoria, mystified and fearing the worst. They arrived at Pretoria on the morning of 21st February and were taken to the jail, again under heavy guard. Then, on the 26th, a warder took Morant to see the governor of the jail. Morant returned very pale. ‘To be shot tomorrow morning’, he said. Handcock went next and when asked by Witton about his sentence, he replied calmly, ‘Oh, the same as Morant’. Witton was sentenced to death with the others, but this was commuted to life imprisonment; and for his part, Picton was cashiered from the army. Morant’s composure soon returned. He spent his last night writing poetry, while his defence lawyer, Major Thomas, who was not officially told of the verdict, was beside himself trying to locate Lord Kitchener. But after signing the death warrant, Kitchener disappeared from staff HQ for several days.

Interview with a former soldier of the British Army.

Man None of the officers that I ever discussed the matter with could understand why the commander-in-chief confirmed the sentence of execution on such flimsy evidence, and knowing the good work they’d done in the North Transvaal. He must have been under some pressure, we think, from home.

We see a picture of the an Army officer, followed by a re-enactment of the execution by firing squad.

Narrator Morant titled his last verse Butchered to make a Dutchman’s holiday. ‘In prison’s cell I sadly sit, adashed, crestfallen chappy, and own to you I feel a bit – a little bit – unhappy. Let’s toss a bumper down our throat before we pass to heaven and toast the trim set petticoat we leave behind in Devon’. Early next morning, Morant and Handcock walked calmly in front of the firing squad. After lighting a last cigarette, Morant handed his case to the officer, saying, ‘I shan’t be needing any more of these’. Then, refusing a blindfold, he looked straight at the firing party and called, ‘Shoot straight, lads! Don’t make a mess of it’.

Officer Fire!