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.Perhaps it’s not such a bad thing to have got it off my chest after all these years.”I nodded, my lawyer’s mind going off on another tack.“Captain Nathan – do you know what happened to him?”“Ah well, that’s the irony.Nathan became a hero himself shortly afterwards.During the lift, he was engaged in unloading cargoes at Gatow Airport in Berlin and worked himself literally into the ground, dying of a heart attack whilst taking a nap between flights.So even if his conscience had ever got the better of him, it’s too late.”I nodded, lost in thought, contemplating the records of the old cases which I had been examining.Before the days of verbatim court recorders, anything that occurred at court martial proceedings was supposed to be carefully annotated in handwriting on the papers themselves.How had such a vital issue in the case been recorded on them, I wondered.“There’s one thing, at least, I can do and that’s search for the original record of proceedings.Who knows, they might still be in Brockendorf itself, for all we know!”“But even if you manage to do that, what then?”“Attempt to have the whole thing reviewed again, fresh information having come to light.Leave it with me, Roland, for a day or so.”ElevenMy initial problem was that officially no files were kept in Brockendorf.All court martial sets of proceedings were sent back and retained in London until a final legal review took place, as I already knew from my previous conversation with Peascod.“What happens to the proceedings when the London office has finally finished with them?” I asked Margery, after I explained what I was looking for.“Filed away in a remote government archive, I should imagine.Thinking about it though, those proceedings might still be here somewhere.At one time, when the British Army here was much larger, final legal reviews did take place in Brockendorf itself, and I’ve seen a pile of old stuff stored in one of the cellars under the Fortress dating back to the time when the office was located there.”“Can you arrange access for me?”“Just give me a few minutes over the phone.There should be no problem in getting you down there.”Nor was there as it turned out and eventually, after rummaging through bundles of papers in the dank cellars of the Fortress, I located the relevant record of proceedings, written in manuscript.Turning over the yellowing pages, I came across this entry which followed the formal record:‘Captain Edward Nathan’s statement is read to the court in his absence.There are no other witnesses for the prosecution.’Nothing else: no indication that Lieutenant Gafford had agreed or the reason the witness couldn’t attend in the first place.On the face of it, the proceedings were irregular just because of that and I was convinced that the fairness of the trial itself had been compromised.The Judge Advocate General would have reviewed the proceedings and given advice as to their legality.What comment had he made on these matters? Under the Army Acts, only after receiving such advice could a senior officer confirm the proceedings as being legally in order.The advice document was always attached to the top of the set of proceedings, which were bound up like a book.Sure enough, the relevant minutes were there and I read through them quickly.In the event, the conclusions were clear enough:‘It is a matter of regret, but due to the lack of any explanation as to why Captain Nathan did not give evidence before the court in person you may share my view that confirmation is not desirable in this case.’‘Share my view!’ This comment irritated me because of its equivocal nature.Either the judge advocate advised something or he did not, so why mention sharing at all? I saw that the Judge Advocate General at the time had been Sir Augustus Gullipant QC.However, the actual advice had been prepared and signed out by Judge Advocate Binden Peascod.Devilling this work was quite common if the Judge Advocate General himself wasn’t available for one reason or another.This was intriguing in itself but then something else caught my eye.Just above Peascod’s signature and partially obscuring it was the mark of a stamp which read ‘Proceedings confirmed to be legally in order by GOC’, above a squiggled set of initials.Peascod’s advice had been ignored!Armed with this information, I resolved to return to London and confront Peascod straightaway.At the same time, I might find out more about how the enquiry was progressing.* * *“Gracious me, Courtley – when you told me that you had spotted an irregularity in a case, I didn’t realise you were referring to one over 40 years ago.”Peascod, head wobbling, peered down at the set of proceedings on his desk.“Does that matter? If the interests of justice merit it, your letters patent give you the right to reopen a case at any time, don’t they?”“Only under the most exceptional circumstances, such as new evidence coming to light.”I tapped the dusty papers in front of him.“Not just for that reason alone, surely? Lieutenant Gafford’s conviction in 1948 should never have been confirmed at all [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]