´óÏó´«Ã½

For years musicians were my heroes. They were so cool and, after all, without music and art, what is life? But as I age, and consider what it is to be truly brave, there are few who compare with my Grandfather.
My Mother’s Father, Major A.S. Munro was a qualified lawyer who volunteered and fought first with the British Expeditionary Force and then on through the major acts of WWII: Dunkirk, North Africa, through Italy before the final invasion of Berlin. For most servicemen this was the last round of a terrible period of time and though it was still hard when they got home, they were at least back with their families. For my Grandfather, however, his services were still required.
It takes a certain type of individual to always know right from wrong; to know that sometimes we are required to play our part in great events. My Grandfather was a lawyer and as such he was required to act as a Defending Officer for several Nazis accused of inhumane acts in the Concentration Camp of Bergen Belsen. Today his view of the situation seems understandable — everybody deserves the right to a strong defence, regardless of the crime, otherwise we are as uncivilized as the enemy we have defeated. Some sixty years later this seems right and true, obvious even. At the time, however, when my Mother’s family in Scotland was avoided by neighbours as he was ‘standing up for Germans’, this view was not seen so clearly.
To this day we have a letter from a female sergeant who served in the camp, stating that she expected to die for her crimes. For the record, my Grandfather was unsuccessful in all his cases and the death penalty was indeed handed out.
My Grandfather, too, paid the ultimate price and sadly died about twenty years later by his own hand. Though money worries had a part to play I think his work also caught up with him and frankly, it’s understandable. Even reading some of the excerpts from the trials, and I dare you to do so, leaves one emotionally exhausted and wondering if humans have progressed at all.
Unfortunately I don’t have all the details of which regiment my Grandfather served in, my Mother still finds the subject very difficult, though I have found some information on the Internet and there was a book published covering the trial though I have been unsuccessful in obtaining a copy. Regardless, the service details, dates and even the names are not what is important. We live in a time of cynicism and fear and this is dangerous. We are all children and it is important that we have strong leaders and role models to follow. And whilst it is true - life is nothing without music and art — life also requires heroes and I consider myself truly blessed that I can count my own Grandfather amongst them.

For more details of the trials my Grandfather worked in please see:

^{About links
About links}

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.