During the First World War, there were a series of executions carried out on British Army
and commonwealth soldiers that today attract a lot of criticism.
There were 306 soldiers who were executed following court martial for desertion and
other military offences during the conflict.
Many of these soldiers who were found guilty of desertion were suffering from conditions
such as PTSD, or shell-shock and often they were not given fair trials and were not given
a proper legal defence.
In some cases, the defendants on trial and ultimately condemned to death were minors
and teenagers, and it’s believed today that these young men were at war too early when
they should have been at home.
The British government used propaganda heavily to get people to enlist, and often boys lied
about their ages to get themselves to the frontlines and to see the world which is what
they believed would happen.
But the reality was they were stuck for days on end in the hell on earth that was the trenches.
Today we look at one of these young men who was shot at dawn and executed, but he was
just 17 when he was executed near to Ypres.
Join us today as we look at the horrific execution of Herbert Burden, the boy shot at dawn.
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Today the shot at dawn memorial in the National Memorial Arboretum, shows the image of a terrified
young man tied to a stake, blindfolded just before he was to face a firing squad and his
death.
This poignant statue is based on Herbert Burden.
Born on the 22nd March 1898 in Lewisham to a gardener, it’s believed that he attended
school before the then was employed as a delivery driver possibly on the docks on the River
Thames.
But as the war broke out in August 1914, Britain had just shy of 250,000 regular soldiers.
Around 120,000 were based in the British Expeditionary Force and the rest were stationed abroad around
the world.
But it was quite clear that to face the German Army, that more soldiers were needed.
With this, recruitment efforts were ramped up and on the 7th August 1914, Lord Kitchener
the War Minister began his infamous campaign of beginning to recruit men between the ages
of 19 and 30 to join the army.
At first this was successful, and on average 33,000 men were joining the fight.
Three weeks later Kitcheneer raised the recruiting age to 35, and 500,000 men had volunteered.
At the beginning of the war, the army had strict specifications about who could become
soldiers, for example having height limitations but this was later withdrawn.
Propaganda would be found all over England convincing men to join, and eventually Pals
Battalions emerged allowing men to sign up with their friends and serve with them on
the Western Front along side their mates.
The rhetoric in Britain was very much it was honourable and right to die for your country,
and those who refused to go to war were shameful and a disgrace.
Conscientious objectors were usually marked with white feather’s in the street and treated
terribly by women and men who remained at home.
The main aim of the government was to get soldiers onto the front line, and many politicians
gave rousing speeches to try and bolster recruitment.
One politician gave an address that stated, ‘"Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to pull
yourselves together and keep your peckers up.
I want to assure you that within six weeks of to-day we shall have the Huns on the run.
We shall drive them out of France, out of Flanders, out of Belgium, across the Rhine,
and back into their own territory.
There we shall give them a taste of their own medicine.’
There were a number of boys who were too young to enlist who eventually lied about their
age to go and join the war effort.
Officially the minimum age was 19, but Herbert Burden the delivery boy from Lewisham signed
up when he was just 16.
Service records for Herbert Burden have never been found as his regiment’s records, the
Northumberland Fusiliers were lost during the Blitz of the Second World War, but it’s
clear that Burden may have even enlisted before the First World War began.
There has been confusion regarding his records, as he may have enlisted after the war began,
and he claimed he was 19 years old when he attended the recruitment office.
But this wasn’t true and he was just 16.
He was transferred to the British Expeditionary Force, but he then soon deserted from the
Northumberland Fusiliers, and then returned to London.
Following this, he then rejoined the war effort, and enlisted with the East Surreys.
It’s not known why he deserted, possibly he may have been found out.
But with his second regiment, he was based in the barracks of Dover Castle before he
deserted again in December 1914.
It’s clear he was probably a young boy who was scared of the reality of conflict.
A court of Inquiry looked into Herbert Burden’s absence and declared that, ‘No 11012 Pte
H Burden, 3rd East Surrey Regiment absented himself without leave from his Commanding
Officer at Shaft Barracks, Dover on the 14th December 1914, that he is still illegally
absent for a period exceeding 21 days and that on the 14th December 1914, he was deficient
and still is so deficient of the following articles: Ammunition, Equipment, Instruments,
Regimental Necessaries or Clothing of No 11012 Pte H Burden, 3rd East Surrey Regiment.’
But after a period away from the East Surrey Regiment, Burden then strangely returned to
his original regiment.
It’s not known why he joined the Northumberland Fusiliers originally, then deserted, joined
another battalion and then deserted yet again.’
But it was with the South Northumberland Fusiliers that he travelled to France.
They arrived at the end of March 1915, and Burden was then placed onto the front lines.
He fought against the enemy in harsh and probably incredibly scary conditions on the Western
Front alongside his battalion.
They fought valiantly in the Battle of Hooge, where both sides suffered heavily casualties,
but it’s not known whether Burden took part in this long offensive near to Ypres.
It was indicated that he had not seen too much action in this at his court martial,
and that the majority of the action he saw during the First World War was ‘the usual
trench sniping,’ being a look out and trying to shoot the enemy in the trenches opposite,
and also that he had been present on some patrols.
However it’s clear that the trenches were not a place for a young boy, and it’s likely
Burden was scared, out of his depth and in a war where he had no place.
But whilst in the trenches, he breached the Army’s disciplinary code a number of times,
and did desert on a number of occasions.
He did win a medal, but this was then taken away from him when he was convicted of desertion.
But it’s clear in May 1915 he was present on the Ypres Salient and was involved in the
assault on the Bellwaarde Ridge.
During the Second Battle of Ypres, in which the fighting was intense, Burden fought and
during this specific battle, the Germans launched the largest gas attack seen during the First
World War.
The conditions in the trenches were truly terrifying, and many soldiers were broken
by the constant shelling barrages in the trenches, and the fear that every day could be their
last, with a German bullet having their names on.
It was a terrifying situation and living in trenches was dirty, unsanitary and a long
way away from home for Herbert Burden.
He was suffering from the ‘usual nerve shattering baptism of shelling in the trenches,’ and
was probably suffering from shell-shock as well as the trauma of having seen a number
of his friends shot and killed in battle.
With this he was sent to a military hospital for treatment, but he was discharged on the
26th June 1915.
He was then attached to a battalion where they were sent towards the front line to dig
trenches.
This was terrifying for Burden who was suffering from shell-shock and was transported straight
back to the front line.
Following having this order, Herbert Burden then left his post.
He was seen with the Royal West Kent Regiment the following day, leaving his own duties.
He said later that he went there to comfort a friend who he had serve with.
He said he had heard he had lost a brother and wanted to see if this was true and comfort.
This may have been true as the West Kent Regiment did recruit soldiers from around Burden’s
home area of Lewisham, but on the 28th June 1915 Burden was arrested for desertion.
However things moved very quickly for Herbert Burden.
In the two days following his capture, he had been court martialled and then found guilty
of desertion.
His appearance was described following his trial, and it was said ‘Burde.
Had an expanded chest measurement of 36 inches.
His complexion was given as fresh with dark brown hair and hazel eyes.
The doctor described his physical development as good.
He also appears to have had two tattoos, one on his right upper arm and another on his
left forearm of clasped handstand ‘love Lilly’ respectively.
But whilst at trial, the death sentence for Herbert Burden was confirmed by the commander
of the British Second Army General Sir Herbert Plumer.
Plumer had no respect for deserters or their possible links to conditions such as shell
shock, and he was sentenced to death to be shot at dawn for desertion, facing a military
firing squad.
But what is strange is that Herbert Burden did not raise the fact he was a minor and
should not have been fighting at any point during or after his trial.
This would have certainly earned him a reprieve and he would have been repatriated back to
Britain following this revelation.
Because of this his death sentence went ahead on the 21st July 1915.
It was said that the standards of the pre-war regular any with regards to discipline were
applied to every officer who joined, and with this Burden was shot by the firing squad.
The Statue that shows him communicates how he would have been stood at the execution
post.
Near to Ypres, Burden would have been led out to his jail cell by a number of military
officers, and a priest before he was then tied to a stake at a firing range or in a
clearing.
Opposite him would have been a firing squad comprising of possibly around 6 British soldiers,
sometimes they gathered men from the deserters regiment.
They would have been stood with their rifles until the signal to ready was given.
A disc was pined over Burden’s heart showing the firing squad where to aim, and as his
hands were tied behind his back he was a frozen target.
Following this the order to fire was given, and Herbert Burden was killed as a deserter
at the age of just 17.
He was the youngest person executed by the British Army ever, and it was later reported
back home that he was killed in action.
The story of Herbert Burden and his execution is an incredibly sad one.
Over 300 others were executed for various offences such as desertion or cowardice by
the British Army during the conflict, and there was little regard for the post traumatic
stress disorder or shell shock which drove many men to desert.
What in particular is tragic about Burden’s case is his age as he should have been nowhere
near the campaign during the First World War, and as he lied about his age to go and fight,
he was treated like a normal soldier.
The question of his age was never raised, and this may have saved him.
Along with Herbert Burden’s statue commemorating those shot at dawn for desertion or other
military offences, are over 300 posts symbolising the executions of others during the First
World War.
Each case is tragic in it’s own right.
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