306 soldiers who were shot for military offences during World War I will receive formal pardons, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
Defence Secretary Des Browne said he would be seeking a group pardon, approved by Parliament, for the men.
It is thought 306 British soldiers were shot for cowardice, desertion or other offences in the 1914-1918 war.
Among them was Private Harry Farr, shot for cowardice in 1916 aged 25, having returned from hospital after 2 years in the trenches. His family said they were "overwhelmed".
They have been campaigning for years for him to be pardoned, arguing that he was suffering from shell-shock and should not have been sent back to the trenches.
After Wednesday's announcement, Pte Farr's daughter Gertrude Harris, now 93, said: "Well to be truthful, I'm overwhelmed. I prayed that it would happen in my lifetime but I never realised really that it would. It's come really as a shock today.
"We were determined for my mother' sake because she always said he was no coward, he was a very brave soldier and he fought for his country and he died fighting for his country."
5 comments:
Whats the point of a pardon when you are dead? Not like I would care if I were dead - I'm dead.
how sad..but good news for the family..
Only from the head up hon :D
I think the pardon is more for the families, so they don't have to say grandad was shot as a coward.
In most cases all the soldiers had been serving King and country in the trenches for years , being shelled everyday , They'd never heard of post traumatic stress or shellshock in those days ! I'm not sure many soldiers today could hack a week of that , let alone months and years !
You twat... did you refer to me dead head up?/FRO
I love you too :)
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