Throughout history there have been many different execution methods that have been used to the
the life of a condemned person.
At times elephants were even used in Asia to stomp a person to death, or there were
brutal methods such as Gibbetting in which someone was suspended in an iron cage until
they rotted away.
Different monarchs also utilised different methods, for example Henry VIII would use
boiling alive to punish a cook who was suspected of poisoning the food of a bishop, and Vlad
the Impaler literally got his name from his chosen method of execution which he would
use upon his enemies.
But one of the most common execution methods which was deployed by the military, and is
still today during times of war is firing squad.
But is this one of the most brutal execution methods in history?
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Execution by firing squad is considered a quick method in which firearms are used to
take the life of a condemned person.
The gunshot is usually aimed towards the heart or the brain, and it’s believed to be a
rather rapid death, but it has gone wrong a number of times.
A firing squad is usually made up of a number of soldiers, the specific numbers vary on
a number of factors including which armed forces are doing the shooting, and also the
availability of men to perform the job.
Usually they are made up of more than 6 men, and the men are all told to fire at the same
time.
This is to help relieve the burden of the men as to who fired the lethal shot that actually
took the life of another person.
To avoid disfiguring injuries, sometimes the official in charge of the squad would ask
for a paper target or cloth target to be pinned on the jacket of the victim, so that then
men could aim at the heart.
Also prisoners are sometimes blindfolded as well as being tied to stakes, or pieces of
wood or metal that are found on the firing range.
Those who refuse a blindfold are considered to be very brave, and generally firing squad
for military men is considered a dignified end.
The execution method is rather dangerous though as usually it is carried out against an earthen
bank, or inside of a trench as there is danger of bullets ricocheting off and hitting people
following the volley of shots being fired.
The execution can be sometimes carried out at first light, and during the First World
War this gave Creedence to the idea of British soldiers being shot at dawn.
These men who were executed in this way were convicted of a number of military offences
including cowardice and desertion.
Their executions attracted a huge amount of criticism, especially due to the fact many
of those shot at dawn were suffering from shell-shock, which is now considered PTSD,
and there was little understanding of the condition.
Also there were a number of men who were incredibly young when they were executed, but the British
army used them as an example for other soldiers.
Firing squads can also be ordered to shoot into the back of a victim.
This was considered shameful, and following the fall of Mussolini in Italy during the
Second World War, a number of his supporters were executed in this way.
They were turned around after they had been secured to a chair, and the firing squad then
fired into their backs.
But there are occasions of a firing squad not being able to perform the job instantly,
and if this happens often the victim would be lying on the ground or bent over on the
stake, screaming in pain.
This would of course be rather distressing for people to see, so usually the officer
in control would then make his way over to the victim, and then pull out a pistol and
give them a coup de grace gunshot to the head, finishing them off.
But it was not just with guns that firing squads were used.
It has been going on for centuries, especially with advancements in warfare during the medieval
times and even before.
Saint Sebastian is often shown to have been executed by a squad of Roman Archers around
AD 288, and this is the fate that King Edmund the Martyr suffered.
He was tied to a tree and was then shot through by Viking Archers who littered his body with
arrows.
But some military men were refused firing squads and were instead executed by hanging,
as this was considered more shameful.
Galeazzo Ciano the son in law of Mussolini was one of those who was shot in the back
which was considered shameful, but at the last minute as the firing squad were told
to ready, he turned his chair around and faced the executioners who shot into him.
But as mentioned often a blank cartridge is given to members of the firing squad.
One or more soldiers are given rifles with this in, to make sure that they don’t really
believe they were the ones who administered the brutal shot.
This makes the responsibility of taking the life of a firing squad split between the members
rather than just on one person.
But when the execution is taking place, firing a live round creates a large amount of recoil,
and using a blank does not meaning that with bolt action rifles, often the men of the firing
squad could work out who administered the fatal shot.
One man during the First World War, Private W.A.
Quinton would state that he and his 11 colleagues were relieved of live ammunition from their
rifles and were then given replacement guns to do the job.
After the speech by the officer in charge, the squad fired the volley of shots and Quinton
recounted that, ‘I had the satisfaction of knowing that as soon as I fired, the absence
of any recoil showed that I had merely fired a blank cartridge.’
There have been many prominent people throughout history who have been executed this way.
During World War 1, Edith Cavill a British nurse was shot at a firing range in Belgium
for conveying troops to the enemy.
It was of course used to murder millions during the Second World War as the German death squads
would follow the advancements of the army, and they would shoot straight into hundreds
of people in short amounts of time inside of pits.
There was in Mexico the story of a man, Wenseslao Miguel who during the Mexican Revolution survived
a firing squad, and he was shot 10 times and he managed to live and survive.
But he was left heavily disfigured by his horrific experience.
During the First and Second World War, executions by firing squad did take place in Britain
within the Tower of London the same place where Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two
wives of king Henry VIII lost their heads.
This firing range was found in the rifle range which was used for practice, but there were
two others who were shot in the Tower’s ditch and earthen enbankment.
The final execution at the Tower was by firing squad, and this saw German spy Josef Jacobs
who had parachuted into Britain shot on the firing range.
Inside of America, during the war of independence, George Washington approved firing squad as
an execution method.
Throughout the civil war, 433 of the 573 men were executed and were shot dead by a firing
squad.
Since 1960 it has been used 4 times as a method of execution all in Utah.
today Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah still use the firing squad for the
death penalty, and further states are debating bringing it back.
But execution using firing squad is as mentioned strongly linked to the military and it was
considered a much more proud death rather than being sent to the gallows.
Some war criminals would be allowed the firing squad instead due to their ranks in certain
armies, but others would petition to be shot rather than hanged.
It was also considered much quicker than other alternatives as it could be instant, but if
it went wrong Firing Squad was a traumatic and brutal execution method.
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