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Auction: 23001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 460

The Flying Log Books of Pilot Officer B. R. M. Freeman, Royal Air Force, a committed fascist who, having been shot down over France in May 1940, changed allegiance and joined the Waffen-SS, working alongside 'Lord Haw-Haw' on Germany Calling he latterly became an Officer in the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggars Propaganda Unit

Royal Air Force Flying Log Books (2), the first Book 425 Type, in the name of 'Flying Officer B. R. Freeman' and covering the period 21 September 1926-28 June 1928, the other Form 414 Type, in the name of 'B. R. Freeman' and inscribed 'Log Book A (Civil Flying)' on the cover, covering the period 4 January 1930-26 March 1931, very fine and of historical importance (2)

The fascinating story of Benson Fletcher Railton Metcalf Freeman was covered by the Sandhurst Trust on 29 March 2019:

'The son of a Royal Navy Engineer Commander, Benson Fletcher Railton Metcalf Freeman was born in Newbury on 6th October 1903. Moving with his parents, he was educated at St Helen’s College, Southsea, Portsmouth Grammar School and Newton College, Devon. Entering Sandhurst on 1st September 1922 and training in No.4 Company, he was commissioned into the King’s Own Royal Regiment in August 1924. However, Infantry soldiering was not for him and, in 1927, he transferred to the Royal Air Force, training as a fighter pilot. Retiring in 1931 he farmed an estate in Gloucestershire and become involved in far-right politics, joining Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists in 1937.

On the outbreak of war, Freeman was recalled to the RAF and posted as a flying instructor to 24 Squadron, the ViP transport unit based at Croydon Airport. Ordered to fly to Merville in France, most of the aircraft were destroyed in German raids. As the enemy approached, Freeman took off with several other personal in a DC3 Dakota but this was forced down by ground fire and they were captured by the enemy.

Initially imprisoned in Stalag 11a, his Fascist views soon became known and his position became untenable after newly-arrived air crew reported that they had been briefed by MI9 that there was a British informer in the camp. Taken to Berlin, he met Rudolf Hess who recruited him to ‘help in the promotion of peace and the frustration of Bolshevik plans.’ Following the meeting, Freeman was sent to the German Radio Corporation as part of the infamous ‘Germany Calling’ programme. Headed by William Joyce, known as ‘Lord Haw Haw’, Freeman shared an office with fellow traitor and Sandhurst alumnus Norman Baillie-Stewart. Living under the name ‘P Royston’ he received a weekly salary of 200 Reichmarks.

In October 1944 Freeman found his ideological niche by joining the Waffen SS. Unlike most other British turn-coats who joined the SS British Free Corps (a unit comprising misfits, criminals and deserters) Freeman joined the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggars. On joining, he had to make a declaration that:

‘He was an Englishman of Aryan descent and have never, neither now nor previously, been a member of a free mason’s lodge nor any other secret society.’

The Kurt Eggars Company was a specialist propaganda unit which publicised the actions of Waffen SS units, deploying reporters to the various front-line theatres. Rising to the rank of Untersturmführer - or Lieutenant - he was responsible for vetting propaganda material. As the Third Reich collapsed in April 1945, Freeman flew a Fieseler Storch aircraft to Lenggries in South West Germany, where he surrendered to US forces on 9th May 1945.

Brought back to Britain, he was court martialled at RAF Uxbridge in a specially convened court to try members of the air force who had assisted the enemy while Prisoners of War. Freeman was cashiered from the RAF and received ten years in prison, a relatively lenient sentence considering the death penalty handed to William Joyce and Julian Amery, the founder of the British Free Corps. After sentencing, Freeman told his lawyer: “This just shows how rotten this democratic country is. The Germans would have had the honesty to shoot me!"'

A plethora of files exist at the National Archives on the exploits of Freeman, whilst little more is known about him after he served his Prison Term, almost vanishing to thin air. Captain Canterbury in the recent publication The Berlin Spies is based on him.

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Estimate
£1,400 to £1,800

Starting price
£1200