The Other Side Of WWI: The Men Who Were Shot At Dawn | Timeline

This touching documentary investigates the tragic stories of the 306 British & Commonwealth soldiers shot for acts of cowardice and desertion during World War One.
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[@philoopnorth4901]

For those unaware but interested, a pardon was finally issued through the 2006 Armed Forces Act and they are now officially recognised as victims of the conflict. There is also a special memorial to them at the National Memorial Arboretum.

[@elvenkind6072]

Thank you. Although a plea for forgiveness should rather be issued, then a "pardon", but perhaps that was part of the wording in the attempt to make good this wrong.

[@MarlboroughBlenheim1]

Pardon but not overturning the verdicts. Not all were victims. Some were murderers who killed their fellow soldiers. It's uncomfortable that they would be pardoned.

[@elvenkind6072]

@@MarlboroughBlenheim1 Did you watch the documentary? It was most of the time shooting some young boy, in order to not make the other young boys hesitate to jump into the slaughter when ordered to do so. Also in the cases of cowardice, to dismiss such soldiers from duty with a dishonorable discharge, making them and their family miss the pay they got, and to be sent home in disgrace, would and should be the strictest punishment for anything else then traitors and spies working for the enemy.

[@ianwilson6417]

philoopnorth4901 Post hum finaly pardoned. A nice move. What about the generals that centenced these men to death? They then should post hum ripped of their ranks and medals. But instead they are still celebrated as hero`s. It`disgusting.

[@MarlboroughBlenheim1]

@@ianwilson6417 It's not disgusting and many men were rightly convicted by the law as it stood then. This wasn't a nice little 21st century woke Britain. It was war and soldiers who ran away or refused to follow orders or who murdered others got what they deserved under the law of a different time. You're applying 21st century values.

[@TeMpThAnG]

this is worse than them being killed by the enemy. thank you for this, they will NOT be forgotten. and even though they are not granted pardons, they are seen as INNOCENT and respected by their family, friends, and strangers such as myself who just so happened to stumble across this documentary on youtube. my heart hurts. may their poor souls be forever at peace.

[@wellthatwaswierd4570]

Made me cry. Those men gave their all for their homelands and families, but paid the ultimate price, betrayed by the men they trusted to lead them. Hero is an insufficient word for these men. They deserve recognition.

[@kelrogers8480]

There are insufficient words for what their government did to them!

[@fuckfannyfiddlefart]

Their lives were taken for capitalist imperialism. Not wise.

[@keithad6485]

Tears in my eyes seeing the woman in purple flower dress crying whilst putting flowers on the war grave of her relative.

[@RS-xo7rd]

@@keithad6485 Me, too.

[@hazchemel]

Some of the infinite tragic tragedy of tragedy. And nought ro be done by us,

[@indi3066]

This is one of the most heartbreaking documentaries I've ever seen, such senseless cruelty...and still they aren't pardoned.

[@philipr1567]

This documentary was made before the UK Government (at last!) issued posthumous pardons for 306 executed British and Dominion soldiers in August 2006. These pardons covered the offences of desertion, cowardice, insubordination etc. I believe that over 20 soldiers were court-martialled for murder - if these soldiers were executed they would not have been included in the pardons.

[@indi3066]

@@philipr1567 thank you for the update. I just realized this video was made 3 years ago. I'm very happy these boys's families finally got closure.

[@Arltratlo]

they didnt die for the king!

[@AllansStation]

My father, served and survived, the first World War. And the horrors he saw stayed with him all his life.

[@Mr-Damage]

As a Australian and a soldier in one of the finest army's this world has ever seen I am proud of the fact my forefathers refused to take part in this malarkey. May these men rest in peace.

[@dukewellington3174]

Haig was saying how he wanted to be able to court martial Australia Soldiers "sparingly" as the Australians were ill disciplined but I have read many accounts and seen many documentaries where they were acknowledged as the best soldiers in WW1. Australia was the only country engaged in WW1 not to introduce conscription as well. Twice this went to a referendum and twice the no vote won.

[@Arltratlo]

you went to the French Foreign Legion??

[@harryurz]

ANZAC troops were under the same regulations as everyone else in the British Army. 113 Australians were sentenced to death at various times during the war, (British Army was 3,076, and 346 carried out) but the Australian Governor-General ( Munro-Furgeson, a Brit!) had the final say, and despite the ANZAC General staff's opinions, never verified an execution.

[@Funnutter38]

No disrespect….Australia is the 15th powerful army so I wouldn’t say one of the finest. I do agree with you tho if I was Australian I would feel extremely proud that the government didn’t allow for their people to be executed!!!! ❤

[@Arltratlo]

@@Funnutter38 the Aussie navy is the only navy in history, who lost a war ship to a merchant ship in battle! they not the finest, only entitled exceptional Brits 2.0!

[@ecosse1982]

I served in the Royal Navy from 2000-2004 and I literally cannot believe what I'm watching. May the Lord have mercy on the souls of all mankind.

[@gugulethundlovu7767]

This is touching honestly. These were men of men , brave men, who died at the whim of those who thought were better than them. I'm touched and horrified.

[@Arltratlo]

the Brits dont need a good reason to kill people...!

[@Funnutter38]

These men will never be forgotten!! In my heart forever. Always thankful. Forever hero’s!!!!!!!! Much respect of the bravery to the 306.

[@VFT1729]

There is a Movie called "Paths of Glory" with Kirk Douglas it was released in 1959 it addresses this topic only it is set in the French Army but the application is universal. It is very well done. And good on ya Australia for having the balls to say no.

[@johnsimpson6181]

That movie was banned in France for many years.

[@TheJonnyzeus]

VFT1729 ...it’s a great movie, and one that all should see.

[@carolewilson1311]

VFT1729 I saw the film. Very uncomfortable viewing

[@jacobjones5269]

It’s a great film that a leading cause of the reexamination of The Great War that emerged in the early 1960’s.. Kubrick was a master..

[@arnabbhattacharya6579]

Salutes to the Australian government. ....the shameless Elizabeth should pardon and compensate the family. England will be browned and the whites will be a minority in the future.

[@Shaden0040]

100 years, right down to the day and they still lay in restless repose.

[@halwarner3326]

Pup314 an unnecessary waste

[@Shaden0040]

@@halwarner3326Agreed they must be exhonerated and cleared of cowardice. We know better now what PTSD is and why it happens.

[@geezerp1982]

@@Shaden0040 they knew then as well it was called shell shock !

[@neon0501]

They did finally get a pardon but th British government I think around 2006

[@HungrigerHugo89]

I just love that the Australians gave the middle finger to Haig and didn't join in that madness!

[@richardmason902]

Amen to that. Breaker Morant and his mate were the last ---Victims of Kitchener . Thank god our outraged government (such as it was) stood up to Britain and said no more.

[@omicrontheta3894]

It was not the government that did it. T WAS SIR JOHN MONASH. JOHN MONASH THE WARLORD.

[@joelandjenmcfarlane5144]

What about Gallipoli? It’s a legit question , I’m no bot.

[@anthonyeaton5153]

@@omicrontheta3894It wasn’t Sir John Monash either. It was the Governor of Australia who reprieved the miscreants.

[@webbsmotorhomeadventures1231]

Haig was a mad man

[@kalena7126]

My God, the callous way the Butcher treated his men, it's beyond appalling. Thank you, Timeline for making this documentary and this entire WW1 series. Excellent.

[@pauljohnson5190]

Incredibly beautiful and moving, seeing those wonderful women laying wreaths at the graves of those long lost but not forgotten young men.

[@davisworth5114]

Amen.

[@janbadinski7126]

Bless her.

[@williambehan1344]

They all died Heroes God bless them all.

[@rogerjohnson8707]

In the US during the War between the States Confederate General Robt. E Lee gave clemency to nearly all the death sentences imposed on southern soldiers from court martial. He stated it was the worst possible use of a soldier he could think of.

[@stormywindmill]

In reply to a request for the death sentence on a Union soldier President Lincoln said " You say he must die because he is a bad soldier, Well I really do not see how shooting him will make him a better one ".

[@brandonwestbrook6003]

He was a man’s man and top notch commander of men. Now, his monuments are desecrated and torn down. The world is upside down, post 2020.

[@Ken-fh4jc]

@brandonwestbrook6003 why should we have a statue of a general from a foreign country that attacked America?

[@brandonwestbrook6003]

@@Ken-fh4jc tf are you taking about? Robert E Lee was born, lived, and died in VA.

[@rogerjohnson8707]

@@Ken-fh4jc Congress passed laws in 1929 and 1958 designating all Confederate soldiers as United States veterans.

[@angiedovey4132]

I've just watched this and I'm fighting back the tears these brave men enlisted to fight for their country and were murdered I'm just so annoyed that they will not be given a pardon it's disgusting RIP all soldiers of the wars

[@chrisholland7367]

It was sheer murder most if not of these cases based on the evidence would possibly not of stood up in courts martial during ww2.

[@jonahjones8597]

Have always said haig should have been done for war crimes should have all awards and titles taken away

[@vitosanto3874]

Over 11million souls lost their life for absolutely nothing,may they all rest in peace.

[@Tony-gv5fm]

Vito Santo ..nothing? Tell that to the elites of the 1st world countries that made billions of dollars off of it..fuked up but true

[@Tony-gv5fm]

Dalton ..not just any jewish..tbe ROTHSCHILDS ..then the riyal English family then tbe rockerfeller then the DuPonts then the Morgans..in thhat irder..then the rest of the bilderberg group families..but ROTHSCHILDS are indeed on top..with 500 TRILLION in cash and gold...just KZbin 'rothschild 500 trillion'...and the rothschilds have always lent money to the royal English family.

[@blackbird5634]

Gen. Smedley Butler said it in "War Is A Racket," : "I spent my time (In the Marine Corps) as a high class muscle man for big business." (1933)

[@brittsmith8260]

Same goes for Chesty Puller who spent his formative Corps years chasing bandits to protect United Fruit Company.

[@anthonycaruso8443]

Business men do not start wars,evil governments start wars.Disgruntled Marine.

[@darylnd]

When you're so proud of slaughter, any excuse to kill anyone will do. Stanley Kubrick's film, "Paths of Glory," brilliantly dramatizes the French government's scapegoating and executions of French soldiers for "cowardice."

[@anthonycaruso8443]

French soldiers were good,generals not so good

[@TheAirplaneDriver]

I’m a vet and though I saw no combat, there were relatively dangerous things that we had to do everyday to simply do our jobs. Some guys refused to put themselves at what they saw were unnecessary risks and none of us that carried the load harbored any resentment or anger towards those men. Everybody had their limit and you just shrugged your shoulders and moved on when a shipmate couldn’t carry the load. Or, perhaps you tried your best to help them out and get them to contribute whatever it is they could find it in their hearts to do. I can’t imagine that a combat soldier would want to see a front line veteran executed who, after months or years in combat, reached his breaking point.. I may be wrong on this, but I don’t think so. These executions are the result of a “lead from the rear” mentality from an officer class that didn’t know what they were doing and felt compelled to blame the rank and file for their own incompetence.

[@ticket2space]

Never served but I've been in some gnarly spots where some guys just couldn't hang. You pick up that slack cause you never know when you'll need someone to carry you. We're all we got, and you take care of what you have because you can lose it anytime

[@lawlersr1]

Field Marshal Haig’s comment “Australian battle discipline had held up during the war despite the poor discipline away from the front” General Monash in response “A very stupid comment has been made upon the discipline of the Australian soldier. That was because the very conception and purpose of discipline have been misunderstood. It is, after all, only a means to an end, and that end is the power to secure coordinated action among a large number of individuals for the achievement of a definite purpose. It does not mean lip service, nor obsequious homage to superiors, nor servile observance of forms and customs, nor a suppression of individuality… the Australian Army is a proof that individualism is the best and not the worst foundation upon which to build up collective discipline”.

[@dondajulah4168]

Well said. Unfortunately, that is not how the British officers saw it. Their preference was obviously for form over substance.

[@chrisbrent7487]

Monash was one of the best generals of that war.

[@coolbreeze2.0-mortemadfasc13]

The US military needs to hear this.

[@wally9447]

Those men don’t need a pardon from any government but rather the Government needs to seek pardons from their families!

[@Superfandangoo]

In 2006, Peter Goggins was finally pardoned along with the other 305 British and British Empire soldiers executed during the First World War under the terms of the Armed Forces Act 2006

[@ianmasters1461]

I’m sure he was very happy.

[@wcstevens7]

Too late to do anyone any good...I feel sorrow for his descendants who are tainted by this politically inspired miscarriage of justice.

[@MurrayJoe]

Thank you for the update, while it came far too late, it makes me a little happier and I hope it brings some peace to their relatives. I don't think a pardon is really acceptable, I think they should be totally exonerated and a black mark should be placed against those who ordered their deaths.

[@Superfandangoo]

bruce vandermeer wow a snowflake without anything intelligent to say, go get yourself some education Brucey Baby, it's a fine thing to impress your Sheila with

[@Superfandangoo]

Even be it 100 years ago I feel every officer whom ordered this injustice including the officers whom sent troops over the top to be killed on that last morning of this war should be disgraced or at least have their false medals taken from the history records, nothing but war criminals, sadly anything done would never be enough, we can only remember these brave souls and to give thanks for what they did before they were murdered as a memorial to them.

[@ALRIGHTYTHEN.]

The generals were the bravest of the brave. They never left their post...a chalet 20 miles behind the front.

[@ray.shoesmith]

78 British Generals were killed in action in WW1. 146 British Generals were WIA or POW.

[@patfontaine5917]

Twelve percent of enlisted ranks were killed; 17% for officers.

[@edwardnakagawa593]

** THE GENERALS, ARE ALWAYS * RIGHT ! ** RANK, HAS ITS *PRIVELEDGE !

[@edwardnakagawa593]

IF THE GENERALS, WERE AT THE FRONT ? THEY WOULD HAVE WON * ALL* THE VICTORIA CROSSES ? *BULLOCKS*

[@edwardnakagawa593]

** IN ANY ARMY, THERE's A *CATCH 22 ! *YOUR * GUILTY OF * SOMETHING !

[@thejam82]

Heartbreaking. Thank you for your service rip

[@gfodale]

In the first world war, this would have been far more effective had they started with the General Staff.

[@wcstevens7]

gfodale ..Agreed. Include a few armament manufacturers, and war profiteers as well.

[@mickymickle2764]

Perhaps it would be even better to start with those who START these wars - those on all sides.

[@anthonyeaton5153]

Why do you post such silly messages. Grow up.

[@gfodale]

@@anthonyeaton5153 Troll much???

[@charlesnolan7602]

The UK government needs to right this horrible 103 year wrong.

[@norwegianzound]

103 years ago. Ancient history. Move on. You are as bad as the Paddies whinging on about their famine. Get over it.

[@thesceptic1018]

@@norwegianzound Guaranteed to sway the overwhelming majority

[@norwegianzound]

@Pendulous Testicularis.. No. By issuing compensation.

[@nullakjg767]

lol this is a drop in the bucket. they have done crimes against humanity for the last 1000 years and can be blamed for almost all of todays current issues. they had a hand in all of it.

[@MothaLuva]

What do you expect them to do? Resurrect the dead?

[@hughtuck5147]

The sound of Harry Farr's wife describing how she kept the secret of her husband's fate to herself until the time when she was put out of her lodgings 'cos her widow's pension had been stopped just fills me with shame... (23:00)

[@therighthonsirdoug]

The BBC radio did a series called voices of the First World War in the years building up to the centenary of the end of the war. It was based on the archive of recordings made mainly in the 1970s. One episode featured a much longer recording of her telling her story. It's utterly tragic. I lay a cross in the field of remembrance for him every year when I lay others for the men I knew who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[@davidkirk6572]

As I understand it, this is why General Pershing insisted that American troops remain under American officers.

[@anthonyeaton5153]

That was not the reason in any case Pershing would have decided.

[@StinkFingerr]

WW1, was a war that never needed to happen in the first place.

[@TheMrgoodmanners]

It had to happen for the world to change as it has

[@JuanTorres-ny9ff]

@@TheMrgoodmanners How did that war change Britain? set an example.

[@frankoholik1760]

@@JuanTorres-ny9ff pre WW1 - richest country in the world with an abundant empire, £650m debt Post WW1 - overtaken economically by the USA, the beginnings of a declining empire,£7b debt,

[@alexodonnell6191]

So moving that it would drag tears from the proverbial stone...RIP .... They are all equal now.

[@creatrixcorvusarts876]

Almost makes the high ranks as bad as the enemy......disgusting.

[@patrickmcshane7658]

Worse.

[@jeffreydirksen8121]

The high ranks were the enemy.

[@anthonyeaton5153]

​@@jeffreydirksen8121another childish statement.

[@ey67]

They are

[@grahamcoffey2247]

As has been (correctly) theorised, the bulk of the Soldiers executed by the British, were either shell shocked, or suffering from what was to become known, in later decades, as PTSD....without being either known, or understood at the time. The driving, and actual reason for Australian politicians outlawing the capital execution of Australian servicemen, was the fact that the Australian Army....during WW1, was the only ALL Volunteer Empire Army, who came to the defence of the Home country....Simply put, one doesn't execute Volunteers...

[@jimlofts5433]

Also butcher Haig executed hancock and moran in the boer war for wrongly following verbal orders

[@user-gv5bs3os5i]

​@@jimlofts5433 I wouldn't have put haig out if he had of been on fire I class him as a serial killer they were the cowards sending young men back in to the trenches those officers who murdered those men should have taken there places in the trenches and given a taste of there own medicine

[@bertcert991]

Have you never seen the monocled mutineer some men did desert and deserved to die

[@michaelhayden5264]

@@jimlofts5433 I think you mean Kitchener, but regardless Haig was hated by more Australian service men than any other British General. In fact some of the senior Australian Generals were not supporters of Haig's methods.

[@purplepoppyz]

Most of the English who were executed were volunteers.

[@susankelly4182]

All these men are heroes .its the officers who are cowards. God rest there souls x x

[@robertstallard7836]

Incorrect. The highest casualty rate was amongst junior officers, mainly as a result of them leading their men into battle and setting an example. Percentage of British Ors killed - about 12%. Officers - about 17%.

[@Coolagreen16]

A sweeping comment that I'm sure is incorrect. I think you're thinking of some of the decisions made in these cases. There for sure there's blame against the officers in question.

[@71tbomb]

Last note: Never forget. Never Forgive.

[@canuckloyalist4681]

These men are the most horrific causalities of the war...MURDERED by their own country! I pray my grandfather was never part of these atrocities!

[@rsattahip]

The incompetence of the British commanders in that war that sent wave after wave of men to certain death is an incredible disgrace, and that it went unpunished is worse.

[@terryjohnson8317]

The British always did that. Look at the Charge of the Light Brigade when they sent light mounted lancers against artillery on 3 sides.

[@mglenn7092]

Terry Johnson the charge of the light brigade was a special kind of stupid. If the light brigade had gone after the target General Lord Lucan intended to send them after it still would have been a waste of lives to little purpose. Instead, vague orders by Lucan, botched delivery of those orders by a staff officer, and utterly shocking misinterpretation of those orders by Colonel Lord Cardigan, made for a truly appalling loss of life. The light brigade was destroyed as a fighting unit. And the British still celebrate it as a glorious chapter in British arms. Seems that incompetence and butchery of your own troops is to be celebrated in British eyes.

[@Carlo42]

You do realise all armies fought that way? It was the way war was fought at the time.

[@Carlo42]

@@mglenn7092 All armies have had events the charge you mention. You only have to look at Cold Harbour and the early Union battles of the Civil War to see this. The Italians have Adowa in 1896 if I remember rightly, and the French have the disaster of the Prussia-French war of 1870. The Russians had Tannenburg in 1914, and the Germans, although the Spring Offensives in 1918 were initially successful, caused the loss of their best soldiers and the subsequent loss of the war. Disasters are not the exclusive domain of the British.

[@mglenn7092]

Mysterion and Grant himself, along with most American students of the war, considered Cold Harbor to have been something of a disaster, that serious blunders had been made, and that those losses were NOT something to glorify and shower praise on. Pretty much only in Britain do they glorify stupid f***ing mistakes like the Charge of the Light Brigade. Let me restate that so I'm clear: 1. The charge of the light brigade was one of those disasters that was a really flagrantly stupid and wasteful loss of life without the slightest bit of useful results, kind of like the annihilation of Custer's battalion of the 7th Cavalry at Little Bighorn (yes, other nations have their disasters too). 2. The British seem to praise and celebrate them as moments of great honor and heroism instead of the utter disasters that they were. The Russians don't celebrate Tannenburg, the French don't celebrate the Battle of Sedan, and the Germans don't celebrate the 1918 Spring Offensive; but the British still celebrate the Light Brigade at Balaclava. Why? Most armies do have bloody mistakes like that, but they don't shed honor on the commanders rather than admit someone f***ed up. Also, no, most Armies tried not to throw their men away in such a senseless stupid, useless way as the Charge of the Light Brigade was, even at the time the Battle of Balaclava occurred, and also not in earlier wars. Sounds like you got your idea of war from utterly clueless and ridiculously romantic civilians like Alfred Tennyson and Cecil Woodham-Smith, if you believe that's how it was usually done.

[@kennyderoian8904]

Similar to why parachutes weren’t issued to pilots and aircrew... high command thought it would breed “cowardice” when a pilot or airman jumped out of a burning box kite that had an engine and a rudder.

[@captainblue2344]

wow

[@pigeonworld3571]

Never again only serve your country if under attack and the world would be a better place to live

[@jimmyhaley727]

totally agree,,, Defense only,,, stop the madness,,, but the wheels of the Bankers want war for profit,,, We the people must stop the politicians and bankers, ole USN vet

[@markandmona]

What devastation! These men and their families deserve to be pardoned. it is the officers such as Haig who should have the mark against their military service records! So sad...

[@williambehan1344]

The fighting men should have turned there guns on the officers.

[@chris8967]

William Behan they did In Russia and look how that turned out

[@peteconrad2077]

Pagan Light there’s a good obedient servant of the elite. Good boy. Have a pat on the head.

[@chris8967]

Pete Conrad said like a true commietard, If you dislike something some says, next time you might try making a counter argument instead of just insulting people, You might find that for once in your long and simple that you actually learn something.

[@peteconrad2077]

Pagan Light I did but it’s too subtle fro a half wit like you to spot it.

[@morgre]

Let the men that decide for war fight it.

[@neo77447]

In 2006, Goggins was finally pardoned along with the other 305 British and British Empire soldiers executed for cowardice during the First World War, under the terms of the Armed Forces Act 2006.[9][10] His case had been one of those discussed in Parliament during the passage of the Act.[11]

[@dirkusmaximus9268]

some of them showed true heroism in the years before, and were volunteers...One moment of mental weakness, and they ended up like this... Tragically..., no due process...

[@alexandersunter4899]

Wow! What a video. Unbelievable. Thank you.😊

[@maxcream6726]

Almost teared up hearing that letter from Albert Troughton

[@martynjames5963]

The whole concept of war is mad and this is no different. It's just a part of that whole madness.

[@brainmclaughlin8798]

Oh if only all working class men on all sides just said no.

[@monster85100]

Amen to that!

[@scottklocke891]

War is a crime against humanity, yet such a common occurrence.

[@carterhaughbooks4333]

Even more effective, if the wives AND MISTRESSES of the male power-brokers, were to Just Say No until the jerks declare peace.

[@halwarner3326]

brain mclaughlin amen

[@alexruddies1718]

That would have gotten you thrown in a cell if you said something like that back then. (Mainly in America). But, that was something that many moral and ethical people have said. Especially if you were a socialist. That's why Eugene Debs is a personal hero to me.

[@louisecoupland]

Heartbreaking I'm in tears watching how cruel the things that happened.

[@donsarde]

God, that these men could have decided to kill a human being is an act of murder. By what right could they judge on the life of a soldier ? Totally abhorrent! May they all rest in peace.

[@arno_groenewald]

They call it war. I call this and soldiers around the world would call this the worst crime against one's own fellow soldier and patriot. Thank goodness they fixed this problem, but it was to late for those who was exacted for being to human.

[@Carlo42]

Both sides were fighting a war that they had never dealt with before, and tactics were several wars behind. There were the standard frontal assaults that had proved ineffective during the American Civil War. What most people forget was that Haig, and the British General Staff learned their lessons and this was clearly shown after the German Spring Offensive failed and the Allies counterattacked and broke through the German lines and didn't stop until the Armistice.

[@t.patrickregan4269]

May they all Rest In Peace 🙏

[@igotwormsband6089]

Speechless… 💔

[@simonperkins7998]

As a serving Airman, I can tell you that the principle has not changed one bit!

[@patrickmcshane7658]

Should've stood up a couple of them clown generals with blindfolds & cigarettes.

[@brendanburdick5230]

This is an important story to be told. Even if these men were insubordinate, I cannot accept the thinking that capital punishment was the just sentence. These stories make for a compound outrage, a litany of betrayal by those within the war machine who were secure from all risk and harm.

[@anthonyeaton5153]

No soldier in the British Army was executed for Insubordination.

[@chnalvr]

Wow, with countrymen like that, who needed more enemies. And to think that some of these kind-hearted men VOLUNTEERED for this type of service. The government needs to set this right ASAP.

[@gregoryaparker]

The cowards are the ones who passed judgment on these men.

[@DEREKCOUTTS]

Yes and there were more rats not in the trenches to,hiding far away giving out death sentences

[@angustaylor5204]

The British exectued 306 men fighting from muddy & wooden trenches whereas the Germans executed 25 while they fought from steel & concrete pits.

[@wintersnoob]

Conditions were just as bad or even worse for the germans. They were starving, and not only them in the trenches but also their families back home. The whole country was facing starvation.

[@mirola73]

The state of the trenches is not a genuine explanation of the difference in numbers. There a many, many more factors involved.

[@mebsrea]

And that disparity in numbers is amplified by the fact that the German Army was significantly larger.

[@paulorocky]

@@wintersnoobhey starved because they were blockaded. That’s what ultimately caused them to negotiate the armistice.

[@user-qv7px4kt8r]

and the hun lost remember? Perhaps because of cowardly soldiers.

[@19sept76]

As I write this post it is the time when I remember those who lost their lives during the war

[@williammackenzie788]

Slaughtered by the Germans and murdered by the British,so shameful.

[@christophermcguire7888]

It was just that these poor men had taken too damned much we will remember them

[@doodles863]

Haigh, the man that said “keep sending them over the top” when told of the massacre that was unfolding, “it’s ammunition we are short of not men” all from the safety of his bunker miles away from the front line.

[@martenkrueger8647]

Now that is a..COWARD!

[@jrt818]

Can't lead an army from a frontline trench or foxhole.

[@doodles863]

@@jrt818 and you can’t in a war by massacring your own troops

[@anthonyeaton5153]

NO HE DID NOT!

[@doodles863]

@@anthonyeaton5153 Oh yes he did

[@richardmason902]

Words fail me. At 22:46 That poor distraught Beautiful, Brave Lady Mrs Farr, widowed by her own government and then cast out to fend for herself, refusing to be separated from "their" daughter . Interviewed in 1993 and her husband should still have been at her side.

[@ae746890]

Are there updates on any of these tragedies?

[@katawa100]

May the souls of all who signed off on these dispicable orders wander in restless eternity

[@waynester71]

No words.. my little brother is a serving Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy.. I cannot imagine losing him this way. These men will be remembered with honour, Haig will be remembered with revulsion..

[@psycho.dad5252]

as a combat vet, i can tell you, every man on the line feels sick and terrified. you fight for yourself and the men with you. officers who LEAD from behind are the cowards. bravery is simply doing what you have no choice but to be. even though you have to relieve yourself every 30 seconds. but, you don't leave your buddy's back open to save yourself.

[@lollclark457]

So very sad and infuriating! Uncle Billy really got to me xx May they rest in peace 😢

[@davidhovey6045]

War is horrible. This is WORSE!😪

[@michaelellard4664]

We can very much see that to day in the our modern days veterans are treated.

[@dwightstjohn6927]

Orwells' Road to Wegan Pier says it all: the incident have far reaching consequences and Lest We Forget, are doomed to repeat.

[@foo219]

"May God forgive them, because I never will." Aye. Preach.

[@primelens100]

I sit here with tears in my eyes at the injustice of this, how can men who have never endured any hardship in their lives, sit in judgement of these poor souls, many just chosen at random for what was seen as the greater good. Nothing is to be gained now from not doing the right thing, and granting these brave souls a pastimes pardoneror is real justice and conscience just something which they shy away from I sometimes wonder how these so called better sleep at night.

[@NSA720]

What a fine woman that lady is. God bless her.

[@deoglemnaco7025]

I myself was almost executed, so I totally understand these issues. There is fear on both sides!!

[@NiqabiQueen7]

does anyone know the name of the song and artist at that's featured at the beginning and the end of the documentary 52:53 ? Thank you and rest in peace to all soldiers lost in WW1😢😢😢

[@GeorgeHutchins]

Anyone who has been stabbed in the back, while in the Full-Time Regular Military, and/or, stabbed in the back, with exaggerated slander, while in the Part-Time Military Reserves "NG National Guard," will understand this video, of what these young soldiers went through over 100 years ago, of today's current Veterans Day Date of November 11, 2018, the exact 100th Anniversary of when World War One ended on November 11, 1918.

[@stifledvoice]

in war combat there are no paths of glory, just death

[@IainHC1]

I honestly think that the powers that be that are guilty of sending these brave men to their deaths, should be named, shamed, and dishonored! Starting with Haig!!!!

[@khiggins7231]

1:30 My grand Uncle also was killed in April 1915 in Ypres. No grave, Missing in Action during the first week gas was introduced.

[@marcelovolcato8892]

Damn. Just damn.

[@theflaver]

It Would have been an interesting point for the documentary to share the Breaker Morant story and why the Australians would not allow executions. 51WCDodge mentions both the book and movie about it. both very good. too bad fragging hadn't started as far as we know...

[@haggis525]

Fragging was happening in the Roman Legions... in war 1 it certainly occurred.

[@lowerclassbrats77]

Almost as senseless and vile as decimation.

[@rent7142]

Of all the war documentaries I've seen this one was the most moving. Those poor young lads.

[@alanheath7056]

We Remember them all

[@mahabharat4985]

When common man die no one cares but when Prince died ww1 happened and who died in ww1? Common man. Lol.

[@ericskillen1914]

The likes of Churchill, Kitchener were the real cowards

[@mebsrea]

Churchill voluntarily served as an officer in the trenches. Not something former Cabinet members usually do. Churchill’s record as a young man in the Sudan and South Africa also does not exactly scream cowardice.

[@19sept76]

We cannot change history but we ca remember their sacrifice and fight for a better future.

[@Oscarspoem]

Those were different times and it was seen as weakness to be afraid. We now live in a society that is understanding of what these poor, brave men were feeling. No matter how you play war, it is simply awful. 2022 we still have not learnt that. Respect to all that fell in. Haig, seems to be an awfully cruel man. Not just this documentary but others I have seen.

[@pigeonworld3571]

When I read about general haig it says he won the war but realistically we lost as now the old breed of Europe and uk is tragically going extinct

[@Carlo42]

All armies fought the same way in World War 1 and the lessons learned in earlier battles brought about the defeat of the Central Powers.

[@bronwynevans150]

None should need to be pardoned. It is the governments who should be begging forgiveness from the families.

[@Ondrus21]

I like how the discussion below the documentary about Douglas Haig has been prohibited.

[@kernowarty]

One cannot imagine the horrors these young men and boys saw in battle. There must have been so many that had PTSD.

[@semperfidelis2970]

I never heard and I never knew. Nothing about war is worthwhile. Every man becomes an animal. This is horrible

[@daviddevault8700]

No every man does not become an animal. It is possible to fight a war and kill without doing anything to be ashamed of before man or God.

[@JerryEricsson]

It is strange, the way the beliefs of our ancestors change with each generation. I can recall this even in the short time I have been around, having entered this world in 1951, I have seen tremendous changes in the general beliefs between right and wrong, and my dad, who used to lecture me on right and wrong's differences were surly different from those beliefs that I taught my son. Dad was a 1910 model, his ideals were so very strong when it came to right and wrong, if dad were still around today, he would be amazed at how far we have gone from his belief system, and I would have to agree. Seeing America through my eyes today, it doesn't even seem to be close to what she was when I was a young fellow. While I have seen a bit of a reversal since the election of President Trump, we still have a long way to go before we will be as strong, as moral, as peaceful as we were in the early 1960's.

[@davisworth5114]

Right, JFK was sharing a mistress with Chicago Mafia boss Sam Giancana, doing Marilyn Monroe, ordering the coup in S. Vietnam that killed the Catholic tyrant Diem, ordering the disaster at the Bay of Pigs, and sleeping with an East German spy. Strong, moral, and peaceful, right.

[@danrooc]

@@davisworth5114 You may do a list of every crime, scandal and intrigue from those times. Yet, people had a sense they lived in a more peaceful world than today's.

[@heatherpesterfield8121]

All these innocents men ,I hope they rest in peace

[@edwardnakagawa593]

** THE BEST MOVIE !! THE LOST BATTALION !!

[@tiliusvaughan7321]

As an Australian, i think the feeling was / is 'who are they to do this', its our Army, our men, and we will command them, somehow its bred into us, we were lucky to have Monash, an Engineer, no doubt would not have his men treated by others, British historian A. J. P. Taylor, syas of Monash "the only general of creative originality produced by the First World War."

[@jimspink2922]

Monash was also credited with being the first General to exercise co ordination of all arms. Something that the Germans took note of in their Bliztgreig