General in kilts - Homecoming kilt clad Brig-Gen H. P. Bell-Irving of Vancouver leaves the Queen Elizabeth (ship). He was a member of the military court which tried and convicted German SS General Kurt Meyer in Aurich, Germany last December. (Daily News - Monday 4 February 1946) Kurt Meyer, nicknamed "Panzermeyer", (23 December 1910 – 23 December 1961) served as an officer in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. He saw action in many major battles, including the Invasion of France, Operation Barbarossa, and the Battle of Normandy. Meyer was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Upon promotion on 16 June 1944 at the age of 33 years, 5 months and 25 days Meyer became one of the youngest divisional commanders in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War.[1] After the war he was put on trial for war crimes relating to the shooting of Allied prisoners in Normandy for which he was sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He petitioned for clemency and was released in 1954. Meyer lived until 1961. Meyer was held as a prisoner of war until December 1945, when in the town of Aurich Germany he was put on trial for war crimes relating to the shooting of Allied prisoners in Normandy. The court was the first major Canadian war crimes trial, and faced a number of hurdles before it could be convened. Chief among these was the fact that, as the accused was a general officer, he had to be tried by soldiers of equal rank, and finding sufficient Canadian generals able to sit was difficult. The court, as eventually constituted, had four brigadiers - one, Ian Johnston, a lawyer in civilian life - and was presided over by Major General H. W. Foster, former commander of the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade in Normandy.