Captain Charles Fryatt: Courageous Mariner of the First World War

At about 7 p.m. on 27 July 1916, the Germans committed one of the worst atrocities of the First World War. Captain Charles Algernon Fryatt, Master of the Great Eastern Railway ship SS Brussels, had been court martialled, despite being a civilian, for attempting to ram an attacking German submarine and for being a franc-tireur. Having been found guilty he was executed almost immediately by firing squad, after a show trial lasting barely two hours during which he was afforded no proper defence. As happened following the execution of Edith Cavell in 1915, the event caused international outrage, and led to Fryatt’s body being repatriated after the war and given a ceremonial funeral. In this book, Ben Carver takes a look at the events surrounding the capture of the SS Brussels, the trial and execution of Captain Fryatt and the aftermath.