Containing details of all World War I executions carried out under the authority of the British Army Act, this book includes the names, ranks and regiments of those shot by firing squad, together with their offences, trials, execution details and burial places, where known. The text is illustrated with photographs and unit badges to aid the researcher. The authors set out to demonstrate what they consider to be the ineptitude, ignorance and unfairness of the British court martial system at the time, and how frequently condemned men were proved to have been formerly brave soldiers who had simply cracked under the pressure of trench warfare. Contending that they were judicially killed as a lesson to other soldiers in order to discourage acts of gross insubordination, desertion and cowardice, the authors present eye-witness accounts which show how, in many cases, the condemned men went to their deaths with great courage and dignity. Evidence is also provided of instances in which next-of-kin were hoodwinked into believing that their men had died in action - a system of cover-up which, it is claimed, still exists today. Some men, the murderers and rapists, even by today's standards probably deserved their end, but the accounts of others, who were unrepresented - and in some cases in their late teens and early twenties - make harrowing reading.

Shot at Dawn

History

Putkowski, Julian

Military

Pen & Sword Paperbacks

Shipped from UK, please allow 10 to 21 business days for arrival. A very good, clean and sound soft-cover copy. Previous owners' inscription on ffep. 176 p. ; 30 cm.. . Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-176).. .

British Army Mutineers 1914-1922

Europe

Francis Boutle Publishers

<p>‘I Could not look on Death, which being known, Men led me to him, blindfold and Alone.’ (Epitaphs of the war: ‘The Coward’) Thus, in two short, bitter lines, Rudyard Kipling summed up a series of events that are among the most shameful and inglorious in all British history: The executions by firing squad of some 350 members of the British and Empire forces during the First World War. Based on years of painstaking research, this is the first book to give complete details of all these executions, including names of victims; their ‘crimes’; the circumstances, dates and places of execution, and of burial (where known); names of regiments and other units; and victims’ personal histories and private circumstances (where known). <br><br>The authors demonstrate the ineptness, ignorance and unfairness of the British court martial system at the time, and how frequently condemned men (from almost every regiment and corps in the army) were proved to have been formerly brave soldiers who had simply cracked under the pressure of trench warfare. These men were judicially killed as a lesson to other soldiers who, it was thought, might themselves crack. In the event, many of the victims went to their deaths with unbelievable courage and dignity, as eyewitness accounts in this book show. Here, too, are details of how next-of-kin of executed men were hoodwinked into believing that their men had died in action, a system of cover-up which persists to this day.</p>

Shot at Dawn: Executions in World War One by Authority of the British Army Act

Biographies & Memoirs

Sykes, Julian

Historical

Pen and Sword Military

Much has been written about the soldiers executed during WW1 for military offenses, all of whom were conditionally pardoned in 2006. However, until now very little attention has been paid to the cases of men who were tried under the Army Act and executed for murder. The British Army has always been reticent about publicizing courts martial and eighty years elapsed before the government was compelled to prematurely declassify the written proceedings of First World War capital courts martial. Even then, public attention tended to concentrate on cases involving soldiers who had been shot at dawn for offenses other than homicide, and virtually nobody was inclined to seek a posthumous pardon or judicial review for the murderous Tommies. This meant neither the victim’s nor the convicted men’s families were able to discover details about the murder cases. Though readily identifiable online via much-visited war cemetery websites, until now there has been no readily accessible, historically reliable and balanced narrative about the activities and courts-martial of all the murderous Tommies of the Western Front. This book provides for a full account of the cases involving the fourteen soldiers and one officer whose homicidal misdeeds were committed in France and Flanders while hostilities were in progress.Drawing on contemporary records, this carefully researched work chronicles the circumstances in which each of these men either slaughtered one of their comrades or an unarmed civilian. It examines the murderer’s motives and presents a balanced analysis of each case, including a detailed assessment of the extent to which each condemned man was granted a fair hearing by officers who sat in uneasy judgment as well as those involved in confirming the death sentences.

Murderous Tommies

Dunning, Mark

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