CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

World War One quickly became the most brutal conflict in history and even the most seasoned servicemen were ill-prepared for the scale of carnage that unfolded before them.
When the horror proved too much, some soldiers simply ran away.
Desertion in the face of the enemy was regarded as a crime punishable by death.
The British and Commonwealth military command executed 306 of its own men during World War One. 
Many of those shot were classified as deserters. 

 






DESERTER

Morphine they gave him, whiskey too,
so when they walked him out to die
he was unsteady. 
                          It was dawn,
the killing-ground was wet with dew,
a six-man firing squad stood by,
a chaplain, pale and woebegone,
spoke words that made no sense to him.
Hands firmly bound him, tightened knots,
a hoarse voice whispered, Coward, cunt!
Masked by a blindfold, upright, trim,
he did not hear the fatal shots.

Thousands were dying at the Front.