Recently in a video we looked at the execution of Eddie Slovik, a member of the US Army who
during the Second World War was shot for desertion.
Slovik was the only person to have been shot for this crime during the conflict, and his
execution was rather troubled.
It was believed that Slovik’s death was a result of his previous criminal past as
a young man, and as a felon it’s believed that the US military high command took steps
to use him as a deterrent, as during that time in the war the fighting was intense and
ferocious, with desertion rates going up.
Today we look at a rather different story, and how the only Canadian executed by his
own country during the conflict died.
Private Harold Pringle’s story is one which is rather debatable and it’s interesting
to consider whether he deserved to die or not.
Harold Pringle infact should probably have not been involved in the war in the capacity
that he was, as he joined up underage.
So join us today as we look at ‘The SECRET Execution Of Harold Pringle, the Canadian
executed during WW2.’
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When Harold Pringle joined up to fight in the Second World War, he was 16 years old.
He willingly signed up for the fighting despite being underage, but was accepted.
His father had fought in the First World War, and had a rather illustrious career in the
Canadian Army, and no doubt it’s believed that Harold wanted to carry on in his father’s
footsteps.
His father had been a marksman and was proud about his service, and together they signed
up for the Second World War, but Harold’ father was refused due to his poor eyesight.
He was from Clinton Ontario, which was a tiny rural community.
Despite being only 16 he was a constant thorn in the side of the military.
He lied about his age, and despite being known for being courageous in battle, he was known
for having a temper, and also for going AWOL.
He would go on leave when he wanted to and would not return.
This made him a constant deserter, and time and time again he would repeat this sort of
behaviour.
This was not accepted in the army at the time, however it was dealt with more leniently than
it was in the First World War.
In World War 1, deserters were shot at Dawn, being tied to posts and being shot by a firing
squad.
This resulted in hundreds of British soldiers and commonwealth soldiers being executed,
and a number of these were young men.
Private Harold Pringle was fined a number of times, and also was placed in military
prison for his desertion, and much of his disappearing was due to him visiting towns
to see women who became his girlfriend.
Pringle was even sent to a reformatory camp for a year, but then escaped after serving
6 months.
He was known for just taking off to see these women when he wanted, however it had disastrous
consequences for him.
Pringle was part of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, which have a rich military
history.
During the Second World War they were mobilised as soon as the conflict broke out and they
travelled to Britain and then onto France as part of the Second British Expeditionary
Force.
In 1943, they were part of the Sicily landings on the 10th June 1943, and then landed in
September in Italy.
It was during their campaigns in Italy that Pringle managed to regroup with his battalion,
and then saw action.
It was noted how when he arrived in Italy for a short while he did what he was told,
and had an unblemished service record.
However he linked up in Italy with some British deserters, and together with Pringle they
created a black market outfit who were intent on getting rich and causing chaos within the
Italian local economy.
Pringle and a friend John Lucky McGillivary were part of the group known as the Sailor
gang.
These men had all fled their responsibilities and units, and ran to Rome to make a healthy
amount of money selling black market goods.
Inside of Rome, the members of the Sailor Gang were living the high life whilst they
were all in fact criminals who had shirked their military units.
They started off well selling black market goods for big profits, but as they got more
greedy things went downhill massively.
Their behaviour began to become more debaucherous and raucous, and they were always drunk.
They would drink themselves under the table even during the day and would get into fights
with locals.
The business decisions they made also became more risky and rash, and it all resulted in
a shocking event that ultimately led to the execution of Harold Pringle.
The men were living ultimately as minor gangsters, trying to get rich quick and evade the Second
World War and conflict.
During one evening, there had been an argument between two members of the group whilst drinking
and it resulted in the shooting and death of Pringle’s friend Lucky McGillivary.
According to the official court proceedings which took place later, ‘Pringle and the
victim Lucky Mcgillivary were absentees in Rome last autumn and joined a Chicago type
gang.
This gang comprised also absentees from the British Army, the US Army and an absentee
petty officer cook from the Royal Navy.
On the evening of the 1st November 1944, one of the houses where the hang lived in Rome,
Lucky and Charlie Honess a British sapper quarrelled, and Charlie shot Lucky in the
abdomen with a revolver.
The shot went through his liver.
Honess and Pringle then pricked up Lucky still alive and put hi in a jeep.
The accused then drove and was accompanied by the other hang members.
They went south east from Rome, and during the journey, Lucky said ‘Take it easy.’
After travelling around 14km they turned up a lame.
Just before, Lucky asked where they were taking him, and the men said they were taking him
to a hospital.
About 1600 yards up the lane, Lucky was lifted out of the jeep and placed on the ground.
This was about 30 mins from the time of the first shot.
The accused Harold Pringle, then shot lucky again near his heart with a revolver.
The Royal Navy petty officer cook Bill Croft then after shot 2, borrowed Pringle’s revolver
and shot Lucky in the forehead.
They then put Lucky in an irrigation well and Pringle threw a branch over him.
They then drove back to Rome where they distributed Lucky’s clothing amongst themselves and
burned anything of his of an identifying nature.
Lucky’s body was found the next morning by some Italians.’
At trial, Pringle confessed that he had shot Lucky, and each of the defendants said they
did so to obliterate his features to avoid identification.
However Pringle stated that when he had shot Lucky, then he was already dead.
The courtroom debated this, as if he had died before he was shot by Pringle this would not
have been murder.
A pathologist who performed the autopsy on Lucky stated how he believed it was a combination
of the three gunshots that killed him.
He said after the first shot, as no major blood vessels had been hit, Lucky could have
lived up to 10 hours.
He also said that a combination of the 3 shots would have either killed Lucky instantaneously
or within 2 minutes, and that Pringle’s shot would have quickened death.
The shot Pringle fired was in the left side of the chest and passed through the lung.
However interestingly, another pathologist debated that he believed Pringle’s shot
occured certainly after death, meaning that Pringle would not have been guilty of murder,
and in a sense was firing a bullet into a corpse.
He also stated that he believed the 3rd shot, was fired into the head after dead too, and
that shots 2 and 3 were done after the victim’s heart stopped beating.
The whole debate regarding the trial centered around when Lucky Mcgillivary had died, and
whether Harold Pringle had in fact killed him, or contributed to the murder.
It was confirmed by another member of the gang that Lucky was alive when he arrived
down the Italian lane, but the whole debate was up to the court martial and trial to decide.
The various members of the gang were placed on trial, but the judges still needed to work
out who and when Lucky had been killed.
It was clear that they were all complicit and involved in the murder and the dumping
of the body.
The medical evidence was all rather conflicting too, as it was said that ‘one statement
says that immediately before Shot 2 the victim was alive, another that he was dead, and a
third that a pathologist can only surmise on probability or possibility of death.’
This left it up to the judges to make the decision.
In the case of Harold Pringle, he was sentenced to death by shooting for his involvement in
the murder of his friend.
It was clear he had shot the man, and that he had contributed to his death, and its possible
his previous as a deserter had an impact on the sentence.
He was then taken to prison to await his death.
He did appeal, but this was rejected.
His prison cell looked out towards Mount Vesuvius, and he was guarded by British sentries.
It was noted he was a cheerful prisoner, who even played gin with the guards, and since
his court martial he tried to forget about the death sentence.
He was visited by Father Thomas Lenane, who spoke to him regularly during his imprisonment.
It was down to the Canadians and not the British to execute him.
From the court records, we can learn what happened to Pringle during his execution.
His execution was performed in strict secrecy, as the Canadian Army did not want it to get
out that they had executed one of their own soldiers as they were involved in murder.
The court documents stated that, ‘the place of execution should be secluded and near to
the place of confinement, and the best time to do the job was after dawn.’
Arrangements were made for a firing squad consisting of one sergeant and 10 soldiers
from the prisoner’s unit to be gathered.
They were to stand 10 or 12 yards from the prisoner, and then signals would be given
before.
Pringle was brought to his site of execution and then he was secured either to a chair
or a wooden post.
The men selected to shoot Pringle were not happy with their assignment, and they were
not happy with the task of shooting one of their own, despite the fact he was involved
in desertion and murder.
The execution of Harold Pringle was so secret that the exact location is not known.
According to the preparations for the executions, he was offered a sedative injection and an
alchoholic drink before facing his firing squad.
He was then tied to the post or a chair with straps or rope.
Pringle was then given a black cap which was placed over his head, and an aiming mark was
placed over his chest for the men to aim at.
The officer in charge also carried a loaded revolver incase Pringle needed a coup de grace,
and he would have been shot dead within minutes of him arriving at the place of execution.
There are confirmation statements in the case file that state, ‘C.5292 Private Harold
Joseph Pringle Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment was executed by shooting at Avellino
Italy, at 8:00 hours on the 5th July 1945.
The execution was carried out in the manner mentioned before.
A doctor stated how ‘Immediately after the execution of the said Private Pringle, I examined
his body and found him to be dead.’
So the execution of Private Harold Pringle is a rather debatable one, it’s clear however
he was involved in shady practices manipulating the black market in Rome all whilst he should
have been fighting in the Second World War.
Interestingly one of the men who was involved in the murder of Lucky Mcgillivary was offered
immunity to testify against Pringle.
The case is a rather debatable one, and Pringle remains the only Canadian soldier executed
by his own soldiers in the Second World War.
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