Shot At Dawn

Just one month before the firing squad gunned him down in full view of his comrades he had written to his mother in London to say: 'Dear mother, we were in the trenches, I was cold so I went out. They took me to prison so I will have to go in front of the court. I will try my best to get out of it, so don't worry'.

Military records show that Pte Harris had an unblemished army record and was suffering from shell shock. Only hours after arriving at the front on Christmas Eve 1915, Pte Harris's battalion the 11th Middlesex, which was based in Mill Hill, was blown up by a landmine. The Infantry Records Office, Hounslow states that '11/1799 Pte Harris A, 11th Battalion Middlesex Regiment is in the 30th Field Ambulance France, suffering from wounds and shock (minor explosion)'.

He was soon sent back to the Front and on February 13 went to the company HQ from where he was sent to the Medical Officer. The MO found nothing wrong and sent him back, but Harris wandered away and took shelter in a farmhouse.

An officer found and arrested him and on March 4 he was sentenced to death. Sixteen days later he was killed.

These few spare details hide the reality. Private Abraham Harris was really Abraham Bevistein, army records show he was 21 years old, but he was probably 19.

He was one of more than 600,000 so-called Kitchener Volunteers, men, and boys, who rushed to join the forces following the famous 'We Want You' poster campaign featuring the face of Lord Kitchener.

The country needed soldiers so few checks were made about the real ages of volunteers they were simply given a few weeks basic training and sent to the front.

A total of 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers were executed at dawn during the Great War for offences that ceased to merit the death penalty in 1929.

The Shot at Dawn campaign headed by John Hipkin is fighting for each of those dead soldiers to be given a posthumous pardon, and in an effort to publicise the cause a nine foot statue is being erected in the National Arboretum in Staffordshire in June. Mr Hipkin said: "The case of Abe Bevistein completely illustrates why these people should be pardoned. He was an underage boy who should have been sent home to his mother.

"These boys were court marshalled by officers who had sons at home in public schools but they never showed any compassion. The court's martial rarely lasted more than 10-30 minutes, there was no representative for the defence and no appeal.

"Once their decision was made, it was sent to General Haig to either confirm or commute the sentence.

"I often wonder what went through these boys' minds as they waited for dawn."

After Pte Bevistein received his sentence, his parents who knew nothing of what had been going on received a curt message from the Infantry records Office in Hounslow.

It began: 'I am directed to inform you....'. It ended: 'shot for desertion'.

Mr Hipkin said: "Look at the way we rewarded these boys who just wanted to serve their country. Conditions in the trenches were unimaginable, blood, piss, shit, bits of body.

"Shell shock was known about, in Pte Bevistein's case it was even acknowledged by the Army's Medical officer, shell shock is just another word for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"Of course these boys were shocked and scared, it is a stain on Britain's history that they were shot and we must provide them all with posthumous pardons."

Mr Hipkin urges readers to write to their local MPs requesting their support for the campaign and for an information pack to learn more about what happened in 'The war to end all wars' call him on 0191 2624753.

By.Simon Belgard