Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has effectively become a handbook for the Pardons movement. This is unfortunate as it is inaccurate in many areas and some of it's facts are simply wrong. The book has been slightly updated but at the time it was written the official documentation on the courts martial was still classified. It has since been released and blows apart some of the "facts" that the authors assert in this book. Far from the image of a bright young conscript, finally losing his mind after weeks on end under constant bombardment in mud filled trenches, the reality shows some cases where men deserved to be shot, some cases where those shot probably did not deserve to be and some cases that are definitely grey areas. The vast majority of death sentences were commuted. Of those who were shot, most were regular soldiers who were expected to maintain better standards of discipline than conscripts. Of those shot 40% had been in repeated disciplinary trouble before, some of whom had actually been sentenced to death before and had the sentence commuted through leniency (in 1 case the man shot had been sentenced to death TWICE and shown leniency in each case). Far from them all being boys (though some were) the average age of those shot was around 26 and the vast majority were over 21. A large proportion of them deserted in 1914, long before the conflict deteriorated into trench warfare. Many of those shot deserted without ever reaching the front lines. Some had subsequently committed murder after desertion. Academically or legally there is NO case for a blanket pardon. There is an arguable case for a SELECTIVE pardon, at least 4 of those shot seem not to have received fair treatment. The problem with this book is that rather than being an analysis of primary sources, it relies too much on memoirs and other secondary sources, some of which seem highly unreliable.

Anthony Babington's "For Sake of Example" is a significantly more reliable and balanced account than this. Babington had access to more sources and used them with greater impartiality. He argued for pardons but after the release of the documentation on the courts-martial made a reassessment and admitted that there was no case for a blanket pardon of deserters, switching to support for selective pardons on a case by case basis.

This book has many failings, among them:

-Factual inaccuracy.
-Reliance on secondary sources some of which have been shown to be unreliable
-An emotional rather than academic approach.

Effectively it is a polemic rather than a history book. Those interested in the executions of Great War soldiers should consult this book and also the recent book by John Hughes-Wilson which presents an elegant case AGAINST the Pardons movement while using Babington's "shot at dawn" as a middle ground.

The idea that all those executed for desertion were innocents "murdered" by the British Army is simply a myth. There are cases where pardons might well be in order but it is about time the debate started to be looked at in less emotional terms. This book should not be taken as impartial fact, because that is not what it presents.

This book is a must for anyone interested in the fate of those unfortunate soldiers and sailors who were so unjustly executed during WW1. As it gives the fullest information possible about each of the victims and also (with one or two exceptions)the precise burial or commemoration site for ease of visiting.My wife and I have recently completed our self imposed quest to visit every one of them throughout the whole of the Western Front and this book was taken along and the particular man's story read out at each of the gravesides.Without this book the task would have been almost impossible and the magnitude of the so called authorities at the time in this legalised murder would not be so appreciated.

See Mud, Blood and Poppycock by Gordon Corrigan for a chapter with an interesting opposing view.