Legacy of Soldier's Heart: Shot at Dawn

Rumpled earth, east of Bernafay Woods,

British Cemetery

My paternal grandfather served with the Royal Garrison Artillery during WWI.  After the Armistice, the brigade was kept in France and informed they were now going to be sent to Russia to fight on the side of the White Russians against the Red Bolsheviks (a futile cause as we now know).  After being told of this new posting, most of the brigade, including my grandfather and his two brothers; deserted and made their way back to England; knowing well that if they were caught, they would be shot.

The authorities later caught up with some of the deserters and although they were not court-martialled, because public opinion was against British involvement in the Russian War, they were denied the right to return to their pre-war employment and they never received their war medals. 

Upon returning to England, my grandfather would sire a second son: my father, who at the conclusion of his service in WWII, would emigrate to Australia and live there for the rest of his life.

I am here - a daughter - because my grandfather was as clever as a fox with eluding capture. For the last twenty years, from time to time, I have found myself in a dream of my grandfathers: we are walking by a forest and there is a body.  I do not see it and then there are people who come to collect it.

I feel it is the body I wore in my past-life.....    the woods remember me, their roots were nourished by my flesh, and my essence mingled with the earth.  It was a good death.  .

14:18

World War One soldiers knew their king and country expected them to fight to the death. Such was the expectation of their military commanders, their political leaders and even their loved ones that there was no question that if mortal danger came, they should face it like men. It was the only way for good to triumph over evil.

But this conflict quickly became the most brutal war in history and not even the most seasoned serviceman was prepared for the scale of carnage that unfolded before him. For many the horror proved too much. Hundreds were unable to cope, many were driven insane and several simply ran away.

But the army could no more afford to carry cowards than it could traitors, and many of those who did flee faced instant retribution with a court martial and death by firing squad.

British and Commonwealth military command executed 306 of its own men during the Great War. Those shot brought such shame on their country that nearly a century on, their names still do not appear on official war memorials.

A Heavy Battery of the RGA tows its 60-pounder guns along the roads of Northern France.