Whilst on the R.A.F. Escape exercise, I came to know a chap whose surname was Dixon. He was at that time employed in “B” company as an officer’s batman and, as is often the case with men assigned to that task, was a young man of a shy and rather timid nature. I found him to be a pleasant and intelligent chap, but a somewhat nervous passenger on the occasion he rode beside me in the Humber. Can’t imagine why!
He later turned up in the same block as me, in a room not many yards down the corridor. I believe he had been removed from his job as officer’s batman and transferred to normal duties with “D” company. It soon became common knowledge that the two others with whom he shared this small room, were bullying him mercilessly. One of these had the name Adams, but I do not remember the name of the other. Where he was a rather small and frail lad, these other two were both tall and heavily built. These two would go out and get a skinful, night after night, then return in the early hours, to find Dixon either asleep, or pretending to be. They would promptly upend his bed, tipping him onto the floor and then begin to torment him. He would be dragged to his feet and pushed and punched to and fro, from one to the other across the room and back! This continued for several weeks, if not months!
At a very early stage he went to his Platoon Sergeant, telling him the story and asking to be moved away from these two. He was told he was a wimp and needed to be a man and stand up for himself. I believe he had the same response from his Platoon Commander. He was utterly desperate and no-one in authority was willing to help him.
I well remember the night in question, as some friends and I had spent the evening in the NAAFI rather than going into the town. We had our usual fry-up and spent the remainder of the evening drinking copious amounts of coffee. As we emptied our cups, we began to build a wall of cups and saucers along the centre of the table. We then decided to import further “building materials” from other tables, so that, by the time we left, the “wall” was of such a height that the German NAAFI girls were afraid to try to dismantle it. We were decidedly high from the effect of the caffeine, and contrary to what one might expect, slept like logs all night.
The following morning was a Sunday and we awoke to find our barrack block crawling with Red-Caps, as the Military Police are known. They were, in fact members of the Special Investigation Branch. (S.I.B.).
We learnt later, that Adams and his friend had been out on their usual Saturday night binge and, on their return had begun their usual “fun” at the expense of their roommate. He went to his locker and took out a knife with which he threatened them, saying “If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll stick this knife in you!” “What you?”said Adams. “We’ll bloody soon see about that!” So saying, he launched another attack, whereupon Dixon thrust out the knife and stabbed him in the heart. Adams died immediately. Dixon went to the guardroom and surrendered himself. He was subsequently tried for murder, found guilty and sentenced to death. There was however, an agreement between the British and German governments to the effect that, as there was no death penalty in Germany, no-one would be hanged in Britain for an offence committed on German soil. The sentenced was commuted, to ten years and subsequently to two years in prison. There was considerable press coverage in Britain at the time, the newspapers calling it “The Case of the Timid Soldier.” To the disgust of the vast majority of the ordinary soldiers in the Battalion the “victim” was buried with “Full Military Honours” complete with a Guard of Honour drawn from “D” company, who fired a salute over the coffin.
(Names have been changed)