Both my grandfathers served in the WWI, one for the French, one for the British. The conditions that they endured are unimaginable. This is part of the horror that I was not familiar with. Thanks for posting this.
This almost sounds like what the Royal Navy did to their own sailors. And all these people who say white supremacy and slavery were terrible in their treatment of POC... it's naught compared to what they did to the other white people... flogging, keelhauling, hanging from the yardarm.... it wasn't anything to do with racism, honestly, it was a country like Britain that had been overrun by the Romans and the Vikings until they got sick of the sh*t and finally stood up against them. Some peoples are fierce fighters. Eventually the Brits stood up to that. Took over 400 years for the Europeans to overcome the vast numbers of native Americans who weren't even united as tribes to manage to get hold of the land, most of which Americans didn't even want. "Manifest Destiny" as the Joe Bidens of the day went braying like the other Donkeys of their era...
my maternal grandfather BEF had to endure Field Punishment No.1. on two occasions that he tole me about.. 1 was when he was almost a hour late getting his ambulance back to the ambulance depot. He had been throwing stones at a German Picklehaub that was in excellent condition, upright in the middle of the road. too suspicious, and many of his fellow drivers had been killed picking up booby-trapped ones. they were putting Barrel size mine under them. the Pike from the helmet was soldered to ever ambulance and car he drove after that. and is still a family heirloom. the second time, he drove his ambulance through the german line during a lull in the battle of Sy. Julien, and when he came across a group of wounded British soldiers guarded by german soldiers. despite being in a British uniform, he ordered the german to put the wounded in the back of the ambulance (he spoke fluent german), and drove back. when his captain heard ofthis he ordered Field Punishment No.1. again, as he had been ordered never to do that. (he may have done it earlier). But when his commanding general heard of it he was awarded the MM and given a special thank-you note by the general. this is also an heirloom today.
@@maratonlegendelenemirei3352 he was shown incredible Chivalry by germans during ww1. in one battle, driving his ambulance back through a french village under heavy shellfire, he came face to face with a german tank. on see the red cross markings the german tank commander ordered all his side to stop shooting.. he got out of the tank. waved him though, and saluted him as he went past... (somewhere I tracked down the tank & commander, but that I on my other computer and still have to recover that hard drive after it fused).. and on another occasion, he was in a troop column when he was set upon "by a group of red triplanes" (could have been anyone, as red was a widely used squadron marking in german Jastas), and they cut the column to pieces EXCEPT, he said with great praise, they never fired a shot at any of the ambulances... a family heirloom is a small 5 shot .38 revolver with 7 knotches on either side wooden handles. They were his own men... (it was more humane to put down the seriously wounded, and work on those you could save.)
My granddad never told stories of WW1, most of his pals died on the Somme 1916 with the Barnsley Pals regiments. But I do recall he and a WW2 veteran were talking about how some were executed during WW2, most had killed others or their senior NCO's or even officers. I recall granddad say he saw "The Red Caps MP's" selecting from those suffering from shell shock to be executed to keep up a quota they needed to keep everyone in line. They picked the ones who were really ill, no doubt they were selected as "Un fit for further use". I was very young when I heard this ( at that time we had only gas for lighting outside none flush toilets ) I lived with my granddad who insisted that I never repeat what I had just heard. But he quite often would place a history book at the table for me to read about WW1, it mentioned what he had said.
@@cainmathewson1857 It was "Harrowing" in class at school in the 1940's and seeing our school friends who's dad had fell in WW2, at one tine it was 50% of our class had lost their dad.
My Great-Grandad was given 15 days FP No.1 in 1915 for being late/absent. I spoke to a former Company Sergeant Major in the 1980s who said it was “kill or cure” in the First World War. My Great-Grandad died in 1917 as his left leg was amputated because of the gunshot and shrapnel wounds he received. He was from Platts Common near Barnsley and in the York & Lancaster Regiment. My Great-Grandad from WW1 and his son, my Grandad from WW2, are both on the same war memorial in Hoyland, Barnsley.
I salute your great grandfather. My great grandfather was a runner /messenger in the US Army who returned from delivering a message to find all his good comrades dead from German shrapnel and mustard gas. Offered the Purple Heart for valor, he refused it and became a pacifist for life after Armistice Day.
I too have a proud family military history. WW1 was so terrible I really don't know how they endured it. God bless them all. I always think WWII was worth fighting for but WWI I'm less certain about. November 11th is so melancholy - I can't imagine how they felt & yet, fighting continued until the 11th hour. So terribly sad. Wilfred Owen et al summed it up. Dreadfully sad.
My husbands great uncle Archibald got field punishment no 1 in 1899 and his grandmother said he was never the same again. Archibald died in a mental institution in 1925.
my grand dad faught in the trenches for months in wwi and came home.thank god. my dad faught against the Nazis in the last war.they were all long time service men dating back to the seventh century. many young people today are still so ignorant of the truth about the war they should all be taught about it .then maybe we wouldn't have so many neonazis coming up and fachits.etc. good people fight for peace and freedom.
This is a very interesting but very sad element of military life (and death) during WW1 and you have covered it well. I find the human side of both world wars fascinating; trying to understand what soldiers did, how they felt and most importantly, how they coped. Your posts cover this area of interest very well. Thank you…
My father was a WWII Sea going US Marine on a battleship. His job on morning of D-Day was to disarm soldiers who mentally cracked on ship before being sent ashore and placed them under arrest. Once their unit was established on land these soldiers would be sent to the front unarmed and given a weapon once they got there. Not a story you'll see in the history books. I'm sure there were many "Red Badge of Courage" type instances.
My paternal grandfather was gassed with mustard gas in WW1 in the trenches. He did receive some punishment as they thought he took extra bread but I cannot remember what that was but he was tied to something. My father said of his father that he was the most gentle and kind man he ever met. He died early in life and it was the only time I saw my dad cry,
Torture in the British Army in WW1 often goes unreported. However, Field Punishment No 1 was a disgraceful action by the British Army, and in particular by Battalion commanders, involving lashing a soldier to a fixed object under enemy fire. Conscientious Objectors , in particular, were singled out and these could eventually face a firing squad. The men being tortured were facing very testing conditions indeed. Many had already given good service to their country, yet this was deemed "not enough." The powers that be were brutal in the way that they dealt with these soldiers, and if truth be told, the British Army did not deserve the help that these convicted men had already given the British Army. Those who convicted these men were guilty of torture and conduct unbecoming of an Officer and civilised human being.
The Central Powers were only slightly worse than the Allies. In Camp Funston, Fort Riley, Kansas, the US Army helped spread H1N1 on ships bound for Europe. Millions died, because C.O.s put men in cold showers and beat them with rifle butts for using the crutch of illness to slack off from their jobs killing the Kaiser. The Kaiser didn't kill as many as the Influenza killed. Not by a long shot.
@@sirphineasluciusambercromb9114 Sir Phineas -- During WW1 and indeed all wars, there were living casualties of all sorts: (1) physically wounded; (2) psychologically wounded; (3) morally wounded (conscientious objectors); (4) "casualties" back home (the grieving; dependents. However, the British Army would have none of "this nonsense" and frowned upon anything other than category 1. They met the other types with surprising brutality, so much so, that those afflicted might often wonder who the true enemy were. Their treatment exposed the reality that may officers were far removed from the plight of their men and lived only to win prestige, almost at anyone's expense. The treatment these men endured was cruel, inhumane and of conduct unbecoming of an Officer. it makes one sick to think about it. But who says wickedness did not lie under the neatly pressed uniforms, polished boots and waxed moustaches of many of the Officer class. Field Officers probably could have done a lot more to support such casualties, including making sure that their detention conditions were humane.
You need to talk about all the soldiers that suffered from shell shock and were executed on the spot by their Officers for not going Over the Top when your Life expectancy was 30 Seconds. None of these badly trained officers were held to account.
Narcissist officer's. To them it was like a chess game ,over the brandy bottles ,and pheasant ,,,my grandparents I never knew ,died of the Spanish flu,in France waiting to come home ,,,men came home to wives ,who had remarried or something else,so they was homeless ,,, suicides to WW1 veterans was horrible ,,,,men in bathtubs full of oil ,,,skin was destroyed by gas ,,,,,,,just pawns in a power game ,,,,,,sooo sooo wrong ,,,yet look at us now ,,,,we learnt nothing
It wasn't that they were poorly trained. They were instructed to do it, to keep order. If they let one soldier get away with refusing orders, then the whole platoon would immediately follow suit. Basically, soldiers were given the choice: take your chances on the battlefield, or seal your fate in the trench.
my grandfather, Billy Burke, a British 1914 recruit, was 15 on entry and spent time on the cross at the top of the trench, even during enemy barrages -- he related his experiences to me when I was only a small child in the 1950,s.
Conscientious objectors served gallantly as stretcher bearers risking their lives to go into no man’s land to rescue injured comrades. The brutality of war will never end. Conflict does not differentiate between victims and perpetrators, there no winners, just heartbreak.
There are lots of winners from wars. Thats why we have them. Ordinary people have nothing to gain but it is easy to convince the masses with propaganda.
@@davidgaine4697 When Gustavus Adolphus went to war in Europ around 1630 he made his priest talk about the catholics and protestants in Europe. How they did things to the women and children and killed the men. Bringing anger and a demand for a war to the masses. However if one look at the documents in the "Riksdag" (parliament, congress) there isn't a single word of catholics or protestants. The only thing they discuss is how to divide the spoils of war.
This type of punishment was inflicted on New Zealand conscientious objectors at the front-line during the First World War. The name Archibald Baxter comes to mind.
The punishment was obscene by those who thought they were better humans than the others that fought. While serving in the Royal Navy in the 80's I was given number 2's for being drunk and no one understood back then about spiking drinks as I had only had 2 pints and was off my head. No 1's was sent to military prison but 2's were worse getting up early every day and working late every day with kit musters loss of pay and all the other sh1te all thrown in. I was reviewed after 3 month and was about to get off when my divisional office suggested another month and so another month was awarded. I was the model sailor during my time and this total tit who was supposed to be on my side got me another month. I swore to myself that day if a Captain ever said second class for conduct to me again I was going to leap at him and crack him right in the mouth and get sent to jail instead. Luckily for all that never happened. moral of the story is those in power like during the wars think they are better than everyone else because they came from privileged backgrounds. We will always be slaves to the elites.
My grandfather was tied to a gun carriage for 3 days for striking an officer, he was also gassed with mustard gas, which he suffered from for the rest of his life.
Sorry but that is the British Army, it has always been that way, way before WW1, absolutely brutal training and discipline, even when I served in the 1980s and 90s the British Army still meted out savage punishments for comparatively minor offences by civilian standards. The Colchester military correctional facility in England was absolutely famous for its brutality, i know this first hand as I did 28 days there in the 80s and there is almost NO re offending once released. Im biased but this discipline is a major part of the reason British Army training turns out the best infantry in the world.
They did not and don't hand out the same treatment to officers, do they. The only officer shot for cowardice in WW1 was a former NCO made up from the ranks.
My father was an Air Corp pilot in WW2. The only thing I really have to add here is that when Japanese prisoners would occasionally, out of pure fear, surrender instead of fight, the Americans treated them well. But the one trait that my dad and other U.S servicemen could not stand amongst their own was cowardness. I guess it felt like it was a slap in the face of those that had died.
I understood that soldiers being executed were often tied to old chairs and shot in the back, not tied to stakes as described here. The information in the manual states that “The prisoner may be shot either standing up strapped to a post fixed in the ground if available, or sitting down strapped to a chair” (Section 117. b. viii).
@ken parvu thank you. I had no idea that this happened. Typical of the British army to treat these poor buggers with disrespect. I have no sympathy with the thieves and murderers, shot for their crimes while in uniform, but I think the majority executed were suffering from shell shock aka PTSD. They deserved the pardon they got. Eighty odd years too late mind you.
Just to correct you, it wasn’t really the officers in the field that were incompetent, you probably mean the ‘Top Brass’ responsible for planning offensives (and even then they were in reality making the best of an awful situation and not always incompetent). The officers in the field that lead men were some of the bravest men you’d find, if an officer was found to be incompetent or to have transgressed the military law their were either stripped of their command or ‘stellenbosched’ which meant being sent to a bum posting where they could do no harm (mainly punishments focused on honour). Two British army officers were actually put to death (but that doesn’t compare to the 350 or so men put to death, or the 30,000 or so men handed the sentence)
That's why a lot of enlisted HATE officers. Retarded lieutenant gets a bronze star because nobody in the platoon died on deployment. We would have done just as well without him. Officers get "fragged" because thst think to treat enlisted like shit. Don't forget that little private has a lot of friends that will kill you if you prove yourself incompetent or dangerous to them.
@@lr1a704 I have to disagree with this comment entirely… I spent about 4 months of last year going through hours upon hours upon hours of oral histories and first hand written accounts of regular British soldiers of the great war and about 95/100 times the men had only good things to say about those in direct command of them, the junior officers especially (later on in the war when some less competent souls were drafted in and the bottom of the proverbial barrel was being scraped there is a slightly higher incidence of displeasure with officers). I thought just as much as anyone else that has been fed the ‘lions led by donkeys’ narrative that the men would have resented their officers, especially regarding the passing of the death sentence, but I was proven wrong time and time again, officers and men had a very close relationship, don’t forget it was the Lieutenants, Captains and Majors that led their men from the front, it’s a crying shame that the narrative has been twisted in the way it has… look at the sources, it simply isn’t the case… if you don’t believe me I have 12,000 words thick with historical reference (mostly FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS) that says otherwise
I cannot imagine the level of terror troops faced from artillery, machine guns and poison gas during the war. Though I can understand why commanders wanted to discourage disobeying orders and desertion....NOBODY has the right to judge a soldiers actions unless they were there experiencing what that soldier was going through.
My great uncle Bobbo received No.1 field punishment for being ‘drunk on the line of march’. He was a pre war territorial and volunteered as a married man with children in his 30s. The fact his family ran a couple of pubs might explain the drinking issue!
It's like Kubrick's movie "Paths Of Glory" which is one of the greatest movies of all time really. And unfortunately based on some real events and skewed perceptions from above of those who served
@@billh.1940 Right..I'm aware it is anti war, but some events in the film were taken from actual WW1 chain of command orders and the soldiers refusing to follow insane orders. I was just stating the similarities
Sorry if I misunderstood you. Happy new year! Btw my father, a ww2 vet, told me always know when to duck, it was reenforced when I took up martial arts!
My Great Grandfather ( volunteered) The first day war being declared! First he went to Gallipoli...He was found Strangling Turkish soldiers...He wasn't took out the line or discharged from the army..They sent him too the Austrian alps to fight with Italians! He survived the war...When he came back he had contempt for authority...He Never backed down from Anyone or Anything! This was shown when the Italians signed the Axis pact...My GreatGrandfather went to a well known Italian coffee bar and smashed it up and knocked out Mr olivereas 4 son's ! He was arrested in the morning saw a judge in the Afternoon and was realised before evening 6pm! The judge said He couldn't jail a man of good character as what he done in First war...My Great Grandfather didn't wear medals he Hated the system...John William Melling I'm Proud of you !
What 😂 so your great grandfather got to commit hate crimes on a few ethnicites with relatively zero punishment , and that's kinda it? Hahaha wow and to hate "the system," and be let off/complimented by a judge sounds so ironic
Men who would be cowards are capable of moments of bravery (I'm sure I'm capable of both) which is why the punishment of these men was such a travesty.
The difference between being awarded a Victoria Cross and being shot for cowardice is often down to the direction you run when you break down under constant fire.
It was brutal but reflects the inherent problem of punishing soldiers in a war zone. Imprisoning them away from the front line, or discharging them, wouldn't have been considered a punishment compared to being in the trenches. Executing too many would mean less soldiers and create morale issues. And docking pay wouldn't be very effective against those who were more concerned about their own survival
WOW this is Sick and Sad, I understand the need for punishment, but this defies what you are fighting for, if you LOOSE your humanity in what you do you are no better than the enemy or atrocities that he carries out, shameful
There was a terrible backlash from the abuses of soldiers by officers in Viet Nam. One incident I know of involved a lieutenant ordering a platoon to march in the open in formation under fire. When fired upon, the men would dive into the ditch by the road for cover. Each time, the lieutenant would order them back out into formation. Multiple men were injured or killed. The third time around, they would not come out again, and the officer drew his sidearm on them. Nobody would say where the bullet came from, but a round from an AK47 killed him. The remains of the unit then proceeded under cover to their objective and completed the mission. Fragging, tossing a hand grenade into an officer’s tent, was also heard of. Second lieutenants had the shortest life expectancy of any rank in the war.
What punishment do you get for walking hundreds of thousands of men into minefields covered in barbed wire and swept by automatic fire and artillery? Oh right... National glory.
Trench warfare was crazy. Sending score of young men over the wall into machine gun fire. Insane. As bad as the Civil War tactics of walk-ing in an open field against modern rifles.
Worse, as the civil war mostly was still single shot , the modern bullets and then the gattling gun. Killed in wholesale numbers, then ww1, we got better at killing peasnts.
This sort of criminal and amoral behavior by men who led without honor is what likely gave rise there and/or elsewhere of “fragging”, the practice of taking out a sadistic officer, usually by grenade. It was supposedly a hush hush but fairly widespread practice in Nam. Grenades were preferred because if an attack could be traced to a gun, the owner would be the prime suspect. The worst leadership I saw was just a sergeant who had run a construction company & who treated grunts like we were slacker day laborers. But as long as they kept us warm & fed, and participatesd equally in the maneuvers they initiated, we as grunts gave them grudging respect. Except for one real Clint Eastwood Marine infantry hsrd*ss who joined our unit. He was a walking advance version of a Corps Guidebook. We all felt like he was what we could only hope we might become some day. But the British officer corps of a hundred years ago had an abundance of flaming holes. They probably wouldn’t have lasted a month around some Marines. That’s all I’ll say…
No one should be punished because they fear WAR. Fearing your death or mutilation is normal, if you don't feel these feelings then you might be a socio- or psychopath. I can understand punishment for things they do bad and wrong, but not for feeling human emotions and mental health issues on the battlefield. People were murdered because they feared dying. That's fucked up.
Any officer that did that to me, would mysteriously get shot during the very next battle. In the back, because "apparently he was running away from the enemy".
@@stevenwaight5199 Yea, because if we're in a trench fighting, and bombs are exploding all around, and everybody's shooting at the Germans, nobody is aiming, because they all have their eyes locked on me all the time. Yea, I see the problem now. Dang, I should have thought this through.
It happened in WW1 more than I thought,and the Yanks "fragged" officers that were idiots and we're going to get them killed in Vietnam,and an Aussie rolled a grenade under an officers camp bed in one incident...Aussies would not let any pommie officer do this to them,they did not even salute them,held them in contempt...
@@stevenwaight5199 G'day, In Vietnam, apparently something around 10% of Casualties among Platoon Leaders occurred as a result of them being Volunteers hunting Medals and Promotion while trying to follow some Family Military Tradition, and being "Fragged" (having a Fragmentation Grenade lobbed into their Tent, while sleeping...) by one, some, or all the people who had been Conscripted to enable the young Napoleon-Wannabe to lead in Acts of Derring-Do, under Enemy Gunfire, in order to put a successful Combat Command in their Service Record. It turns out that in Optional Wars, of an Imperial Expeditionary or Colonial nature - the Conscripts will only remain co-operative as long as the Natives line up and die neatly and quietly in straight rows - when the locals commence to shoot Imperial Conscripts into Mincemeat, then the more Eager-Beaver Subalterns commence to be converted into Compost. Just(ifiably ?) sayin'. Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !
When one thinks of on what high morale level the British people consider themselves to be this is one, but surely not the only, good example how cruel, brutal and unfair the British society could be against people whom they regarded as underclass - no matter if these people are fellow countrymen or foreigners. But such punishment surely never would have been given to a gentleman - it would have been concidered dishonorable.
Interest article but very much put off by the commentary which I found difficult to listen to due to sone odd inflexions and speech patterns. Wondered if it was an automatic voiceover for a while.
That was not discipline; that was torture. No one can truly say how they'd react if fighting in the trenches during WW1; our species is unbelievably cruel to one another and even with the knowledge we have at our disposal today it is still common to see us torturing one another in barbaric ways. My heartfelt condolences to all those soldiers in all wars for their suffering. May the powers that be which insighted these battles someday be held accountable!
Currently researching a Canadian chap who got F/P No. 1 five times, starting at 7 days and the final one was 21 days. He was a shell shock case. Drank to ease the pain I guess.
My great-grandfather was shot for cowardice. He was a Quaker, so a pacifist. How is it cowardly to submit to guaranteed death because of your principles?
To the shame of the New Zealand govt. they let the British command New Zealand soldiers. That led to shell shocked soldiers being executed. As you said the Australians didn't allow their soldiers to be executed. As a New Zealander that's one of the few things I admire the Australians for.
@@gregdowle8031 New Zealand though; had conscription, imprisoned conscientious objectors, and disenfranchised them. Australia led the world in social equality and was the only country that also gave women the right to be elected. (All the while capturing more guns and ground than any allied army.)
@@dustyak79 Ha! Get ready for an argument then in contrasting colonialism. Australia was the most advanced democracy that fought in WWI even paying its entire volunteer forces a fair wage.
@@dustyak79 Perhaps. But the Indigenous population still fought amongst themselves even after colonisation. Some in Queensland joined colonial police forces and felt no qualms about enforcing the white man's law. White colonisation was a catastrophic it was also inevitable and most colonials tried hard to coexist peacefully and sensitively. Some didn't. Australia is very much a product of the Enlightenment even if it started out as a concentration camp. The trouble is history tends to be too complicated for the activist mind set.
I remember watching a very brutal and impactful movie that dealt with a group of men who were conscientious objectors and were subjected to this horrific punishment. The sheer brutality shown towards men in the care of the British Army is disgraceful. These men were mostly volunteers and were under immense mental strain. Many were just teenagers. I recently began researching my family tree and was amazed to discover almost 50 young men across all the lines who served in the Great War. We had no idea of this family history as no one had ever spoken of them. They came from every part of the British Empire and the USA and fought in every service and in every theatre and almost every important iconic battle. I discovered a family where the 3 teenage sons were all killed. Another won a Military Cross before being killed in the final 100 offensive. A recent immigrant to Canada returned and fought at the Somme. He was a piper who won a Victoria Cross for an amazing act of heroism- playing this bagpipes to rally his comrades who were pinned down while attempting to storm a German trench- his act restored morale and they successfully captured the trench and a large number of prisoners- he was killed when returning to collect his bagpipes after the action. Another served in the Camel Corp with TE Lawrence of Arabia and died of exposure in the desert just weeks after the war ended. One poor lad was critically injured when a vicious horse kicked him in the head. An uncle of my father whom he never knew existed was killed in Russia fighting with Allied troops against the Red Army during the Russian Civil War in 1918- 2 weeks after his 20th birthday and 2 weeks before the Armistice. Each of these stories is deeply moving, as are the others where records show young lads who were disciplined for being drunk. on duty or going AWOL. 3 of them were to face Field Punishment No1- One had to undergo the this torture twice during his time on the Western Front. He was only 19, 5ft 5 inches. A week after completing his 2nd punishment he was killed in action when he returned to front line duties. It is impossible for anyone to begin to imagine the horrors these young men faced 24 hours 7days a week. It is one of the worst periods in world history.
During my time serving in the British Army 1995-1998), and even in the Air Cadets prior to joining the Army (1988-1995), 'Field Punishments' still existed. Not anything involving being tied up, but generally something physically exhausting, such as scrubbing a single brick using a wire brush, while leaning up against the wall at a 45 degree angle. reps of holding a rifle at arms length, doubling circuits of the parade square. Really was the sort of thing that nowadays wouldn't be allowed, and probably would have been classed at child abuse (In the case of the cadets, age 13-21). It DID work, and people certainly DID behave, repeat 'offences' didn't happen often! Thankfully there was no danger of an enemy shell dropping out of the sky during the punishment!
In my Grandfathers service records, he was given 7 Days Field punishment #2 for insubordinate language to an officer. This was after the war, January 1919, while waiting to be sent back to Canada, having served with the Royal Canadian Artillery during the war.
They Don't mention this on rememberance day. German emperor and English King, cousins, sibling rivalry that killed thousands. Innocent gun fodder. Disgusting.
It’s wasn’t enough that the enemy was trying to kill you. Your own side had to torture you. Most of these troops were young 18 to 23. War is true horror.
This is one of the vilest things I've ever heard. These poor, innocent lads, most of whom had never experienced anything or even known anyone outside their own village, joined up to do their bit for "King & Country", went through absolute hell on earth in those freezing, rat infested trenches watching their friends being gassed & blown to pieces. Then to have some sadistic f*#king bastard actually crucify them for some arbitrary "crime" (or simply being frightened) is absolutely disgusting & evil. I can't even begin to imagine how terrified they must have been. We owe them everything Sorry about the rant & the language, but this really boils my piss!
WWI should have been the last time people were conscripted into fighting a pointless war in Europe but this is exactly what is happening to Ukrainian men right now.
A 15 year old signed up for a year of military service under General Bragg of the CSA, after a year he went home to check on his mother and sister only having signed for a year, he was brought back and shot by firing squad, he was from Barren County KY and his name was Asa Lewis.
The biggest coward is the state which murdered it’s own sons when no longer convenient. May we never repeat the same atrocities or stupidity, yet we know the reality.
I would strongly recommend to not commit offenses to avoid “field punishment”. It is so difficult to manage troops without available “punishments” to use. It has become a exercise in phycology to get anything done.
Among the many things I learned from this is that we today live in very privileged times. It seemed the duty then was to let yourself become cannon fodder .
Funny how no one considered punishment battalions. Guess it was hard to find anything more objectively reckless than an offensive charge from your trench.
Actually, it wasn’t made up. A Canadian soldier was crucified by Germans apparently in retaliation for a gas attack as per new evidence found and shown in 2002.
@@SanitysVoid you poo pooped my comment stating you don't believe me. That shows you are blinkered and that like any leftist loon, when facts are given to you, you ignore them because you think otherwise. So is there any point in me giving you facts? Think on this though, you state that this is British propaganda. If thats the case, why is it a Canadian soldier that was (or in your mind, not) crucified?
300 deserters executed? 880.000 thousands British soldiers was killed during WWI, according to the Internet, that means ~0,03% of those died was executed, and among all killed on the allied side, we are talking ~0,005%
Please use the right term. Shot Deserteurs and Conscientious Objectors have not been "killed", they have been murdered as an act of state terror. This is, because noone has the right to force other people to fight.
It wasn't till 1925 and 1998 that those terrible wrongs were put right (1 Seven years after the Great War the Government off the Day had a Conchence and Reckonised Shell Shock and abolished the Death Penalty in the field)>(2 it wasn't till 1998 which was Probably due to Campaigning that those Men were Officially Pardoned and it was again in 1925 and not 1923 that the Death Penalty for Cowdas in the field was abolished
My grandfather had 21 days of Field Punishment No.1 (tied to a wheel) in 1914 for being drunk - he was a driver, so fortunately this was not quite in the front line, or else my mother would probably not have been born.
Opposed to WW2 there was no real purpose in fighting in WW1. The political Systems were rather similar. All countries involved had a steep class hiracy and fighting was over tiny scraps of land with no real meaning. So why wouldn't one desert?
There is a story that when Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes was touring the front during WWI, he came across an Australian digger tied to a wagon wheel, sitting on the ground, as field punishment. When he asked the cause, it was some trivial breach of British discipline. He demanded that the man be released immediately and when he got back to London, he threatened to withdraw Australia from the war if the Australians were not placed under their own separate command.
OMG! The video shows what humans can do to other humans... and then I read the comments and feel so sad about all these men, young men, their souls. I mean watch... read it again and tell that this wasn't cruelty, that wasn't torture and for what? For a war what high finance wanted and noone else... noone. I feel sorrow for all these brave souls. btw I am german. Please reconsinder your views and recognize that we learned to hate... they teached us.
at 52 Seconds in there is a snapshot of a soldier of the 19th Battalion CEF Harold Lodge. His service file sates he was a volunteer from Toronto joining the Army on 15 April 1915 making him one of the earlier volunteers to the CEF. When he was shipped overseas he was transferred to the 19th Battalion as a Sapper with 2nd Canadian Division Engineers, 4th Field Company. He served there until wounded with a GSW in the neck in 12 August 1916. Once recovered he rejoined his unit in the field on 21 October 1917. He went AWOL on route to the trenches on 2 November 1917, was arrested in Boulogne on 12 December 1917, and escaped confinement while awaiting trial. He was again arrested on 14 January 1918 and sentenced to death which was confirmed by the Field Marshall Commanding in Chief British Armies in France. His medals were forfeited because of the circumstances of his death.
My father served with the Canadian navy during WW2. He told me after his ship docked in Glasgow he witnessed a British soldier with full pack and having to hold his rifle over his head having to run around the the harbour. I guess he had screwed up in some way. Well the unionized dock workers didnt like what was being done to that poor bastard and said they would no longer unload the freighters if that punishment was not stopped. Well unloading ships took priority over everything and the mans punishment was stopped.
Absolutely abhorrent and disgusting conduct by the British army and the officers in charge. A war that should never happened as was a bankers war aimed at benefiting the elites and aristocracy. The British army were scared to death that its soldiers might wake up to themselves and all abandon the trenches and bring their bogus war to an end (which is basically how it ended after 11/11/18) so they adopted horrendous measures to ensure that the urge to dessert was replaced by a fear of torturous punishment that often ended in certain death. Brave men that had to endure hell at the behest of an unconscionable government and brutal military machine.
Both my grandfathers served in the WWI, one for the French, one for the British. The conditions that they endured are unimaginable. This is part of the horror that I was not familiar with. Thanks for posting this.
This almost sounds like what the Royal Navy did to their own sailors. And all these people who say white supremacy and slavery were terrible in their treatment of POC... it's naught compared to what they did to the other white people... flogging, keelhauling, hanging from the yardarm.... it wasn't anything to do with racism, honestly, it was a country like Britain that had been overrun by the Romans and the Vikings until they got sick of the sh*t and finally stood up against them. Some peoples are fierce fighters. Eventually the Brits stood up to that. Took over 400 years for the Europeans to overcome the vast numbers of native Americans who weren't even united as tribes to manage to get hold of the land, most of which Americans didn't even want. "Manifest Destiny" as the Joe Bidens of the day went braying like the other Donkeys of their era...
my maternal grandfather BEF had to endure Field Punishment No.1. on two occasions that he tole me about.. 1 was when he was almost a hour late getting his ambulance back to the ambulance depot. He had been throwing stones at a German Picklehaub that was in excellent condition, upright in the middle of the road. too suspicious, and many of his fellow drivers had been killed picking up booby-trapped ones. they were putting Barrel size mine under them. the Pike from the helmet was soldered to ever ambulance and car he drove after that. and is still a family heirloom. the second time, he drove his ambulance through the german line during a lull in the battle of Sy. Julien, and when he came across a group of wounded British soldiers guarded by german soldiers. despite being in a British uniform, he ordered the german to put the wounded in the back of the ambulance (he spoke fluent german), and drove back. when his captain heard ofthis he ordered Field Punishment No.1. again, as he had been ordered never to do that. (he may have done it earlier). But when his commanding general heard of it he was awarded the MM and given a special thank-you note by the general. this is also an heirloom today.
Makes you wish the Germans had won eh?
@@maratonlegendelenemirei3352 he was shown incredible Chivalry by germans during ww1. in one battle, driving his ambulance back through a french village under heavy shellfire, he came face to face with a german tank. on see the red cross markings the german tank commander ordered all his side to stop shooting.. he got out of the tank. waved him though, and saluted him as he went past... (somewhere I tracked down the tank & commander, but that I on my other computer and still have to recover that hard drive after it fused).. and on another occasion, he was in a troop column when he was set upon "by a group of red triplanes" (could have been anyone, as red was a widely used squadron marking in german Jastas), and they cut the column to pieces EXCEPT, he said with great praise, they never fired a shot at any of the ambulances... a family heirloom is a small 5 shot .38 revolver with 7 knotches on either side wooden handles. They were his own men... (it was more humane to put down the seriously wounded, and work on those you could save.)
Respect.
He sounds amazing, this is what ordinary men can do if they are brought up properly in a good society.
@@sandybarrie5526what a remarkable story. Amazing really.
My granddad never told stories of WW1, most of his pals died on the Somme 1916 with the Barnsley Pals regiments. But I do recall he and a WW2 veteran were talking about how some were executed during WW2, most had killed others or their senior NCO's or even officers. I recall granddad say he saw "The Red Caps MP's" selecting from those suffering from shell shock to be executed to keep up a quota they needed to keep everyone in line. They picked the ones who were really ill, no doubt they were selected as "Un fit for further use". I was very young when I heard this ( at that time we had only gas for lighting outside none flush toilets ) I lived with my granddad who insisted that I never repeat what I had just heard. But he quite often would place a history book at the table for me to read about WW1, it mentioned what he had said.
Jesus that's harrowing
@@cainmathewson1857 It was "Harrowing" in class at school in the 1940's and seeing our school friends who's dad had fell in WW2, at one tine it was 50% of our class had lost their dad.
@@haydenbretton2990 Man, that's insane to think about.
@@haydenbretton2990 If Wilson had not joined in the WW-1 there would have never been a WW-2. The Federal Gov. in the USA is your true enemy!
The process of execution in the British Army ceased in 1930.
My Great-Grandad was given 15 days FP No.1 in 1915 for being late/absent. I spoke to a former Company Sergeant Major in the 1980s who said it was “kill or cure” in the First World War. My Great-Grandad died in 1917 as his left leg was amputated because of the gunshot and shrapnel wounds he received. He was from Platts Common near Barnsley and in the York & Lancaster Regiment. My Great-Grandad from WW1 and his son, my Grandad from WW2, are both on the same war memorial in Hoyland, Barnsley.
I salute your great grandfather. My great grandfather was a runner
/messenger in the US Army who returned from delivering a message to find all his good comrades dead from German shrapnel and mustard gas. Offered the Purple Heart for valor, he refused it and became a pacifist for life after Armistice Day.
Bet he wasn't late/absent again though..
They are a credit to your name and this country.
I too have a proud family military history. WW1 was so terrible I really don't know how they endured it. God bless them all. I always think WWII was worth fighting for but WWI I'm less certain about. November 11th is so melancholy - I can't imagine how they felt & yet, fighting continued until the 11th hour. So terribly sad. Wilfred Owen et al summed it up. Dreadfully sad.
My husbands great uncle Archibald got field punishment no 1 in 1899 and his grandmother said he was never the same again. Archibald died in a mental institution in 1925.
my grand dad faught in the trenches for months in wwi and came home.thank god. my dad faught against the Nazis in the last war.they were all long time service men dating back to the seventh century. many young people today are still so ignorant of the truth about the war they should all be taught about it .then maybe we wouldn't have so many neonazis coming up and fachits.etc. good people fight for peace and freedom.
This is a very interesting but very sad element of military life (and death) during WW1 and you have covered it well. I find the human side of both world wars fascinating; trying to understand what soldiers did, how they felt and most importantly, how they coped. Your posts cover this area of interest very well. Thank you…
My father was a WWII Sea going US Marine on a battleship. His job on morning of D-Day was to disarm soldiers who mentally cracked on ship before being sent ashore and placed them under arrest. Once their unit was established on land these soldiers would be sent to the front unarmed and given a weapon once they got there. Not a story you'll see in the history books. I'm sure there were many "Red Badge of Courage" type instances.
My paternal grandfather was gassed with mustard gas in WW1 in the trenches. He did receive some punishment as they thought he took extra bread but I cannot remember what that was but he was tied to something. My father said of his father that he was the most gentle and kind man he ever met. He died early in life and it was the only time I saw my dad cry,
Yes, and my uncle was in the war of 1812. He’s well over 200 years old now. 1 like = 1 prayer.
@@nated9075 Why trying to be funny?
@@janvisser2223 Because the top comments on so many videos like this are lies.
@@nated9075 how can you be sure about that? Just wondering
@@nated9075 what are you talking about? The OP is talking about what happened to his grandfather. WW1 ended in 1918
Torture in the British Army in WW1 often goes unreported. However, Field Punishment No 1 was a disgraceful action by the British Army, and in particular by Battalion commanders, involving lashing a soldier to a fixed object under enemy fire. Conscientious Objectors , in particular, were singled out and these could eventually face a firing squad. The men being tortured were facing very testing conditions indeed. Many had already given good service to their country, yet this was deemed "not enough." The powers that be were brutal in the way that they dealt with these soldiers, and if truth be told, the British Army did not deserve the help that these convicted men had already given the British Army. Those who convicted these men were guilty of torture and conduct unbecoming of an Officer and civilised human being.
The Central Powers were only slightly worse than the Allies. In Camp Funston, Fort Riley, Kansas, the US Army helped spread H1N1 on ships bound for Europe. Millions died, because C.O.s put men in cold showers and beat them with rifle butts for using the crutch of illness to slack off from their jobs killing the Kaiser. The Kaiser didn't kill as many as the Influenza killed. Not by a long shot.
@@sirphineasluciusambercromb9114 Sir Phineas -- During WW1 and indeed all wars, there were living casualties of all sorts: (1) physically wounded; (2) psychologically wounded; (3) morally wounded (conscientious objectors); (4) "casualties" back home (the grieving; dependents. However, the British Army would have none of "this nonsense" and frowned upon anything other than category 1. They met the other types with surprising brutality, so much so, that those afflicted might often wonder who the true enemy were. Their treatment exposed the reality that may officers were far removed from the plight of their men and lived only to win prestige, almost at anyone's expense. The treatment these men endured was cruel, inhumane and of conduct unbecoming of an Officer. it makes one sick to think about it. But who says wickedness did not lie under the neatly pressed uniforms, polished boots and waxed moustaches of many of the Officer class. Field Officers probably could have done a lot more to support such casualties, including making sure that their detention conditions were humane.
@@LaHayeSaint precisely correct, sir
@@sirphineasluciusambercromb9114 Sir Phineas -- Thank you and just as importantly, I forgot to wish you and yours a Happy New Year!
@@LaHayeSaint and likewise I wish happy new year to you and yours as well. Cheers. 🍺🥃🍻
You need to talk about all the soldiers that suffered from shell shock and were executed on the spot by their Officers for not going Over the Top when your Life expectancy was 30 Seconds. None of these badly trained officers were held to account.
Those Gutless Officers should have led their Troops Over the Top !!
@@bobmitchell8012 Most of them did! A larger percentage of Officers than Other Ranks were killed on the Western Front.
Narcissist officer's. To them it was like a chess game ,over the brandy bottles ,and pheasant ,,,my grandparents I never knew ,died of the Spanish flu,in France waiting to come home ,,,men came home to wives ,who had remarried or something else,so they was homeless ,,, suicides to WW1 veterans was horrible ,,,,men in bathtubs full of oil ,,,skin was destroyed by gas ,,,,,,,just pawns in a power game ,,,,,,sooo sooo wrong ,,,yet look at us now ,,,,we learnt nothing
Just like the NHS for injecting the vaxzine for the past 2 years....none to be held accountable.
It wasn't that they were poorly trained. They were instructed to do it, to keep order. If they let one soldier get away with refusing orders, then the whole platoon would immediately follow suit.
Basically, soldiers were given the choice: take your chances on the battlefield, or seal your fate in the trench.
my grandfather, Billy Burke, a British 1914 recruit, was 15 on entry and spent time on the cross at the top of the trench, even during enemy barrages -- he related his experiences to me when I was only a small child in the 1950,s.
How dreadfully sad. God bless him for the terror he went through. Poor young man.
Conscientious objectors served gallantly as stretcher bearers risking their lives to go into no man’s land to rescue injured comrades. The brutality of war will never end. Conflict does not differentiate between victims and perpetrators, there no winners, just heartbreak.
Coltman VC was highly decorated in ww1 for that role and never fired one shot, he also served in ww2
There are lots of winners from wars. Thats why we have them. Ordinary people have nothing to gain but it is easy to convince the masses with propaganda.
@@gummansgubbe6225 You’re obviously a proto fascist.
@@davidgaine4697 When Gustavus Adolphus went to war in Europ around 1630 he made his priest talk about the catholics and protestants in Europe. How they did things to the women and children and killed the men. Bringing anger and a demand for a war to the masses. However if one look at the documents in the "Riksdag" (parliament, congress) there isn't a single word of catholics or protestants. The only thing they discuss is how to divide the spoils of war.
God Bless The Innocent Victims, Survivors, and Those That Fought for Them. 💔💔💔💔🥀🥀🥀🥀🙏🙏🙏🙏🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️ The Horrible Suffering is Unimaginable!🥀🥀🥀🥀
What is putin doing.
This type of punishment was inflicted on New Zealand conscientious objectors at the front-line during the First World War. The name Archibald Baxter comes to mind.
Wonder how many Officers didn’t wake up after going to sleep because they sent to many into that punishment.
The punishment was obscene by those who thought they were better humans than the others that fought. While serving in the Royal Navy in the 80's I was given number 2's for being drunk and no one understood back then about spiking drinks as I had only had 2 pints and was off my head. No 1's was sent to military prison but 2's were worse getting up early every day and working late every day with kit musters loss of pay and all the other sh1te all thrown in. I was reviewed after 3 month and was about to get off when my divisional office suggested another month and so another month was awarded. I was the model sailor during my time and this total tit who was supposed to be on my side got me another month. I swore to myself that day if a Captain ever said second class for conduct to me again I was going to leap at him and crack him right in the mouth and get sent to jail instead. Luckily for all that never happened. moral of the story is those in power like during the wars think they are better than everyone else because they came from privileged backgrounds. We will always be slaves to the elites.
You shouldn't have joined if you can't take a joke...
@@cmck472 My thoughts precisely 👍🏻
@@cmck472 That is easy to say = until it happens to you. What jankers did you do and in which service?
My grandfather was tied to a gun carriage for 3 days for striking an officer, he was also gassed with mustard gas, which he suffered from for the rest of his life.
Oh my....may he rest in peace and mercy....
Sorry but that is the British Army, it has always been that way, way before WW1, absolutely brutal training and discipline, even when I served in the 1980s and 90s the British Army still meted out savage punishments for comparatively minor offences by civilian standards. The Colchester military correctional facility in England was absolutely famous for its brutality, i know this first hand as I did 28 days there in the 80s and there is almost NO re offending once released. Im biased but this discipline is a major part of the reason British Army training turns out the best infantry in the world.
They did not and don't hand out the same treatment to officers, do they. The only officer shot for cowardice in WW1 was a former NCO made up from the ranks.
It may be so but it's a brutal way of doing it.
Flogging, Rum and Sodomy in the British Navy was spoken of by Churchill.
Hardly on the same level, however my grandfather was fined 10 days pay for eating his emergency rations while in the front lines in the western front.
My father was an Air Corp pilot in WW2. The only thing I really have to add here is that when Japanese prisoners would occasionally, out of pure fear, surrender instead of fight, the Americans treated them well. But the one trait that my dad and other U.S servicemen could not stand amongst their own was cowardness. I guess it felt like it was a slap in the face of those that had died.
I understood that soldiers being executed were often tied to old chairs and shot in the back, not tied to stakes as described here. The information in the manual states that “The prisoner may be shot either standing up strapped to a post fixed in the ground if available, or sitting down strapped to a chair” (Section 117. b. viii).
@ken parvu cremated? Are you sure, as I've never heard that to happen. After all that was what the Commonwealth Graves Commission was set up for
@ken parvu thank you. I had no idea that this happened. Typical of the British army to treat these poor buggers with disrespect. I have no sympathy with the thieves and murderers, shot for their crimes while in uniform, but I think the majority executed were suffering from shell shock aka PTSD. They deserved the pardon they got. Eighty odd years too late mind you.
The troops got field punishment the incompetent officers got awards and medals
So true.
The Commander Haig should have been subjected to punishment for total incompetence. The blood of many thousands of Allied troops are on his shoulders.
Just to correct you, it wasn’t really the officers in the field that were incompetent, you probably mean the ‘Top Brass’ responsible for planning offensives (and even then they were in reality making the best of an awful situation and not always incompetent). The officers in the field that lead men were some of the bravest men you’d find, if an officer was found to be incompetent or to have transgressed the military law their were either stripped of their command or ‘stellenbosched’ which meant being sent to a bum posting where they could do no harm (mainly punishments focused on honour). Two British army officers were actually put to death (but that doesn’t compare to the 350 or so men put to death, or the 30,000 or so men handed the sentence)
That's why a lot of enlisted HATE officers. Retarded lieutenant gets a bronze star because nobody in the platoon died on deployment. We would have done just as well without him. Officers get "fragged" because thst think to treat enlisted like shit. Don't forget that little private has a lot of friends that will kill you if you prove yourself incompetent or dangerous to them.
@@lr1a704 I have to disagree with this comment entirely… I spent about 4 months of last year going through hours upon hours upon hours of oral histories and first hand written accounts of regular British soldiers of the great war and about 95/100 times the men had only good things to say about those in direct command of them, the junior officers especially (later on in the war when some less competent souls were drafted in and the bottom of the proverbial barrel was being scraped there is a slightly higher incidence of displeasure with officers). I thought just as much as anyone else that has been fed the ‘lions led by donkeys’ narrative that the men would have resented their officers, especially regarding the passing of the death sentence, but I was proven wrong time and time again, officers and men had a very close relationship, don’t forget it was the Lieutenants, Captains and Majors that led their men from the front, it’s a crying shame that the narrative has been twisted in the way it has… look at the sources, it simply isn’t the case… if you don’t believe me I have 12,000 words thick with historical reference (mostly FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS) that says otherwise
I cannot imagine the level of terror troops faced from artillery, machine guns and poison gas during the war. Though I can understand why commanders wanted to discourage disobeying orders and desertion....NOBODY has the right to judge a soldiers actions unless they were there experiencing what that soldier was going through.
My great uncle Bobbo received No.1 field punishment for being ‘drunk on the line of march’. He was a pre war territorial and volunteered as a married man with children in his 30s. The fact his family ran a couple of pubs might explain the drinking issue!
How many upper class officers were punished....NONE!
Well at least the czar was shot.
It's like Kubrick's movie "Paths Of Glory" which is one of the greatest movies of all time really. And unfortunately based on some real events and skewed perceptions from above of those who served
I totally agree, POG is a GREAT movie! ✨👏🏼😎✨
It is an antiwar story and movie.
@@billh.1940 Right..I'm aware it is anti war, but some events in the film were taken from actual WW1 chain of command orders and the soldiers refusing to follow insane orders. I was just stating the similarities
Sorry if I misunderstood you. Happy new year!
Btw my father, a ww2 vet, told me always know when to duck, it was reenforced when I took up martial arts!
My Great Grandfather ( volunteered) The first day war being declared! First he went to Gallipoli...He was found Strangling Turkish soldiers...He wasn't took out the line or discharged from the army..They sent him too the Austrian alps to fight with Italians! He survived the war...When he came back he had contempt for authority...He Never backed down from Anyone or Anything! This was shown when the Italians signed the Axis pact...My GreatGrandfather went to a well known Italian coffee bar and smashed it up and knocked out Mr olivereas 4 son's ! He was arrested in the morning saw a judge in the Afternoon and was realised before evening 6pm! The judge said He couldn't jail a man of good character as what he done in First war...My Great Grandfather didn't wear medals he Hated the system...John William Melling I'm Proud of you !
Sounds like he was a dangerous psycho.
Hell yeah. Respect to your great grandfather.
What 😂 so your great grandfather got to commit hate crimes on a few ethnicites with relatively zero punishment , and that's kinda it? Hahaha wow and to hate "the system," and be let off/complimented by a judge sounds so ironic
Good day, and Thank You,as ALWAYS. I hope you're doing well. Your Channels are Excellent, and Very Informative. I Appreciate all I'm learning.
Men who would be cowards are capable of moments of bravery (I'm sure I'm capable of both) which is why the punishment of these men was such a travesty.
The difference between being awarded a Victoria Cross and being shot for cowardice is often down to the direction you run when you break down under constant fire.
Inhuman treatment. These people who carried this out, are now in hell forever. 😢
i reckon if they tried that today the officers would recieve the worst of it , rightly so too
Seems to me that fear in dangerous situations is natural.
Distrusting nothing proud to be British about this. Great upload as always making thing not always known about in general 👍
It was brutal but reflects the inherent problem of punishing soldiers in a war zone. Imprisoning them away from the front line, or discharging them, wouldn't have been considered a punishment compared to being in the trenches. Executing too many would mean less soldiers and create morale issues. And docking pay wouldn't be very effective against those who were more concerned about their own survival
WOW this is Sick and Sad, I understand the need for punishment, but this defies what you are fighting for, if you LOOSE your humanity in what you do you are no better than the enemy or atrocities that he carries out, shameful
There was a terrible backlash from the abuses of soldiers by officers in Viet Nam. One incident I know of involved a lieutenant ordering a platoon to march in the open in formation under fire. When fired upon, the men would dive into the ditch by the road for cover. Each time, the lieutenant would order them back out into formation. Multiple men were injured or killed. The third time around, they would not come out again, and the officer drew his sidearm on them. Nobody would say where the bullet came from, but a round from an AK47 killed him. The remains of the unit then proceeded under cover to their objective and completed the mission. Fragging, tossing a hand grenade into an officer’s tent, was also heard of. Second lieutenants had the shortest life expectancy of any rank in the war.
Fragging is theoretically stress misconduct. However, I think sometimes it is positive problem solving.
What punishment do you get for walking hundreds of thousands of men into minefields covered in barbed wire and swept by automatic fire and artillery?
Oh right...
National glory.
Trench warfare was crazy. Sending score of young men over the wall into machine gun fire. Insane. As bad as the Civil War tactics of walk-ing in an open field against modern rifles.
Worse, as the civil war mostly was still single shot , the modern bullets and then the gattling gun. Killed in wholesale numbers, then ww1, we got better at killing peasnts.
Thanks for sharing this!
This sort of criminal and amoral behavior by men who led without honor is what likely gave rise there and/or elsewhere of “fragging”, the practice of taking out a sadistic officer, usually by grenade.
It was supposedly a hush hush but fairly widespread practice in Nam. Grenades were preferred because if an attack could be traced to a gun, the owner would be the prime suspect.
The worst leadership I saw was just a sergeant who had run a construction company & who treated grunts like we were slacker day laborers.
But as long as they kept us warm & fed, and participatesd equally in the maneuvers they initiated, we as grunts gave them grudging respect. Except for one real Clint Eastwood Marine infantry hsrd*ss who joined our unit. He was a walking advance version of a Corps Guidebook. We all felt like he was what we could only hope we might become some day.
But the British officer corps of a hundred years ago had an abundance of flaming holes. They probably wouldn’t have lasted a month around some Marines. That’s all I’ll say…
No one should be punished because they fear WAR. Fearing your death or mutilation is normal, if you don't feel these feelings then you might be a socio- or psychopath. I can understand punishment for things they do bad and wrong, but not for feeling human emotions and mental health issues on the battlefield. People were murdered because they feared dying. That's fucked up.
Thanks for this video.. Shameful treatment but those were the times they lived in ..
Exactly. Compare this to how we treat each other today. The “oppressed” in the West.
Any officer that did that to me, would mysteriously get shot during the very next battle. In the back, because "apparently he was running away from the enemy".
and your section mates would shoot you instantly, thats British infantry. British military discipline is brutal
@@stevenwaight5199 Yea, because if we're in a trench fighting, and bombs are exploding all around, and everybody's shooting at the Germans, nobody is aiming, because they all have their eyes locked on me all the time. Yea, I see the problem now. Dang, I should have thought this through.
Exactly what I thought. Or his throat would accidentally get slit in his sleep.
It happened in WW1 more than I thought,and the Yanks "fragged" officers that were idiots and we're going to get them killed in Vietnam,and an Aussie rolled a grenade under an officers camp bed in one incident...Aussies would not let any pommie officer do this to them,they did not even salute them,held them in contempt...
@@stevenwaight5199
G'day,
In Vietnam, apparently something around 10% of Casualties among Platoon Leaders occurred as a result of them being Volunteers hunting Medals and Promotion while trying to follow some Family Military Tradition, and being "Fragged" (having a Fragmentation Grenade lobbed into their Tent, while sleeping...) by one, some, or all the people who had been Conscripted to enable the young Napoleon-Wannabe to lead in Acts of Derring-Do, under Enemy Gunfire, in order to put a successful Combat Command in their Service Record.
It turns out that in Optional Wars, of an Imperial Expeditionary or Colonial nature - the Conscripts will only remain co-operative as long as the Natives line up and die neatly and quietly in straight rows - when the locals commence to shoot Imperial Conscripts into Mincemeat, then the more Eager-Beaver Subalterns commence to be converted into Compost.
Just(ifiably ?) sayin'.
Such is life,
Have a good one...
Stay safe.
;-p
Ciao !
The statue at the beginning is at The RMA, The Shot At Dawn Memorial section. RIP to those remembered in the garden
These poor sods should see the state of the UK now days! They died in vain!
When one thinks of on what high morale level the British people consider themselves to be this is one, but surely not the only, good example how cruel, brutal and unfair the British society could be against people whom they regarded as underclass - no matter if these people are fellow countrymen or foreigners.
But such punishment surely never would have been given to a gentleman - it would have been concidered dishonorable.
Thanks!
Interest article but very much put off by the commentary which I found difficult to listen to due to sone odd inflexions and speech patterns. Wondered if it was an automatic voiceover for a while.
That was not discipline; that was torture. No one can truly say how they'd react if fighting in the trenches during WW1; our species is unbelievably cruel to one another and even with the knowledge we have at our disposal today it is still common to see us torturing one another in barbaric ways. My heartfelt condolences to all those soldiers in all wars for their suffering. May the powers that be which insighted these battles someday be held accountable!
Currently researching a Canadian chap who got F/P No. 1 five times, starting at 7 days and the final one was 21 days. He was a shell shock case. Drank to ease the pain I guess.
What's his name?
@@bushratbeachbum Frank Fountaine, signed up with my granddad
My great-grandfather was shot for cowardice. He was a Quaker, so a pacifist. How is it cowardly to submit to guaranteed death because of your principles?
"Don't worry lads, come fight for your country and it the enemy don't kill you then your own army will".
Now I'm confused about who who were the good guys and who were the bad guys.
Pity there aren't more like you.
"maybe we're the baddies"
It's disgusting to think that they were treated like this.. Rich leaders did not care
Two of my grandfather's brothers were killed in WW1. One was given field punishment for refusing to join a work party.
My god bless their souls.
who needed an "enemy" when they treated their own like this. Humans are capable of being so extremely violent and hateful.
Australia was civilised enough not to have executions and did not conscript. No other nation in WWI could match their standard of civilisation.
To the shame of the New Zealand govt. they let the British command New Zealand soldiers. That led to shell shocked soldiers being executed. As you said the Australians didn't allow their soldiers to be executed. As a New Zealander that's one of the few things I admire the Australians for.
@@gregdowle8031 New Zealand though; had conscription, imprisoned conscientious objectors, and disenfranchised them. Australia led the world in social equality and was the only country that also gave women the right to be elected. (All the while capturing more guns and ground than any allied army.)
@@seanlander9321 The aborigines are raising their hands and would like to add something to your comment,
@@dustyak79 Ha! Get ready for an argument then in contrasting colonialism. Australia was the most advanced democracy that fought in WWI even paying its entire volunteer forces a fair wage.
@@dustyak79 Perhaps. But the Indigenous population still fought amongst themselves even after colonisation. Some in Queensland joined colonial police forces and felt no qualms about enforcing the white man's law. White colonisation was a catastrophic it was also inevitable and most colonials tried hard to coexist peacefully and sensitively. Some didn't. Australia is very much a product of the Enlightenment even if it started out as a concentration camp. The trouble is history tends to be too complicated for the activist mind set.
I remember watching a very brutal and impactful movie that dealt with a group of men who were conscientious objectors and were subjected to this horrific punishment. The sheer brutality shown towards men in the care of the British Army is disgraceful. These men were mostly volunteers and were under immense mental strain. Many were just teenagers. I recently began researching my family tree and was amazed to discover almost 50 young men across all the lines who served in the Great War. We had no idea of this family history as no one had ever spoken of them. They came from every part of the British Empire and the USA and fought in every service and in every theatre and almost every important iconic battle. I discovered a family where the 3 teenage sons were all killed. Another won a Military Cross before being killed in the final 100 offensive. A recent immigrant to Canada returned and fought at the Somme. He was a piper who won a Victoria Cross for an amazing act of heroism- playing this bagpipes to rally his comrades who were pinned down while attempting to storm a German trench- his act restored morale and they successfully captured the trench and a large number of prisoners- he was killed when returning to collect his bagpipes after the action. Another served in the Camel Corp with TE Lawrence of Arabia and died of exposure in the desert just weeks after the war ended. One poor lad was critically injured when a vicious horse kicked him in the head. An uncle of my father whom he never knew existed was killed in Russia fighting with Allied troops against the Red Army during the Russian Civil War in 1918- 2 weeks after his 20th birthday and 2 weeks before the Armistice. Each of these stories is deeply moving, as are the others where records show young lads who were disciplined for being drunk. on duty or going AWOL. 3 of them were to face Field Punishment No1- One had to undergo the this torture twice during his time on the Western Front. He was only 19, 5ft 5 inches. A week after completing his 2nd punishment he was killed in action when he returned to front line duties. It is impossible for anyone to begin to imagine the horrors these young men faced 24 hours 7days a week. It is one of the worst periods in world history.
During my time serving in the British Army 1995-1998), and even in the Air Cadets prior to joining the Army (1988-1995), 'Field Punishments' still existed. Not anything involving being tied up, but generally something physically exhausting, such as scrubbing a single brick using a wire brush, while leaning up against the wall at a 45 degree angle. reps of holding a rifle at arms length, doubling circuits of the parade square. Really was the sort of thing that nowadays wouldn't be allowed, and probably would have been classed at child abuse (In the case of the cadets, age 13-21). It DID work, and people certainly DID behave, repeat 'offences' didn't happen often! Thankfully there was no danger of an enemy shell dropping out of the sky during the punishment!
In my Grandfathers service records, he was given 7 Days Field punishment #2 for insubordinate language to an officer. This was after the war, January 1919, while waiting to be sent back to Canada, having served with the Royal Canadian Artillery during the war.
There’s not a problem for being a coward …
Is better than being a murderer …
With that mentality we would all be speaking German and there would be no Jews left in Europe.
They Don't mention this on rememberance day. German emperor and English King, cousins, sibling rivalry that killed thousands. Innocent gun fodder. Disgusting.
It’s wasn’t enough that the enemy was trying to kill you. Your own side had to torture you. Most of these troops were young 18 to 23.
War is true horror.
I have just learned a new horror about WWI, and I feel sick.
This is one of the vilest things I've ever heard. These poor, innocent lads, most of whom had never experienced anything or even known anyone outside their own village, joined up to do their bit for "King & Country", went through absolute hell on earth in those freezing, rat infested trenches watching their friends being gassed & blown to pieces. Then to have some sadistic f*#king bastard actually crucify them for some arbitrary "crime" (or simply being frightened) is absolutely disgusting & evil. I can't even begin to imagine how terrified they must have been.
We owe them everything
Sorry about the rant & the language, but this really boils my piss!
British troops have always been treated like shite and held in contempt by many of their officers. The class system is alive and well, even today.
Stitch what unit did you serve in??
WWI should have been the last time people were conscripted into fighting a pointless war in Europe but this is exactly what is happening to Ukrainian men right now.
I wonder how many officers who liked to use this punishment ended up accidently being shot because of this.
A 15 year old signed up for a year of military service under General Bragg of the CSA, after a year he went home to check on his mother and sister only having signed for a year, he was brought back and shot by firing squad, he was from Barren County KY and his name was Asa Lewis.
My great uncle Bertie Mc Cubbin was one of those poor souls who were shot at dawn. All he did was refuse an order.
Crucifying your own people is the fastest way I can think of for officers to die brutally. What a disgrace.
The biggest coward is the state which murdered it’s own sons when no longer convenient.
May we never repeat the same atrocities or stupidity, yet we know the reality.
The English aristocracy has never regretted their extreme heartless treatment of the masses they consider “beneath them”.
I had never heard of this!
I would strongly recommend to not commit offenses to avoid “field punishment”. It is so difficult to manage troops without available “punishments” to use. It has become a exercise in phycology to get anything done.
Fragging is also an exercise in psychology that should be used much more often.
Among the many things I learned from this is that we today live in very privileged times. It seemed the duty then was to let yourself become cannon fodder .
It still is for Russians.
Still is, if you go! Wait until the USA starts draft and includes women!
History repeats itself those times are far from over just the need has yet to arise
cowardice has no place on the battlefield
"PATHS of GLORY" ( 1957 ) Kirk, Ralph, Adolphe & George.
A priceless classic.
Jeez that was dumb of any army to do!
Lacking moral fiber was used as a term during WWII for aircrew who were at their wits end and refused to fly.
Funny how no one considered punishment battalions. Guess it was hard to find anything more objectively reckless than an offensive charge from your trench.
Funny how the British made up the story of the Crucified Soldier when their field punishment looked a lot the same.
Actually, it wasn’t made up. A Canadian soldier was crucified by Germans apparently in retaliation for a gas attack as per new evidence found and shown in 2002.
@@cplcabs There is no way they found any new evidence LOL I don't believe you.
@@SanitysVoid well, believe what you want, but know you are wrong.
@@cplcabs I am not wrong till you prove what you say. I bet your new evidence is just more lies from those invested in the lie.
@@SanitysVoid you poo pooped my comment stating you don't believe me. That shows you are blinkered and that like any leftist loon, when facts are given to you, you ignore them because you think otherwise. So is there any point in me giving you facts? Think on this though, you state that this is British propaganda. If thats the case, why is it a Canadian soldier that was (or in your mind, not) crucified?
300 deserters executed? 880.000 thousands British soldiers was killed during WWI, according to the Internet, that means ~0,03% of those died was executed, and among all killed on the allied side, we are talking ~0,005%
Please use the right term. Shot Deserteurs and Conscientious Objectors have not been "killed", they have been murdered as an act of state terror. This is, because noone has the right to force other people to fight.
It scandalous that they were treated like this, some lads break or crack up and loose their nerves and to treat them this way is terrible
It wasn't till 1925 and 1998 that those terrible wrongs were put right (1 Seven years after the Great War the Government off the Day had a Conchence and Reckonised Shell Shock and abolished the Death Penalty in the field)>(2 it wasn't till 1998 which was Probably due to Campaigning that those Men were Officially Pardoned and it was again in 1925 and not 1923 that the Death Penalty for Cowdas in the field was abolished
My grandfather had 21 days of Field Punishment No.1 (tied to a wheel) in 1914 for being drunk - he was a driver, so fortunately this was not quite in the front line, or else my mother would probably not have been born.
Opposed to WW2 there was no real purpose in fighting in WW1. The political Systems were rather similar. All countries involved had a steep class hiracy and fighting was over tiny scraps of land with no real meaning. So why wouldn't one desert?
There is a story that when Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes was touring the front during WWI, he came across an Australian digger tied to a wagon wheel, sitting on the ground, as field punishment. When he asked the cause, it was some trivial breach of British discipline. He demanded that the man be released immediately and when he got back to London, he threatened to withdraw Australia from the war if the Australians were not placed under their own separate command.
OMG! The video shows what humans can do to other humans... and then I read the comments and feel so sad about all these men, young men, their souls. I mean watch... read it again and tell that this wasn't cruelty, that wasn't torture and for what? For a war what high finance wanted and noone else... noone. I feel sorrow for all these brave souls. btw I am german. Please reconsinder your views and recognize that we learned to hate... they teached us.
society has no respect for anyone who sees this as horrible.
This action by the officer Class speaks louder then any words what they thought about the the inlisted men .
It’s similar to some of the officers conduct after the Christmas Truce. If you haven’t heard of it you should look it up, it’s almost heartwarming.
@@wompbozer3939 Thanks for reply I have heard of it. A Well theirs a lesson to be learned .
Officers like this are often fragged.
at 52 Seconds in there is a snapshot of a soldier of the 19th Battalion CEF Harold Lodge. His service file sates he was a volunteer from Toronto joining the Army on 15 April 1915 making him one of the earlier volunteers to the CEF. When he was shipped overseas he was transferred to the 19th Battalion as a Sapper with 2nd Canadian Division Engineers, 4th Field Company. He served there until wounded with a GSW in the neck in 12 August 1916. Once recovered he rejoined his unit in the field on 21 October 1917. He went AWOL on route to the trenches on 2 November 1917, was arrested in Boulogne on 12 December 1917, and escaped confinement while awaiting trial. He was again arrested on 14 January 1918 and sentenced to death which was confirmed by the Field Marshall Commanding in Chief British Armies in France. His medals were forfeited because of the circumstances of his death.
he was 21 years old
It's interesting that there is not any photographic evidence in this video that these punishments ever really happened.
All soldiers were just canon fodder! The Govt. only took notice when the dead bodies didn't stop enemy advances.
Human fodder. That's war.
You got that right!!🤔
Field Punishment #1a (tied to a moving wagon wheel) 😂
My father served with the Canadian navy during WW2. He told me after his ship docked in Glasgow he witnessed a British soldier with full pack and having to hold his rifle over his head having to run around the the harbour. I guess he had screwed up in some way. Well the unionized dock workers didnt like what was being done to that poor bastard and said they would no longer unload the freighters if that punishment was not stopped. Well unloading ships took priority over everything and the mans punishment was stopped.
1st world war where the CO wasn't sure which side he was fighting!
Absolutely abhorrent and disgusting conduct by the British army and the officers in charge. A war that should never happened as was a bankers war aimed at benefiting the elites and aristocracy. The British army were scared to death that its soldiers might wake up to themselves and all abandon the trenches and bring their bogus war to an end (which is basically how it ended after 11/11/18) so they adopted horrendous measures to ensure that the urge to dessert was replaced by a fear of torturous punishment that often ended in certain death. Brave men that had to endure hell at the behest of an unconscionable government and brutal military machine.