This week Sabine’s battlefield guide Saturday
Hazebrouck a murderous tommy and a dog
A sunny but cold Sunday was the perfect day to go out and visit the town of Hazebrouck.
From October 1914 till September 1917 there were casualty clearing stations posted at Hazebrouck. So the cemetery in town must have many stories to tell. One of them : A murder and then to find the victim buried in the same row, think it is the only place you will find this.
Benjamin De fehr born in Winkler 29th of Marsh 1888, Manitoba. A driver in the CASC( Canadian army service corps.
Shot his regimental sergeant major in the back on the 19th of august 1916
Corporal Jospeph Handley Smith wrote on the 24th of august 1916 in his diary that they would have to parade at 3.15 am the next morning as a result of the court marchal of the poor chap that shot James Reuben Scott, who was killed instantly.
Benjamin De Fehr was one of two Canadian volunteer soldiers who were executed during World War I for the crime of murder He claimed he had been drunk during the incident, witnesses said he was sober.
James Reuben Scott was born in 1872 in London , he left a widow behind Alice Scott, she lived Montreal Quebec
James had been with the South African Police for 3 years
The unit : No.1 reserve park where both soldiers were part of seemed to have had a bad reputation towards having disipline.
The irony of this story is plot I row A grave 13 and 10 count for yourself how many grave there are between Benjamin and James.
Now the dog comes into this trip ( for Joe and Gus)
The dog is named Flavie and was traveling with her master and me, she helped locate the graves and was very well behaved even showed her interest in the french graves of cimetière Saint Eloi in Hazebrouck.
Shot at dawn by Julian putkowski& Julian Sykes