[Note: Kurt Meyer was convicted on the first, fourth and fifth charges, acquitted on the other two. He was sentenced to death. His appeal for clemency was rejected, and, after review, a few days later by the same officer, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. For biographical details, see Meyer.  For the United Nations War Crimes Commission report on his trial see The Abbaye Ardene Case: The Trial of SS Bridagefuhrer Kurt Meyer.

The accused, Brigadefiihrer Kurt Meyer, an officer in the former Waffen S.S., then a part of the Armed Forces of the German Reich, now in the charge of the 4th Battalion, Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Canadian Army Occupation Force, Canadian Army Overseas, is charged with:

First Charge: Committing a war crime in that he in the Kingdom of Belgium and in the Republic of France, during the year 1943 and prior to the 7th day of June 1944, when Commander of the 25th S.S. Panzer Grenadier Regiment, in violation of the laws and usages of war incited and counselled troops serving under his command to deny quarter to Allied troops.

Second Charge: Committing a war crime in that he in the Province of Normandy and Republic of France, on or about the 7th day of June 1944, as Commander of the 25th S.S. Panzer Grenadier Regiment, was responsible for the killing of prisoners of war, in violation of the laws and usages of war, when troops under his command killed twenty-three Canadian prisoners of war at or near the villages of Buron and Authie.

Third Charge: Committing a war crime in that he at his Headquarters at L’Ancienne Abbaye Ardenne, in the Province of Normandy and Republic of France on or about the 8th day of June 1944, when Commander of the 25th S.S. Panzer Grenadier Regiment, in violation of the laws and usages of war, gave orders to troops under his command’to kill seven prisoners of war, and as a result of such orders the said prisoners of war were thereupon shot and killed.

Fourth Charge: (Alternative to the Third Charge) Committing a war crime in that he in the Province of Normandy and Republic of France on or about the 8th day of June 1944, as Commander of the 25th S.S. Panzer Grenadier Regiment, was responsible for the killing of prisoners of war in violation of the laws and usages of war, when troops under his command shot and killed seven Canadian prisoners of war at his Headquarters at the L’Ancienne Abbaye Ardenne.

Fifth Charge: Committing a war crime in that he in the Province of Nor-mandy and Republic of France on or about the 7th day of June 1944, as Commander of the 25th Panzer Grenadier Regiment was responsible for the killing of prisoners of war in violation of the laws and usages of war, when troops under his command killed eleven Canadian prisoners of war (other than those referred to in the Third and Fourth Charge) at his Headquarters at L’Ancienne Abbaye Ardenne.

R.J. Orde, Brigadier, Judge Advocate-General

Source: Windsor Municipal Archives, box I, file 1/5 Macdonald Papers