The HORRIFIC 'Shot At Dawn' Executions

During the First World War, there were a series of executions carried out that today are still considered incredibly barbaric, horrific and controversial. The 'Shot At Dawn,' executions were those over 300 men who were shot by firing squads for cowardice, desertion, abandoning their post or throwing away their weapons refusing to fight during World War One. Usually when a soldier was accused of this, they would be placed on trial and the sentence for desertion was to be shot dead by a firing squad. But today many of these men who were executed are not viewed as cowards, instead being considered to be heroes or victims of punishment.

Many of the soldiers who were executed for cowardice during World War One were in fact suffering from shell-shock, or a condition we would consider today to be PTSD. The trench environment was horrifically brutal, with death surrounding every minute of the day. Artillery barrages were continuously shelling the enemy, and the loud and dangerous nature of the Trenches led many men to suffer breakdowns. Some men even thought the best way out of the conflict was to meet the firing squad, and the many of the British soldiers during World War One were poorly-trained, and had been sold a lie. They were told that by going to war, they would see the world but the reality was a rat-infested trench, and the reality that one day they would be killed by the Germans.

The 'Shot at Dawn' executions are an incredibly controversial part of Britain's past, and only recently have those 306 men who were executed for desertion or cowardice during World War 1 been pardoned by the government for their crimes. For many of the families this was a relief, but today we see these men as victims of the trenches.

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Music - I Am A Man Who Will Fight For Your Honour - Chris Zabriskie.

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