After the War Kurt Meyer was charged with War Crimes. He was tried and found guilty and sentenced to death on December 28, 1945. The sentence was commuted to life in prison. He was sent to Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick to serve his sentence.
The Regina Labour Council was upset that Meyer was pardoned and expressed their concern to the Canadian Government.
The arrogant Meyer asked for special privileges. He did not want to be housed with ‘common criminals’. Meyer was the only War Criminal serving his sentence outside Germany. In 1950 he was returned to Germany to finish his life sentence.
Kurt Meyer was released from the German Prison in September 1954 after serving only 9 years for his War Crimes. He died December 23, 1961. It is suggested he was an arrogant SS officer to the end.
After his release, on September 7, 1954, Meyer travelled to his hometown of Niederkruchten in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany where a parade was organized in his honour. He was greeted as a hero.
Meyer was the Standartenführer, the commander of the 25th Panzer Grenadier Regiment of the 12th SS Division in Normandy. As leader, he was responsible for the actions of his men.
In The End
Kurt Meyer was an SS Man to the very end. Upon his release he joined and held important posts as a member of the Waffen SS Veterans Association. For employment he became a beer salesman selling beer to NATO Forces stationed in Germany.
Kurt Meyer was born December 23, 1910 and died December 23, 1961, at age 51.
Out of respect for the thousands killed by the Waffen SS, no insignia images are included.
News Clipping About the Murder of Lance Corporal Douglas Sumner Orford on June 7, 1944
The following images are from the Canadian Virtual War Memorial. This site, and Veterans Affairs Canada do an excellent job of remembering the fallen.
If you or your family has scanned images of photos and documents, I encourage you to visit the CVWM Site and upload them to the file of your family member.
Douglas Sumner Orford - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial - Veterans Affairs Canada
Lance Corporal Douglas Sumner Orford
Died on Active Service, June 7, 1944
Service Number: F/26412, Age: 23
Force: Army, Unit: North Nova Scotia Highlanders, R.C.I.C.
Born: February 2, 1921, Leytonstone, Essex, United Kingdom
Enlistment: October 27, 1939, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Son of Arthur James Orford and Gwendoline Dorothy Orford (nee Sumner), of South Woodford, Essex, England
Beny-Sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, Calvados, France, Grave Reference: II. A. 3.
Editorial Notes
The Cold War began in 1947. The Soviet Union became the new Enemy. This is probably, in part, why more former NZAIs were not prosecuted and why their wartime organizations were tolerated.
Regina Aviation Historian Will Chabun told me that in the book, A Meeting of Generals by Tony Foster, there is a story of Kurt Meyer being flown by the RCAF to the Yukon where he was used to explain how the Soviets would attack that area of Canada and Eastern Alaska. The Canadian military was relying on his experience on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union.
NAZI SS Brigadeführer Kurt Meyer, NAZI Member #316714 and SS Member #17,559, joined the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, the “LSSAH”, Hitler’s personal bodyguard in 1935.
In my opinion Kurt Meyer was well versed in the Elitist SS Doctrine by the beginning of the War and certainly when he led a Panzer reconnaissance unit on the Eastern Front. And considering his active membership in the Waffen SS Veterans Association after the War, he never ‘changed his ways.’
There was controversy about whether Meyer should have been convicted. He was the Commander; people under his command committed War Crimes. He was a convicted War Criminal. The Canadian Military should have never asked for advise on anything.
