M41

Morotai Trial M41 was an Australian war crimes trial conducted on Morotai between 16 and 20 February 1946. The case concerned the murder of Australian prisoner of war Private W. F. Boyce of the 2/21 Australian Infantry Battalion, who was executed near Galala on Ambon on or about 24 July 1945. Six members of the Japanese military, including a Vice Admiral, were charged in connection with the killing.

The court found three officers guilty and sentenced them to death by shooting, while three others were acquitted. In reviewing the proceedings, the Judge Advocate General concluded that the petty officers who carried out the execution had acted under the immediate orders of their superiors and had no reason to believe those orders were unlawful. The review instead placed responsibility on the officers who ordered and organised the execution without the authority of a lawful court martial, while also noting evidence that they themselves may have been acting under instructions from more senior headquarters. This page summarises the trial, the accused, the sentences imposed and the surviving archival records, including the Judge Advocate General's report.