Reginald Eric Pleasants (17 May 1913 – 1998) was a British national who joined the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

serving in the

British Free Corps The British Free Corps ( abbr. BFC; ) was a unit of the of Nazi Germany during World War II, made up of British and Dominion prisoners of war who had been recruited by Germany. The unit was originally known as the Legion of St George. Research b ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, Pleasants was captured by the Soviets and spent eight years in Siberian gulags. Despite being in the SS, he was never prosecuted by the British authorities on his post-war return to Britain. The government concluded that the prison time already served by Pleasants constituted enough of a punishment.

Early life

Born in the

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

village of

Saxlingham Nethergate Saxlingham Nethergate is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England, about south of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and the 2001 Census recorded a population of 676 in 276 households, the population increasing to 688 at the 201 ...

, Pleasants attended school in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

to age 14, then worked variously as trainee electrician, forester,

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

and then showman weight-lifter in Britain and continental Europe.

Second World War

In late 1939 he joined the Merchant Navy as a compromise between military call-up and his distaste for war. He served on a freighter bringing potatoes from

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, but overstayed his time ashore on the island, missed his boat, and was caught there when the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

were occupied by the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

in July 1940. He obtained temporary farm work as a potato picker, but also began stealing from empty properties, resulting in arrest and prosecution in the

Magistrate's Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrates' cour ...

. He was deported by the German occupying authorities, first to Fort d'Hauteville prison near

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

, France, and eventually to an internment camp in Kreuzburg,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In Germany, Pleasants chose to join the Waffen SS, and became an ''SS-

Schütze ''Schütze'' in German means "rifleman" or "shooter", or in older terms originally connoted "archer" before the advent of the rifle. It also occasionally occurs as a surname, or as Schütz, as in the opera '' Der Freischütz''. The word itself i ...

'' in the

which in 1944 became a foreign legion of the Waffen-SS. He claimed to have been invited to join the German broadcasting service from

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

to Allied and neutral countries, and, in this connection, to have met

William Joyce William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born Fascism, fascist and Propaganda of Nazi Germany, Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the World War II, Second World War. After moving from ...

and

John Amery John Amery (14 March 1912 – 19 December 1945) was a British fascist and Nazi collaborator during World War II. He was the originator of the British Free Corps, a volunteer Waffen-SS unit composed of former British and Dominion prisoners of w ...

, and to have discussed with them the possibilities of charges of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

. He claimed also to have had a sexual relationship with Joyce's wife, Eileen. In August 1944 he demanded to be returned to his camp. He was stripped of his uniform and summarily despatched to an SS punishment camp at Bandekow near

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

, where he worked in a road-making gang, but returned to the BFC in November. He was selected to box for the SS pioneers against the SS police in Prague in late 1944, and won his bout. In late February or early March 1945, Pleasants "got himself attached to ivianStranders' embryonic 'Peace Camp' – in reality he spent his time giving exhibition bouts against

Max Schmeling Maximilian Adolph Otto Siegfried Schmeling (, ; 28 September 1905 – 2 February 2005) was a German boxing, boxer who was heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932. His two fights with Joe Louis in 1936 and 1938 were worldwide cul ...

in German officers' messes." Pleasants deserted from the Waffen-SS in 1945 and went into hiding. He "was obliged to kill two Russian soldiers with his bare hands" when they attempted to arrest him in the southern suburbs f Berlin Captured by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in 1946, he was imprisoned in a

GULAG The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

camp at

Vorkuta Vorkuta (; ; Nenets languages, Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin a ...

along the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

before being repatriated to the United Kingdom in 1954. No action was taken against Pleasant by the British authorities, as his time in Soviet custody was deemed a sufficient punishment for his crimes,Weale, Adrian (2014-11-12). Renegades (Kindle Location 3416). Random House. Kindle Edition albeit he was interviewed. Pleasants' autobiography was ghost-written by

Eddie Chapman Edward Arnold Chapman (16 November 1914 – 11 December 1997) was an English criminal and wartime spy. During the Second World War he offered his services to Nazi Germany as a spy and subsequently became a British double agent. His British Sec ...

, a British safe-breaker and double agent whom Pleasants befriended in German custody, under the titl
''I Killed to Live – The Story of Eric Pleasants as told to Eddie Chapman''
Cassell & Co, 1957. Another version appears to have been edited by

Ian Sayer Ian K. T. Sayer (born 30 October 1945) is a British entrepreneur, World War II historian, author and investigative journalist. His Sayer Transport Group (established in 1967 and sold in 1979) became part of the British and European overnight d ...

and

Douglas Botting Douglas Scott Botting (22 February 1934 – 6 February 2018) was an English explorer, author, biographer and TV presenter and producer. He wrote biographies of naturalists Gavin Maxwell and Gerald Durrell (the former also being a personal friend ...

and published posthumously a
''Hitler's Bastard: Through Hell and Back in Nazi Germany and Stalin's Russia''
Random House, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pleasants, Eric 1913 births 1998 deaths British Merchant Navy personnel of World War II English male boxers English male wrestlers English members of the British Free Corps British people imprisoned abroad Foreign Gulag detainees Military personnel from Norwich People from Wymondham World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union 20th-century English sportsmen

Early life

Second World War

See also

References