Roy Courlander

On the outbreak of war, Courlander was enlisted into the New Zealand Military Forces. Because of his knowledge of French and German he was placed in the Intelligence Corps. He sailed for Egypt on RMS Orion and served in Greece with the 18th Battalion.[7] In December 1940 he was promoted to Lance-Corporal. At Kalamata, Greece on 29 April 1941 he was captured and interned in Stalag XVIII-D at Maribor in Yugoslavia.

As a prisoner of war, Courlander acted as an interpreter at the camp. He joined work parties in Austria and eventually in September 1943 was sent to Genshagen camp (Stalag III-D/517) in Berlin. Courlander posed as a “White Russian émigré” and claimed to have extreme anti-Soviet views. He participated in Nazi broadcasts to the United Kingdom.

Subsequently, the Germans recruited Courlander in January 1944 for the British Free Corps. He was one of the original six members. Although the name 'Leonard Courlander' appears in some records in connection with the British Free Corps, the actual member appears to be Roy Courlander. Along with Thomas Cooper, he is said to have forcibly recruited British and Dominion POWs for the British Free Corps. By April 1944 he was promoted to Unterscharführer (sergeant). At his court martial, statements were made that Courlander was seeking to oust John Amery and take control of the Corps.[8]

Courlander and another man, Francis Maton, left the BFC by volunteering for service with the war correspondent unit SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers, which was operating on the Western Front. Their ultimate goal was to make for the Allied lines at the first chance. Courlander and Maton removed all of the BFC insignia from their uniforms, replacing them with the standard SS patches and rank. The two men boarded a train for Brussels in the company of a Flemish Waffen-SS unit. On 3 September 1944, the two men arrived in Brussels, where they linked up with the Belgian Resistance. They participated in street fighting against the Germans, with Courlander being wounded during action. The following day, they gave themselves up to a British officer, thus becoming the first two BFC men to be arrested.

After capture Courlander was interviewed by British military intelligence, probably MI5. He told them that Adolf Hitler had told BFC members that if Britain was defeated, the former King Edward VIII would replace George VI on the throne and Oswald Mosley would become the Prime Minister.[9] Courlander also provided background information on the formation of the BFC.[10]

Lance Corporal Courlander was arrested and tried by court martial by the New Zealand military authorities in Westgate-on-Sea near Margate in Kent, England. On 3 October 1945, six years to the day after enlisting, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on a charge of "voluntarily aiding the enemy".

Prosecuting officer Lieutenant-Colonel R.A.L Hillard said that Courlander produced a series of propaganda talks designed to show how the British had failed to keep to pledges after the First World War and Trooper J.E. Wilson gave evidence that Courlander had told him he was trying to persuade the Germans to allow a corps of free British to fight the Russians. Courlander pleaded not guilty to the charge and stated that he had joined the BFC to facilitate escaping, but as that did not eventuate had sought to find a way to control and use the unit against the Germans.[11]

In 1946, Courlander was transferred to Mount Eden Prison in Auckland. Because the court martial did not dismiss him from the Army, Courlander was still entitled to wear his New Zealand Army uniform when out of prison for medical treatment, which he did in May 1946.[12] His wife died while he was in prison. He appealed against his sentence, and in May 1950 it was reduced to 9 years. He was released on 2 October 1951 and married Margaret Spence the same day.[13]