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George Ramsdale Witton (1874 – 1942) was a Lieutenant in the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Boer War in South Africa. He was temporarily sentenced to death for murder after the shooting of nine Boer prisoners.〔Woolmore, pp. 142–144.〕 He was subsequently reprieved by Kitchener, although Lieutenants Peter Handcock and Harry "Breaker" Morant who had been court martialed with him were executed by a firing squad on 27 February 1902. ==Early life and involvement in the Boer War== Witton was born near Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia, and was from a farming family; prior to his VIB enlistment, he was a gunner in the Royal Australian Artillery. He enlisted in the Victorian Imperial Bushmen for the Boer War, and was promoted from Corporal to Squadron Quartermaster-Sergeant. Major Robert Lenehan enlisted him in the Bushveldt Carbineers with a commission as Lieutenant. After the killing of a number of Boer prisoners, Witton was one of four officers charged by the British Army with murder, and was convicted. However, he strongly protested and secured a legal opinion from Isaac Isaacs KC, an Australian member of parliament, who recommended that he should petition HM the King for a pardon.〔(Opinion of the Hon. Isaac A. Isaacs K.C., M.P., re the case of Lieutenant Witton ) at nla.gov.au, accessed 21 January 2012〕 Kitchener commuted Witton's sentence to life imprisonment. After further protests, he was released on 11 August 1904, although not pardoned. He had been ill twice in prison in England, once from arsenic fumes in a metal shop and once from typhoid fever. He returned to Australia on 12 November 1904 embittered after three years in prison and wrote a book giving his version of the events involving Morant, Handcock and the BVC. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「George Witton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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