A Regrettable Incident
A very drunken nineteen year old American lorry driver drove into a platoon of Gold Coast Infantry, killing several.
Colonel Smith requested the presence of Edgar Whitehead at the Court Martial to see justice done. Edgar found the proceedings most interesting. The Court comprised of twelve Officers including a full Colonel as President. Compared to British standards, the proceedings were very informal.
The prosecution's case was unanswerable as medical evidence left no doubt on the drunkenness charge. There were many eyewitnesses of the accident. Edgar was most interested to hear the case for the defense.
When the accused gave evidence he stated he came from a dry State and had never before that morning consumed alcohol in his life. A friend gave him two bottles of beer about ten o'clock which he drunk straight off as it was a very hot day and had no idea they would have so disastrous an effect.
Edgar watched him carefully and he appeared to repeat a carefully learnt lesson. At this stage the President silenced him by beating vigorously with his gavel and addressed the accused as follows, "Say kid, why not quit lying and start telling the truth, then we will see what we can do for you?"
The verdict was guilty. The sentence was three years.
The historical novel Whitewashed Jacarandas and its sequel Full of Possibilities are both available on Amazon as paperbacks and eBooks.
These books are inspired by Diana's family's experiences in small town Southern Rhodesia after WWII.
Dr. Sunny Rubenstein and his Gentile wife, Mavourneen, along with various town characters lay bare the racial arrogance of the times, paternalistic idealism, Zionist fervor and anti-Semitism, the proper place of a wife, modernization versus hard-won ways of doing things, and treatment of endemic disease versus investment in public health. It's a roller coaster read.
References:
- Sir Edgar Whitehead's Unpublished Memoirs, Rhodes House, Bodleian Library, Oxford University, by permission.
- Photo credit: Digital Collection, National WWII Museum, New Orleans. LA. donated by Mr. Jason Sloan.
