WILLIAM C. FORESTER and TRACEY BRYANT European Theater Operations Board of Review Opinions, Volume 6
CONf\DENTl~l
11)
BrBllch
Office
of'
The
JUige
JdTocate
General
with the
European
Theater
of'
Operations
APO
871.
BO ARD
OF
REVIE'f
ETO
1.922
UNITED
ST.ATES
l Es l EfN
BASE
SECTION, SERVICES
)
Oll
Stll?PLY,
IDJROPEAN TEEA.TER
OF
Te )
OPERATICNSe
)
PriTate
WUJJAM
C.
FORESTER
)
Trial
by
G
.
C.M.,
convened
at
(3468640
5
and
Pri
nte
nuDEY
)
Whittington Barracks,
Lichfield,
BRYANT
(34686280),.
both
t
)
Staf'tordshire
..
England,
17,18
425th
Military
Police Escort
) ?ahrch
1944•
Sentences
Each accused•
GuardCOD:i> DY•
)
disho~or ble
discharge,
total
t r-
)
f'ei
tures
aDd
continell8nt
at
hard
)
labor
f'or
lif e.
thited
States
)
Peni
Lewisburg,
PeDilsyl-
)
Tania.
HOLDJNG
by
the
BOARD
OF
REVllf
RITER,
Val
:m-lSCIK>TEN
end
SARGENT,
Judge
.Advocates
i
The
record
trial
in
the
case
of'
the
soldiers
D..S.Imd
above
has
been
examined by
the
Board
t
Review>
2.
The
accused
were
tried
upcn
the
tollowing
Cl:erge
and
Specifications
CHARGls
Violation
t
the
92nd
.Article
of'
We.re
Specifications
(J.a
~n e
at
trial
be:f'ore
arraignm!nt)
i
In
that
PriTate
William.
c.
Far
ester,
425th
Military
Police
Escort
Guard
Company,
Rugeley,
Staffordshire,
England,PriTate
Tracey
(NMI)
Bryant,.
425th
Mili-
tary
Police
Escort
Guard
Company.
Rugeley,
Staf'f'ord-
shire,England,
acting
jointly
and
in
pursuance
of' a
COlllllOll
intent,
did,
at
Rugeley,
Staffordshire,
Eagland,
on
or
about
4
March
1944,
with
me.lice
atore-
thought,
1t'.i
lf'ully,
dal
iberately,
feloniously,
lllllaw-
tully
and
with
premeditation,
kill
one
Teclmician
Fifth
Grade
Robert
Sta:f'f'ord.
D,
.390th
Engineer
Regiment
(General
Service),
Rugeley.
Stafford-shire,
England,
a human
being,
by
striking
him
with
their
bands,
kicking
him
with
their
f'eet,
by
strang-
ling
him.
and
abandoning
him.
co N
FIDENTIAL
12)
The
accused were
originally
charged
jointly
with
Private
Drewey
F.
J oyce,
Private
Dennis N. Branch and
Private
Ira
F.
Hall,
all
of
425th
Military
Police
Escort
Gue.rd
Company,
Rugeley,
Sta.f fordshire,
En.gland
with
the
murder
of Stafford.
Upon
iootions on
behUf
of
the three
soldiers
l st
above
named
the
court
severed
their
trials,
and
amnded
the
Specification
by
striking their
and
unit
designations
therefrom.
The
tri l
then
proceeded
as
to
accused
Forester
and
Bryant
upon
the
Charge and
S:pecifica
tion
as
e.r.oended.
F.ach
accused
pleaded
not
guilty
to
and
was
found
guilty
of the
Charge and
e.r.oended
Specification.
No
evidence
of
previous
convictions
was
introduced
as
to
accused
Forester.
Evidence
was
introduced
of
one
previous conviction
of
accused Bryant by
special court-martial
for
absence
without
leave
tor
13 days
in violation
of
the
6lst
Article
of
war.
Each accused
was
sentenced
to
be
disb.alorably discharged
the
service,
to
forfeit
ll
pay and allowances due
or to
become
due, and
to
be confined
at
hard
labor
for
the
term
of
his
natural
life
at
such
place
as
the
reviewing
authority
may
direct.
The
reviewing
authority
approved
each
of
the
sentences, designated
the
United
States Penitentiary,
Lewisburg, Penn.syl vania •
as
the place
of
confinement
of
each
accused
and
forwarded
the
record
of
trial
for
action
pursuant
to
the
provisions of
Article of
War
S t•
•
The
prosecution s
evidence summarizes
as fallows:
On
and
prior
to
4
March 1944
there
was
located
a
prisoner
of
war
camp
about one and
one-half miles south
westerly
from
the
tolVIl
of
RUgeley,
Staffordshire,
England. A
public
road
connecting
Rugeley
and
Hednesford, a
town
in
Staffordshire,
passed
i~di tely
in
front
of
the
camp
and
afforded
access
to
it
(Rl.2). Technician
Fifth
Grade Robert
Stafford
and Technician
Fifth
Grade William
H.
Wal
ton, colored
soldiers,
both
of
Company
D,
390th
Engineer Regiment,
stationed
at
the
prisoner
of
war
C8Jlil•
went
on
proper
pass
into
the
town
of
Rugeley on
the
evening
of
4
.March
1944• They
arrived
in
the
town
about
8 p.m. and
visited
several public
houses and a
carnival.
They
left
Rugeley between 10
p.m.
and
10sl5
p.m.
on
their
return
to
their
camp
by
way
of
the
aforesaid
public
road
(Rl.3,16). There
had
been a
fall
of
snow
that
evening
and
while
it
was
dark
there
was
a
certain
degree
of
luminosity
(Rl.6) •
Stafford
end
Wal
ton passed
two
grou.:ps
of
soldiers
wnich were
proceeding
on
the
highway
in
the
s im
direction
as
they
travel
ed (Rl.3,42) •
After
.:passill8
the
second group one
of
its
Il8mbers shouted
to
Walton and
Stafford
•Hey,
waitn.
The
two
colored
men
did
not
halt.
Shortly
afterwards
another
voice
from
the
soldier
grou.:p
called,
•Hey,
wait.
I
am
talking
to
you•.
Stafford
replied,
•we
haven t
got
time.
We
are
on our
way
to
camp.
We
haven t
tiim
to
stand
here
in
the
cold
and.
fool
with
you.
You
had
better
wake
up• (Rl,3).
Wal
ton.
and
Stafford
res llII2d
their
cotrse
end
again
the
voice
called,
•O.K. Whether you
wait
or
not,
you
black
sai
-2
·coNEIDENTI L