Theodore Schurch
Theodore William John Schurch (
May 5,
1918 –
January 4,
1946) was an
Anglo-
Swiss soldier who was the last person to be executed for an offence other than murder in Britain.
Schurch's father was Swiss but living in
London when he was born at Queen Charlotte's Hospital. During his late teens he was a member of the
British Union of Fascists. On
July 8,
1936, Schurch enlisted in the British army as a
Royal Army Service Corps driver. In June
1942 Schurch was captured by the Germans in
Tobruk and began a career working for both Italian and German intelligence. Often he would pose as a captured
POW to gain the trust of fellow
Allied prisoners, including Colonel Sir
David Stirling, founder of the
Special Air Service.
Schurch was arrested in Rome in March
1945 and tried by a
Court Martial convened at the Duke of York's Headquarters in
Chelsea, London in September 1945. He was found guilty of 9 counts of treachery under the section one of the
Treachery Act 1940, and one charge of desertion. In contrast to Schurch,
William Joyce (
Lord Haw Haw) and
John Amery were executed for treason. Schurch was the only British soldier executed for treachery in the Second World War.
Theodore Schurch was hanged on Friday,
4 January 1946, the day after the execution of Joyce. His hanging took place at
HM Prison Pentonville, and was conducted by
Albert Pierrepoint.
