Executed at Dawn (25 page)

9.12 pm

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Kevan Jones):
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South-East (Dr. Iddon) on securing tonight's debate to highlight the tragic story of Private James Smith and on his campaign to press for the local authorities in Bolton to add this soldier's name to their book of remembrance. I also thank my Right hon. Friend the Member for Airdrie and Shotts (John Reid) for his contribution and I pay tribute to his involvement in the process of finally getting pardons for these individuals. I pay tribute also to my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) for his tenacious campaign to secure the pardons. I know that he worked closely with an old constituent of mine from when I was a member of Newcastle city council – John Hipkin from Walkergate in Newcastle, who wrote a book and was unrelenting in his campaign to secure the pardons.

In 1998, on the eightieth anniversary of the Armistice, the poet laureate, Andrew Motion, wrote: ‘Those guns may have fallen silent eighty years ago, but their echoes neither die nor even fade away.'

I reflected on those words when, on the ninetieth anniversary last November, we witnessed a very moving ceremony at the Cenotaph at which the three surviving UK-resident veterans of World War One laid wreaths to commemorate those who lost their lives in that great war. Sadly, one of them has passed away since that commemoration.

There are few alive today who have personal memories of those who marched away to war, but never came back. However, across the UK, millions of men, women and – as my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock said – children shared that poignant moment through the medium of television, and nowadays through the internet. I reinforce his point about ensuring that these tragic events are not forgotten and that future generations learn from them.

Clearly, the First World War is part of the UK's culture, which is not surprising. It represented war on an industrial scale, and I do not think that any family in any community throughout the United Kingdom was untouched. My office in the Sacriston Community Centre contains a list of names of the fallen in the small mining village of Sacriston. Anyone who looks at the list and notes the number of individuals who fell in that small community will appreciate that it must have had a devastating impact, which I do not think we can imagine in modern times.

We must not forget the events of that time. My hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South-East has done two things tonight. Obviously he has raised a very important case, but, as the hon. Member for Thurrock said, he has not only put on record his tribute to this individual but raised a wider issue, and I thank him for that.

A part of my job that I find fascinating is the history of my Department, and the living history with which we are dealing today.

Mr Devine:
Speaking of living history, a constituent of mine, John Patterson, flew on thirty-seven bombing missions in the Second World War and ended the war flying around Africa with Lord Mountbatten. He now visits schools to explain exactly what things were like during the war: real live history. I do not know whether we have a checklist of such people who are still alive and can tell real stories, right up to this moment, including people who are serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a local Member of Parliament, I have no way of contacting those people. A checklist would preserve the memory of people who have been in combat, and allow some contact with those who are currently in combat.

Madam Deputy Speaker (Sylvia Heal):
Order. I have no desire to take anything away from the valued work that those individuals have done, but I think the hon. Gentleman will have noted the title of tonight's Adjournment debate. Perhaps he will be able to raise his point with the Minister on another occasion.

Mr Jones:
I will of course follow your guidance, Madam Deputy Speaker, but my hon. Friend has raised an interesting point. My hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South-East said that he would send copies of the report of tonight's debate to schools, with the aim of communicating the facts to future generations, and my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr Devine) has spoken of veterans visiting schools to pass on their memories.

In Fromelles in northern France, the graves of 400 British and Australian soldiers were recently discovered. A project is now under way, involving the Australian Government and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, to recover, identify where possible and rebury those remains in the first newly created CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) cemetery since the Second World War. That has stimulated a great deal of interest, not just in this country but, according to my Australian counterparts, in Australia as well.

Increased participation not just in the educational projects that have been mentioned tonight but in genealogy means that many relatives are researching their family histories and uncovering facts surrounding their forebears for the first time. Some of those discoveries have been disturbing, revealing executions during the First World War.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South-East pointed out, some of the relatives knew the circumstances of their loved ones' deaths, and certainly did not see them as a cause for shame or any stain on the character of their families. However, I hope that the granting of the statutory pardon in November 2006 has ensured that relatives who did feel shame have experienced some relief, and have recognised that no shame attaches to any of the individuals who were executed or their families. The stigma of dishonour should have been well and truly lifted.

Those executions were tragic episodes, but as the hon. Member for Thurrock pointed out, they must be set against the unprecedented scale of the slaughter during the First World War. Granting the pardon may have little meaning for the individual men, but to the individual families it has meant a great deal.

Thankfully, public perception has changed. That is why, when we introduced the pardon in 2006, it was broadly welcomed by most individuals, although I recognise the strong disagreements that there have been about the issue over many years.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South-East has said, Private Smith is officially commemorated by his headstone in Kemmel Chateau military cemetery. His name also appears on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission ‘Debt of Honour' register. Additionally, symbolic wooden stakes are set around the ‘Shot at Dawn' memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum near Lichfield, Staffordshire. Those bear the names of British or Commonwealth servicemen executed during the First World War. I was privileged in January to visit that memorial. I recommend that hon. Members who have not had a chance visit the National Memorial Arboretum. The ‘Shot at Dawn' memorial is a simple but moving memorial. Private Smith is among those individuals who are commemorated there.

The Cenotaph, the nation's war memorial, bears only the inscription ‘The Glorious Dead' and the dates of the two world wars. No distinction is made in respect of race, gender, colour, creed, or place or circumstances of death of those whom it commemorates. So, too, in the thousands of cemeteries and memorials across the world, without distinction, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission officially commemorates all the men and women who died in the service of Britain and her empire during the First World War. Many do not appreciate that, from the outset, those who were executed by firing squad were commemorated equally with their comrades who died in other circumstances during the First World War. The commission provided identical graves and appropriate headstones for their graves. Some of those graves were lost later.

While commending any initiative that commemorates the sacrifices of those who served in Her Majesty's armed forces, it is important to understand that, beyond the official commemoration to mark a serviceman's final resting place, the Government do not have responsibility for either the funding or maintenance of many memorials such as the one at Bolton town hall. As my hon. Friend and many hon. Members know, there are around 70,000 war memorials in the United Kingdom and they take a wide variety of forms, including books, to which my hon. Friend referred, windows, lichgates, playing fields and buildings – even hospitals, chapels and community halls.

I know that the names of many of those executed men have already been added to many local war memorials as a result of local pressure or family initiatives. I think that that is appropriate; those individuals should be added to those local memorials. I fully support the inclusion of Private Smith's name in his local book of remembrance and I am very pleased to hear that Bolton council will agree tomorrow to add Private James Smith's name to that roll of honour. It is a fitting tribute that his name will be added to the roll of honour. My hon. Friend has paid him a great tribute tonight by speaking about him many years after his death and by putting him on the record of the House, so that future generations can not only read the debate but ensure that we do not forget about brave individuals such as Private Smith.

Question put and agreed to.

9.24 pm

House adjourned.

(Reproduced by kind permission of Mr Joe O'Loughlin:
www.joeoloughlin.co.uk
)

Dear Mother, and Father, Sisters and Brothers,

Just a few lines to let you know I am in the best of health and hope you are mother. I am sorry to have to tell you that I am to be shot tomorrow at 7 o'clock in the morning the 22nd April. I hope you will take it in good part and not upset yourself. I shall die like a soldier, so goodbye mother, father, sisters and brothers, if any left. Remember me to Mr. Kendell and them who knew me. Mother I am very sorry nothing happened to me at Ypres, I should not have went away and then I might have stood a good chance of being still alive, but I think that they are paying the debt at the full rate. I thought the most they would give me would be about ten years. It is worse than waiting to be hung.

I hope you got my letters; which I sent you while waiting for my court martial. It seems that something told me I would be shot, so I think the time has come for me to die … I am only a common soldier and all civilians should know that I have fought for my country in hail, sleet and snow. To the trenches we have to go. All my comrades have been slaughtered which I think everyone should know. When our regiment was captured, the Colonel loudly strained ‘Everyone for hiself', but on and on I fought and got clear of the German trenches. This is the punishment I get for getting clear of the Germans … I have wrote my last letter to you all at home, so mother don't be angry with me because I have gone to rest, and pray for me, and I will pray for you. Remember me to Mr. Newbold and tell him about it … I have been silly to go away but if you knew how worried I was, and almost off my head. Think how we had been slaughtered at the beginning of the war … You think they would have a bit of pity for those who are living for their country. Goodbye to all at home. Goodbye, Goodbye.

From your Son,

Albert.

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