January 2, 2002 - The pages of Canadian newspapers have contained a great deal of information regarding the execution of Canadian soldiers for cowardice or desertion in World War I. Some of the information leans heavily towards sympathy, but faced with the published facts the charge sheets of the executed soldiers indicate that, given the circumstances of the time, the executions were justifiable.

In Canada, the situation was again brought to light by a statement from Veterans Affairs Minister Ron Duhamel who, on December 11, 2001, expressed “regret” about the execution of 23 Canadian soldiers in France and Belgium, between the years 1916 and 1918.

The Australian government, in World War I, prohibited the execution of any of its soldiers.

In 2000, the New Zealand government granted a posthumous pardon to the five soldiers of that country executed in World War I. The legislation was based on the circumstances under which the British Army Act permitted these executions.

A movement commenced in Britain many years ago was restarted in the 1990s by Mr. J. Hipkin, a former naval rating. The British government refused to take any action. In what some see as a somewhat chaotic gesture, Hipkin raised the money and erected a small cemetery containing wooden crosses for all of those who were executed. The statue of a larger-than-life soldier, blindfolded and crucified, stands at the gate. I visited the area and concluded that the Hipkin cemetery was not popular with the English people in the vicinity, nor did it have any official status from the British government.

Prime Minister John Major of Britain made the following statement in February of 1993 in a book titled For the Sake of Example, published in the U.K.:

I have reflected long and hard, but I have reached the conclusion that we cannot rewrite history by substituting our latter-day judgment for that of contemporaries, whatever we might think. With the passage of time, attitudes and values change.

Possibly the most aggravating aspect for Canadian veterans is that, in his statement to the House of Commons, Veterans Affairs Minister Ron Duhamel admitted that he was taking the action to announce an expression of “regret” as part of his political campaign. Apparently, he had made a promise to the sister of Private Stephen Fowles, a 21-year-old Canadian who had been shot after deserting at least twice.

Further details regarding the charge sheets are available in a letter to the editor of The Globe and Mail dated December 28, 2001.

Sincerely,

Cliff Chadderton, CC, O.Ont., OStJ, CLJ, CAE, DCL, LLD
Chairman, National Council of Veteran Associations (40 member-associations)