Shot at Dawn : Executions in World War One by Authority of the British Army Act

The issue of military executions during the war has always been controversial and embargoes have made it difficult for researchers to get at the truth. Now these two writers give us a vast amount of information. They show that trials were grossly unfair and incompetent. Many of the condemned men had been soldiers of exemplary behaviour, courage and leadership but had cracked under the dreadful strain of trench warfare. This acclaimed book is the authority on this shameful saga. [Elib]

in April Of 1945 The Port Cities Of Northern Germany Became The Target Of An Allied Rivalry That Was To Prefigure The Cold War. Montgomery's 21st Army Group, Made Up Of British, Canadian And Polish Troops, Was The Allied Force Originally Designated To Capture Bremen, Hamburg And Other German Cities On The Baltic. Growing American Nervousness About Soviet Intentions Led To Pressure From Eisenhower On Montgomery To Step Up The Pace Of The British Advance. Montgomery Knew That A More Aggressive Advance Would Cost More Casualties For A Commonwealth Whose Manpower Was Already Drained By Six Years Of War; Nevertheless He Too Was Concerned About The Soviet Advance From The East.

a Tense Situation Developed As Montgomery Reluctantly Began To Launch His Offensive While The Local German Officials Tried To Find A Way To Surrender And Avoid A Needless Slaughter In A Doomed All-out Defense.

This groundbreaking work of military history reveals the unsettling truth about British Army executions during WWI. The issue of military executions during the war has always been controversial, and embargoes have long kept historians from researching it. Julian Putkowski has spent decades uncovering the stories of mutinies and soldiers accused of desertion, and of the executions that followed. In Shot at Dawn , Putkowski and co-author Julian Sykes shed light on a practice that for too long has been shrouded in secrecy. They show that trials were grossly unfair and incompetent. Many of the condemned men had been soldiers of exemplary behavior, courage, and leadership who cracked under the dreadful strain of trench warfare. This acclaimed book is the authority on this shameful legacy. Shot at Dawn chronicles the tragic fate of more than 300 soldiers on the Western Front between 1918-18. The authors scoured the Imperial War Museum, public records and war diaries to piece together the jigsaw. A graphic account of man's inhumanity to man is the result of their labours.