Going to war would have been incredibly scary. The reality of the First World War was far
from what was promised by the government at the time. In Britain to boost recruitment
numbers, huge drives too place in which the government sold the war as an exciting prospect,
and thousands of young men joined up thinking they were going away to foreign lands to see
the world, almost as if they were going on a holiday. However the true reality was the
brutal environment of the trenches, where death surrounded on a minute by minute basis,
where artillery was forever being fired towards soldiers, and where life became very tedious
and boring.
Many soldiers suffered with conditions today which could be diagnosed as PTSD, and suffered
greatly and then found themselves accused of cowardice. The sentence at times for refusing
to fight and for cowardice was in fact death. Today the Shot at Dawn memorial at the National
Memorial Arboretum commemorates the 306 British Army and commonwealth soldiers who were executed
during World War 1 for desertion following a court martial. So join us today as we look
at ‘The Horrific Shot At Dawn Executions,’ remember to support our channel, please make
sure to subscribe.
Between 1914 and 1920, over 3000 British and commonwealth soldiers were sentenced to death
by court martial for desertion, disobedience, cowardice, falling asleep on duty or throwing
away with weapons. Only around 10 per cent of those sentences were carried out with 306
members of the British side being shot for these crimes. Today much of the medical evidence
would show that these men were suffering from shell-shock, but sadly 100 years ago this
was not recognised and many of the men who were technically ill were ignored and taken
to court. Most of the hearings lasted no more than 20 minutes when the trials took place,
and soldiers were disregarded and were just seen as cowards and were without much chance
to tell their stories were sentenced to death.
Many of the men were found to having wandered from the battlefield in great distress and
upset, and they were still charged with desertion. The documentation from these court trials
later told how they were shaking and were quite clearly shell-shocked and were denied
justice. The men were given the right to become represented by a legal official such as a
lawyer, but they were refused the right to appeal. Whatever the field Marshall said sadly
went, so if the decision was made to sentence a soldier to death, this was very final and
the ill soldier would be shot without any appeal. Also at the time shell shock was not
properly understood, and no formal and proper medical exams took place, so the conditions
of these men were often ignored and their well-being and health was disregarded.
The trench environment was enough for even the strongest of men to have suffered a great
breakdown. The threat of death was enough to strike fear into the hearts, knowing that
a German shell or a German bullet may tomorrow have their name on would have been terrifying.
Also there was a real issue with lack of sleep on the front line with artillery barrages
being fired constantly, so the lack of rest and quiet was also incredibly intense. It
was incredibly wet and cold, with trenches often flooding and waste filling the lines,
and at times the temperature sometimes fell to around -15 degrees celsius in the winter.
Rats were often around, which caused disease and illness and there was also a lack of varied
food and supplies. This was enough to send anyone to suffer during World War 1. Many
of the soldiers just couldn’t take any more, they had entered the conflict with such hope
of seeing the world, but instead the stark reality was enough to make hundreds think
that a firing squad would give them the sweet release of the ordeal being over.
The use of the execution for cowardice was initially used as a method to force soldiers
back into the trenches and back onto the battlefield. It was supposed to force the men back onto
the front line, thinking that they would rather risk death in battle than face a certain death
at the bad end of a firing squad. Many of the men who were shot during the conflict
were just volunteer soldiers, Kitchener’s army who had joined up of their own choice
that than those men who were conscripted into the army, and were often poorly trained. The
British Army was suffering from low numbers so recruitment attempts such as Pals Batallions
emerged to get more soldiers to the frontline, and this gave birth to an army who were at
times rather unprepared.
The Firing Squads who carried out the executions was usually made up of at least 6 soldiers,
but sometimes even 12 soldiers were used to administer the punishment. The squad were
given a number of blank rounds inside the rifles and some soldiers were given a normal
bullet to fire, this was to make sure that no soldier could be sure that they fired a
fatal shot, taking a life. The condemned was then tied to s stake and then a medical officer
or doctor would go up to the stake, and pin a piece of white cloth over the man’s heart,
as an aiming spot for the firing squad.
A priest would then say a prayer, Before the order was given to fire. Immediately
after the shots were fired a medical officer then went over to examine the man. If they
were dead then they would confirm their death, however if sometimes he was still alive then
they would summon over the officer in charge would administer a coup de grace, firing his
revolver into the head of the soldier. Many of the men shot dead refused a blindfold being
placed over their eyes showing that they were in fact very brave, staring the barrels of
the guns before they were killed. This isn’t cowardice at all.
One case was that of Private Joseph Byers who when he enlisted in 1914 to fight was
underage. By January the following year, he had been on the frontlines a number of months
and was ground down by the surroundings. He went absent without leave and was caught,
however admitted he attempted to desert, he believed that being honest would give him
a prison sentence, however two weeks later after his trial he was shot at dawn for desertion.
Seargent Joe Stones was noted for his bravery and leadership, he often led groups into No
Mans Land laying barbed wire and but was executed for ‘casting away his arms.’
Stones belonging to the Durham Light Infantry went on patrol with his commanding officer
in January 1917, during this they were ambushed by Germans and the officer was killed. Stones
however could not return fire as he had not taken off the protective cover from his rifle’s
breach. Stones then ran, and reached his comrades warning them, however he was charged with
refusing to fire his gun and was charged with quitting their post as they ran off. Stones
was treated like a coward despite his proud stature as a great leader, and was shot at
dawn for doing nothing.
Private Billy Nelson was wounded during the Battle of Loos, however he refused to go over
the top as he was having his first meal for days. During the hearing he said, ‘I have
lots of trouble at home and my nerves are badly upset. My father is a prisoner in Germany
and is losing his eyesight there through bad treatment. My mother died whilst I was still
in England, leaving my sister aged 13 and my brother aged 10, I am the only one left.
I had no intention of deserting. To make an example to the other soldiers he was shot
at dawn on August 11th 1916.
Private Abraham Bevistein joined up as a young boy giving a false age, and entered the conflict
at the age of 16. After a month on the front line he suffered from shellshock after a grenade
exploded next to him and he went to help. He was told he was fit to return, however
he wandered away from the trenches and was arrested for desertion. He wrote to his mother,
‘We were in the trenches and I was ill so I went out and they took me to prison, and
I am in a bit of trouble now, and won’t get any money for a long time.’ His family
did not know he had joined up until he came home in his uniform, but a few months later
they received a letter stating that their teenage son had been shot for desertion on
March 20th 1916.
Private John Robinson was an experienced soldier, but along with another private they absconded
together during a night duty. However at some point they managed to escape, and on the 5th
July 1915 were arrested sitting on a train to Rouen. During their court martial statements,
it was judged that they were both good soldiers but they were suffering from nervous strain
when they absconded. Robinson was shot along with 4 other deserters, and was buried near
to Ypres.
Private Robert Young was serving a two year suspended sentence for absence and for hitting
a superior officer, however he went missing again. Two months before the end of the conflict
this occured, and Young found himself facing heavy shelling in a dugout which had been
heavily damaged. At the court martial he was convicted of desertion, and no regard was
paid to his defence. He was another man shot at dawn, and was only 21 when he was killed.
Sergeant John Thomas Wall of the Worcestershire Regiment was also an experienced soldier serving
on the western front. He was present for 3 years fighting at the front lines, and became
rather senior, however he went missing in August 1917. It was unlike him, and it was
likely that he was suffering from battle fatigue, and this affected his mind. However this was
disregarded at his trial, and he was executed by firing squad the following month.
Edwin Dyett is considered a victim of senior officers who were looking for a scapegoat,
as a number of their soldiers considered the leadership poor. To bring them all in to line,
Dyett was rounded up and he confessed his lack of faith in the leadership, and was accused
of becoming lost for 24 hours and falling out with senior officers. Because of this
he was court martially for deserting, and accused of cowardice. He was given half an
hour to prepare his defence, and days later was execute at dawn on January 4th 1917 give
no chance to appeal.
These stories were just some of the 300 people who were sentenced to be shot at dawn during
World War 1. Britain was one of the final countries to pardon those men who were executed
during World War 1. In 1993, Prime Minister Joh Major stated that pardoning these men
would be an insult to those who died on the battlefield, and that these men were tried
fairly. However in August 2006 this decision was reversed. In 2007, the Armed Forces Act
2006 was passed and this stated that soldiers who were executed for the crimes outlined
earlier were to be posthumously pardoned.
This brought a great deal of relief and peace for many of the families of those relatives
who’s grandfather’s were shot at dawn. Ultimately today there is much greater understanding
about the conditions surrounding the trenches and medical conditions such as PTSD and shell
shock. It’s sad that these men in their times were vilified when they were actually
struggling, and needed some care and compassion, rather than to be facing a firing squad who
was about to rip their lives from them.
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