A SERVICE has been held to remember soldiers who were executed for mutiny during the First World War.
The names of three soldiers were added to the National Memorial Arboretum’s Shot at Dawn memorial, which commemorates 306 soldiers killed for desertion or cowardice during the conflict.
One of the three to be remembered was Jesse Robert Short, from Newcastle, a corporal in the 24th Battalion (Tyneside Irish) Northumberland Fusiliers, who is thought to have been the inspiration behind the TV drama Monocled Mutineer.
Cpl Short apparently incited his men to throw an officer in the river at Etaples in September 1917.
New Zealander Private Jack Braithwaite and Gunner William Lewis, from Scotland, were also remembered at the service on Saturday, October 29.
Jack Braithwaite, of Dunedin, volunteered for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in May 1915.
He served in Egypt and was later sent to France in April 1916.
While serving in France, he fell foul of the military authorities on a number of occasions, losing his rank as lance corporal in May 1916.
He went absent without leave, served at the front for a short time, and was later imprisoned after again leaving his unit, receiving further terms in military prison after seeking to escape.
His attempt to defuse an incident involving a group of Australian and New Zealand prisoners and a military policeman at a military prison resulted in his being charged with mutiny.
British military leader General Sir Douglas Haig confirmed the court-martial sentence, and he was executed on October 29, 1916 at Rouen, France.
The Shot at Dawn Memorial, created in 2000, is a monument at the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, in Staffordshire, England.
There, 306 wooden posts remember the British Army and Commonwealth soldiers executed for desertion and other offences during World War 1.
Posts for Mr Braithwaite and two other "mutineers" — Scottish Gunner William Lewis and Welsh Corporal Jesse Short — wer added to the Shot at Dawn monument at the October 2016 ceremony
Neil Graham, a descendant of Cpl Short, attended.
Relatives for all three men were present at the ceremony (click here to watch TVNZ's news report).
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| The names of three soldiers were added to the National Memorial arboretum's Shot at Dawn memorial, which commemorates 306 soldiers executed by the British Army during WWI. (Photo: The Northern Echo) |
Related content:
- Kiwi soldier executed a century ago finally acknowledged (video), tvnz.com.nz, October 30, 2016
- UK: WWI soldier executed for mutiny to be honoured at National Memorial Arboretum, May 30, 2016
- WWI British mutineers to be honoured at memorial, January 1, 2016
- WW1 New Zealand soldier shot for mutiny remembered in UK, October 18, 2016
- France : Les fusillés de la Grande Guerre ont désormais un nom (in French), Sept. 3, 2016
Sources: The Northern Echo, TVNZ (news), The Chase Project, October 31, 2016
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