The Australian government will no longer support any action to pardon “Breaker” Morant and Peter Handcock, who were executed by a British firing squad for murdering South Africans during the Anglo Boer War.

“Breaker” Morant became a legend in Australia and the topic of a comprehensive publication in South Africa by author Charles Leach of the Soutpansberg area where most of the skirmishes of Morant’s unit, the Bushveldt Carbineers (BVC), took place. 

The book is titled The Legend of Breaker Morant is DEAD and BURIED – a South African version of the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Zoutpansberg, May 1901 –April 1902. Leach is now regarded as the top historian on that topic and period. His research revealed that there were at least 35 murders committed by the BVC.

No wonder it was a day for celebration when Leach learnt about the announcement of the new attorney-general (AG) Nicola Roxon. She said that the campaign to persuade Britain to pardon Morant and Handcock, driven by Australian military lawyer Commander James Unkles, will no longer be pursued by the Australian government.

On the day of Roxon’s announcement in the Australian press (10 May), Leach celebrated with Advocate Peter Latta, the legal researcher of the Zoutpansberg Skirmishes foundation, of which Leach is a founder member.

Latta wrote a letter to the previous AG of Australia, Robert McLelland, to confirm whether the Australian government supported the war crimes for which Morant and Handcock had been convicted and whether it supported the pardon campaign. Roxon most probably read this letter when she brought herself up to date with this case.

“If Australia supported the crimes by Morant and the others, they would have condoned war crimes, where African and European South Africans and a German missionary were massacred. Their ‘no’ amounts to an endorsement of a human rights principle. If they had supported the pardon campaign, it would have been a gross violation against the descendants of the murdered,” Adv Latta said.

Commander Unkles is said to still pursue his mission to get Morant pardoned and to have the intention of approaching the British Court of Appeal on his own, without the support of the Australian government. Latta said that it would cost millions.

Leach said that the extreme efforts of Andries Pretorius, living in Australia, needed to be saluted. Pretorius applied pressure against the pardon initiative by means of the Internet and letters to the Australian AG and the British government.

In the meantime, the ripple effect of Leach’s research is still spreading. People are still sending in information. One important document that was discovered is the handwritten will of Harry Harbourd Morant, Breaker’s real name. Morant had no descendants in Australia and left most of what he had to a beneficiary in England. “Unfortunately, it was too late for inclusion in my book!” said Leach.