Visit to Ypres

The forgotten ones

There were of course others who died, but for whom there has been no ceremony, no recognition, no monument. These were the soldiers who could not take any more and deserted, or who refused on principle to fight.

There's an account, together with a picture, taken in June 1918, of the execution of a Belgian soldier. See it HERE.

The treatment in the UK of people who refused to fight has been a tightly held secret, and only in the last few years have some records been unearthed. During the first world war they had to endure much, so much that they said very little about that period. It was only in the last few years of the life of my own father, also named Robert Leggat, that I learned that in 1918 he had refused on religious grounds to fight. He and one of his friends (whom I believe was called Robert Roy) made it clear that in their judgment, to kill was abhorrent. They were quite ready to go to the trenches as stretcher bearers or as medical orderlies.

He was in his sixties when I first learned about this. On one occasion I was driving him through London, and as I went near White City I pointed to the right and said "That's Wormwood Scrubs - a well-known prison " At this point he stiffened and then burst into tears -something that a dour Scot would never wish to do.

"I have a story to tell you, son" he said. And during the remainder of the journey to Sutton, he told me what had happened - something that he had kept to himself for forty years. In 1918, when he was 18, he refused to fight, even though he was quite prepared to go to the front line on a non-combatant role.

His offer to carry stretches was refused, and he and his friend were sent to Wormwood Scrubs prison in London. He told me, tears in his eyes, that on more than one occasion he and others had been lined up in front of a firing squad. In fact, on neither occasion was a bullet fired. It was a ruse to weed out those who were frightened of dying, and who would crack under the strain and agree to go to the Front Line. But they were not to know this at the time. Twice at the age of eighteen, then, he thought that he was just about to die. My father, who later became a missionary for the rest of his life, was a man who always told the truth, and at the time I thought that this was a unique instance. That was, until I learned that similar things had happened in that period.

As I write this, there are taking some place some discussions concerning these abuses in first world war. The article mentioned above refers to many executions having taken place, and a monument to these is currently being considered.