William Shearer (British Free Corps)
William Alan Watson Shearer (13 August 1917 – 9 July 1995) was a member of the British Free Corps in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. Shearer was born in Northamptonshire in August 1917. A Lieutenant in the 4th Seaforth Highlanders, he was the only British officer to join the Corps, with the exception of the brief involvement of Douglas Berneville-Claye. This was the result of his having suffered a serious nervous breakdown in March 1943. He had become suicidal in the wake of this. He rarely left his room and would not put on his BFC uniform. After a few weeks he was returned to the Ansbach mental asylum and eventually repatriated to Britain by the Red Cross in January 1945.[1] He died in Northamptonshire in July 1995 at the age of 77.[2]
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References[]
- ^ Weale, Adrian (2014-11-12). Renegades (Kindle Locations 2452-2461). Random House. Kindle Edition.
- ^ Ancestry: William Alan Watson Shearer in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995
- 1917 births
- 1995 deaths
- British Army personnel of World War II
- British collaborators with Nazi Germany
- English members of the British Free Corps
- Seaforth Highlanders officers
- World War II biography stubs