COURT-MARTIAL CHARGED WITH NEGLECT
ALI-W-KP FMLVBE OF DUTY. Melbourne, May 27, In the Flnii.-?, referring to the a11e.2-; ed misappropriation of Red Crosß goode^
at Babaul, Mr. 'Anstey said that thougK the private making the charges was alleged to .have signed confessions that thoy were untrue, and that cne of these was posted to a Sydney newspaper and the other to Senator Pearce (Minister for Defence), neither confession had arrived, nor' was Colonel Holmes callod on to produce a' copy. Mr. Anstey claimed that Colonel Ramaciotti, Chairman of the Court, had failed in his duty. He asked for a further inquiry. The Prime Minister (Mr. Fisher) said that in his opinion there had been neglect of duty on the part of the Court-Martial. The whole proceedings wore unsatisfactory, and the _ rnattei could not bo allowed to remain stationary. (Rec. May 28, 1.30 a.m.) Melbourne, May 2/J. .In the House, Mr. Austey, referring to the looting at Babaul, flung further serious charges against the officers, and described tho recent court-martial as a premeditated farce. He alleged that there was not only robbery, but forgery, The great bulk of the loot came by the Berrina. Mr. Cook had promised -an exhaustive inquiry. The papers relating to'the trial;, and conviction of Corporal \V, Penny and' Privates B. Hunter, T. J. Wilson,- j. R. M'Donald, and A. J. Clogg, of the Australian na?al and military force /at Babaul, which have been laid on the table of the Federal Parl-'amentary Library, indicate that looting was very, rife. In a letter to Mr, F. Anstey," M.P., Corporal Penny stated that the officers were equally guilty with the men. "One case," he said, "was the stealing of a valuable tea set . belonging to the Acting-Governor by a staff officer, which was sent,, to Sydney as a wedding present to his wife, they only being married the day previous to our leaving Sydney. ... If we were to make Known what we know about the officers of the expedition it would cause a scandal."
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Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2473, 28 May 1915, Page 5
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335COURT-MARTIAL CHARGED WITH NEGLECT Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2473, 28 May 1915, Page 5
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