'To Capt Fryatt's Murderers', 1916 (c)

Photograph, World War One (1914-1918).

Soldiers pose with shells carrying graffiti referring to the Merchant Navy Captain, Charles Algernon Fryatt (1872-1916) who was executed by the Germans in 1916. Fryatt, Captain of the SS Brussels, had attempted to ram an attacking German U-Boat on 28 March 1915. Fryatt was later captured by the Germans in June 1916. As a non-combatant involved in hostilities, he was tried and immediately executed by firing squad in Bruges, on 27 July 1916. His execution caused an international outcry and was widely regarded as an act of state murder.