“Ralph Saunders also at the Garden Party. Ralph made his way back to Brussels after liberation on a motor byke!”
Aided Enemy
3 former POW are sentenced
Sentences on three former prisoners of war who aided the enemy were announced this afternoon. Pilot Officer Benson Railton Metcalf Freeman, aged 42, who was found guilty by an Uxbridge court-martial, was sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude and cashiered for having, while a prisoner of war, served in the Waffen SS part of the German armed forces, and written scripts for German propaganda broadcasts; and for having lived in Berlin under the name of Royston with a salary of 200 marks a week from the German Government.
Flight Sergeant Jack Alcock, a 32 year old Manchester air gunner, was sentenced to two years’ hard labour and discharge with ignominy for aiding the enemy while a prisoner of war.
Warrant Officer Raymond Davis Hughes, a 22 year old RAF air-gunner was sentenced to five years’ penal servitude and discharge with ignominy for helping the Germans while a prisoner of war. Hughes was the first repatriated RAF prisoner to be charged before the Uxbridge court martial, which dealt with the activities of certain aircrew personnel during captivity.
“P/O Metcalfe Freeman, W/O Raymond Hughes, F/Sgt Jack Alcock all receive their sentences for aiding the Germans while prisoners of war.”