Its time the U.K military said sorry

after rememberance day today i thought it was time to bring this up

www.wsws.org...

quote
"On Sunday, November 14, the last "Remembrance Day" services of the century were held across Europe to remember the dead of two World Wars. On the day before the official commemoration in London, the capital hosted a much smaller unofficial ceremony to honour those shot for “cowardice” and “desertion”."
quote
"Saturday's ceremony was only the second year that campaigners for the executed have been officially allowed to commemorate their dead. The public address system was turned off, however. Campaigner John Hipkin, 73, said that the Home Office had informed them it would turn off all microphones and loud speakers at the Cenotaph because "they did not know what we were going to say in advance".

i think that this is disgusting..only the second year that these campaigners were ALLOWED to commemorate the dead..its time the british military and government pardoned these young men

and a final quote..just for posterity

The Blair government is resisting appeals for a “Millennium Pardon” for the 306 men. The army also seems unlikely to change its position. Earlier this year the Ministry of Defence sent a reply to “Shot At Dawn” campaigner John Hipkin on the question of the under-age soldiers that had been executed. The letter read, “You also state that a number of soldiers who were under-age were illegally tried and executed. This is not the case. Anyone over the age of 14 was deemed legally responsible for his actions and Army regulations provided no immunity from Military Law for an under-age soldier.”

so what do you all think..is it time the U.K military and government said sorry????

Why pardon them?
If somebody is guilty do they deserve a pardon merely because a specified time period has elapsed?

There are probably many amongst those who were executed who were innocent (shellshock and the like), but that does not mean that all were.

Back then, the law was that you fought with your countrymen. Desertion was a terrible crime - if one deserter went unpunished, the ramifications were perilous. Britain needed it's men to fight. Allowing people to desert unpunished could have opened floodgates and jeopardised the outcome of the war.
Just because we now see execution as an unacceptable punishment does not mean that those guilty of cowardice should now be found innocent and pardoned.

As for Remembrance Day services? I personally reckon that if a guy ran off and left his friends to fight alone, he doesn't deserve to be given the same respect as those who fought and died in action.
Look at it this way: if your grandad caught a German bullet because a brother left him in the lurch, would you expect that brother to also be honoured at your grandad's funeral service?

[edit on 11-11-2005 by Leveller]

www.bullyonline.org...

do you know what PTSD is??
here a quote from the above link


The pretexts for execution for British soldiers had a common theme: many were suffering shell shock (also called "war neurosis" or "combat stress" and now recognised as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD), and most were deliberately picked out and convicted "as a lesson to others". Charges included desertion (walking around dazed and confused suffering from PTSD), cowardice (ditto), or insubordination (any minor action that could be pressed into service as an excuse for execution). Some were simply obeying orders to carry information from one trench to another. Most of those shot were young, defenceless and vulnerable teenagers who had volunteered for duty. They were selected, charged, and subjected to a mock trial often without defence one day, convicted, then shot at dawn the following day. Eye-witness accounts suggest many faced their death with a gallantry absent in their accusers

and what about the war widows who were left with no war pensions??

here is a link to the symptoms of PTSD

www.medicinenet.com...

Sure I know what PTSD is.
But your demand for a pardon implicates that every deserter suffered from it.
Do you know this to be a fact?

no i dont know this to be a fact but surely if 1 of the cases can be proven then that family deserve`s to feel free of the supposed dishonor??
i dont need to look for names of individuals but they need to be cleared..even if its an individual.
but what if the real reasons are this...

quote
"allowing families of those murdered by officers in World War 1 to bring claims of compensation for
a) unlawful killing by incompetent officers supported and encouraged by Sir (sic) Douglas Haig (known affectionately at the time as Butcher Haig)
b) legal action for libel, slander, defamation of character and injury to feelings of the families and descendants of those so killed
c) continued libel, slander, defamation of character and injury to feelings of the families and descendants of those so killed by successive governments' refusal to provide posthumous pardons and allow those soldiers to be honoured and mourned alongside their fallen comrades
identifying those guilty of incompetence and prosecuting them for war crimes, stripping them of honours and titles and removing them from positions of esteem in military and civilian history
acknowledging the mistaken views of military top brass and politicians throughout this century in aiding and abetting the cover-up
finding other horrific abuses yet to be disclosed "

You so carefully forget to include that during WWI & WWII there was no diagianosis called PTSD.

This is a new diagonsis since the 1990's.

And the fact that you don't know what the circumstances were for each execution, you should just keep you 'ideas/conspriraces to yourself.

Originally posted by ferretman
You so carefully forget to include that during WWI & WWII there was no diagianosis called PTSD.

This is a new diagonsis since the 1990's.

And the fact that you don't know what the circumstances were for each execution, you should just keep you 'ideas/conspriraces to yourself.

wow the hatred...wow the scorn
ok ferret so because a syndrome was not discovered until 19--....that means it did not exist?????

and as well buddy(if i may call you buddy)?..is this not a conspiracey site??
is there actually that need for your animosity??