Article C: The Morning Globe

The Morning Globe

British boy killed by classmates
Mistaken for a pig and beaten to death

Kate Hodgson, Journalist

May 1, 1944

London--Simon Callaghan was killed on the evening of April twenty-third on the beach of a desert island near a cookfire. He was mistaken for a pig in the midst of a reenactment of a pig hunt, and was beaten to death with sticks.

Callaghan, nine, was killed by a group of schoolboys who were stranded on the island when their evacuation plane crashed. The boys ranged from ages five to twelve, and all came from London schools.

"I'm not even sure how it happened," said Maurice Buchard, ten. "We were all chanting and dancing around the fire--our ritual after a hunt--and pretending to kill a pig. All of sudden there was an actual object to beat on. It never really seemed to register that it was our mate."

When asked if Callaghan got along with the group of boys, Jack Merridew, twelve, was hesitant. "Somewhat. We found him rather batty; he got these odd spasms and often fainted. It was rather different, and we didn't know what to think. The fainting did get irritating after a while, though. No one ever got mad at him that I can remember, however."

"The killing wasn't intentional. The beating just felt so...good and natural that it seemed wrong to stop," said Ralph Jones, looking remorseful.

It appears that there were no personal feelings involved in the murder; it's more because the boys got caught up in their hunting ritual and forget reality. The question now is, could this happen to anybody? Would a group of schoolgirls do this? Adults? Or were the boys just bred with violence?

Psycologist John Demers voiced his opinion. "I don't believe that violence is bred into the boys. They were held in place with rules for their whole life, so the first chance they have to be set free of all restrictions is a chance they accept with open arms. It was an unconsious decision to be this violent--it's just natural to want to go against everything you've ever been taught just for the thrill of it."

The boys were rescued last week by a Navy boat, the HMS Kingston, and are now recovering from their ordeal at home in London. Callaghan's family could not be reached.

London