Just thought this may be of interest ... considering this subject matter !
In today's Sunday Times!
quote
"The report also claims that the courts martial had a class bias that is incompatible with an impartial system of justice. “The treatments meted out to officers and upper echelons tended to be at the lower end of the disciplinary scale, whereas lower ranks were often afforded little, if any, leniency.”
Of the 26 executions of soldiers serving in Irish regiments, 23 were for desertion, one for striking an officer, one for quitting his post and one for disobedience.
In one case a soldier was executed for a 45-minute absence. Most of the men were illiterate and had no grasp of military law. Only one of the 26 was provided with a “prisoner’s friend” — as was their entitlement — and most condemned soldiers and their appointed defending officers were unfamiliar with the system of pleas for mercy following conviction.
The report points out that just 10 years after the war ended, unease about the summary battlefield justice led to the death penalty being repealed for offences such as desertion and refusing to obey an order"
unquote
"Shot at Dawn" is another piece of compelling reading too!!
Annie
