Who was United Kingdom's famous executioner? (Albert Pierrepoint.)

Albert Pierrepoint lived from 1905 to 1992. He achieved an unwanted celebrity as one of Britain’s top executioners through the 1940s and into the 1950s. When executioners were vetted in Britain, they were required to be firm, polite and above all, very discreet about their work. Being an executioner in the British prison service was a well paid part time job and those men that did this ominous task had other day jobs that they could acquire release from when necessary.

Albert Pierrepoint was the third member of his family to do this dubious task. His father and his Uncle Tom also executed criminals for the prison service. By 1932, when Albert was invited to an interview, his father had been dead for some years and his mother was unhappy that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. Though he got support from his Uncle Tom.

He passed the vetting board and was put on the list. Surprisingly, his first job as an executioner’s assistant was with his Uncle Tom and it was not in Britain, but in Ireland. He went as assistant with his uncle to Mountjoy prison in Dublin and assisted in the hanging of an Irish Free State criminal Patrick Dermott.

He assisted many hangings through out the 1930s and then began to be the actual hangman in 1940. He took part in the execution of over 600 criminals, but what really blew his cover as a hangman was when the war ended and many of Nazi Germany’s war criminals were publicly brought to account.

Field Marshal Montgomery met Albert Pierrepoint in London in 1945 and instructed him to be ready to go to Germany, where he would be participating in the execution of Nazi war criminals. When Pierrepoint arrived in Germany he was shocked by how many war criminals he had to execute each day. He got on with the dreadful assignment and executed more then 200 including the famous SS female concentration camp officer Imra Grese.

When he arrived back home, his discretion was blown and many who knew him were shocked to discover he was one of the nation’s hangman. He continued in his work and hung the innocent Evans of the famous Christie murders and also hung the last female to get the death sentence in Britain – Ruth Ellis.

In 1956, he retired from the prison service and moved to the sea with his wife. He believed hanging only satisfied revenge and did no good, which is strange coming from one of Britain’s executioners. He did a few t.v. interviews in the 1960s 70s and 80s, plus a book. He died in 1992 age 87. He is sometimes referred to as the last hangman, but this is not so because hangman still functioned in Britain up until 1964.

Why Napoleon's Marshal Ney of France was the Bravest of the Brave.

Bravest of the Brave - Marshal Ney of France

I am a Brit and my country fought a long and hard war against Napoleon’s France – like many nations throughout Europe, but this man, despite being a foe, was very brave and honourable. As school boys we all knew of Napoleon’s Marshals and though they were our nation’s enemies, we were taught to have respect for these soldiers of a bygone age.

I think Michel Ney was one of France’s best known Marshals of the Napoleonic times. He was to become much loved by his French soldiers and revered and respected by his enemies too. He was born in a place called Saarlous, which was in France in 1769. Today the town is in Germany.

He joined the army in the 1790s and rose rapidly through the ranks and was caught up in the times of the turbulent French revolutionary wars. In 1797, after taking part in other battle actions, he led a charge against Austrian Lancers at the battle of Neuwied. During this action he was captured but exchanged for an Austrian General.

In 1804 he was made a Marshal in Napoleon’s new imperial Army and from this moment his fighting career really took off. He was at the Battle of Jena in 1806, took part in the siege of Magdeburg in 1807 and brought reinforcements in time to save Napoleon from defeat at Eulou. His battle honours were becoming very impressive.

In 1808 he went to Spain and in the first year won some minor actions. Then in 1809 he routed a combined British and Portuguese force at Barlos. In 1810 he took part in the invasion of Portugal and took Ciudad Rodrigo from the Spanish and Almeida from the British and Portuguese. Despite these winning actions the over all campaign failed and during the retreat from Torres Vedras he held the rear guard and fought a number of retreating actions against Britain’s Duke of Wellington. He was removed from the final campaign for insubordination.

Then came 1812 and Napoleon’s grand invasion of Russia. Five hundred thousand troops of many nations led by France. Marshal Ney was given a command and accompanied the Empower Napoleon on this huge invasion. It went terribly wrong for the French and although they took Moscow; there was no surrender from the Russians who retreated further into the depths of their vast country. Winter came and France was forced to retreat. Marshal Ney held the rear guard all the way back during the horrendous winter conditions. This monumental retreat has become legendary and Marshal Ney was nicknamed ‘Bravest of the Brave’ by his fellow countrymen. He was known as the last Frenchman to leave Russia and his iron bravery had echoed across Europe among ally and foe.

From 1813 to 1814 the enemies of Napoleonic France began to close in on the nation – pushing its imperial borders back to the confines of France itself. From the East, Marshal Ney was caught up in actions against many nations – among them; Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden. From the South, came the British who had crossed the Pyrenees mountain range and entered France. The situation became hopeless and France faced ruin.

There was a revolt among the chief of Marshals and Ney was chosen as the spokesman to demand Napoleon’s abdication. At first the Empower tried to refuse and there was an argument, but eventually Napoleon was made to see how hopeless the situation was. He went into exile and the Bourbons reclaimed the throne of France.

In 1815 Napoleon returned from exile and Ney was sent to stop Napoleon causing a new war. Marshal Ney made a promise to bring the old imperial emperor back in a cage. It was a futile pledge because when he stood before the man, he could not do such a thing. Instead he joined forces and so began the Hundred Days War. There were other small battles that culminated in a grand final one in Belgium – at a place called Waterloo. This epic battle was very closely fought but Britain’s Wellington, with the aid of Prussia and other nations managed to defeat Napoleon. Again, the old Emperor was sent into exile and Marshal Ney was arrested for treason.

On December 6th 1815 he was led out before a firing squad. He made a short speech and refused a blindfold. He was allowed to give the command to fire upon his self and did so. Thus ended the life of Marshal Ney – Bravest of the Brave. He is buried at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery and his execution caused deep resentment and public division in France.