| Alfred Vivian Minchin | |
| Birth Date: | 27 January 1917 |
| Birth Place: | Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England |
| Death Date: | February 1998 (aged 81) |
| Death Place: | Somerset, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupation: | British merchant seaman |
| Conviction Status: | Deceased |
| Conviction: | Conspiracy to assist the enemy |
| Criminal Penalty: | 7 years' imprisonment |
Alfred Vivian Minchin (27 January 1917 – February 1998) was a British merchant seaman who was taken prisoner by a German destroyer after his ship, the SS Empire Ranger, one of a Murmansk convoy, was sunk by German bombers off Norway.[1] He held the rank of Sturmmann[2] in the Waffen-SS British Free Corps during the Second World War. He was taken prisoner on 28 March 1942.[3] It was he who suggested the name for the British Free Corps.[4] By 8 March 1945 he 'was being treated for scabies in the SS hospital at Lichtefelde-West.'[5] The National Archives holds the depositions for his trial at the Central Criminal Court under reference CRIM 1/485.[6] and a Home Office file on him under reference HO 45/25817 [7] He was "convicted at Central Criminal Court on 5 February 1946 of conspiring to assist the enemy and sentenced to 7 years' penal servitude" for offences against the Defence Regulations.[8] [9] He died in Somerset in February 1998 at the age of 81.[10] [11]