Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.
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On 8 September 1914, just a month into the First World War, 19-year-old Private Thomas Highgate of the 1st Royal West Kents was led out and shot by his own side.
He was the first of 346 British soldiers to suffer that fate.
Born into poverty in Shoreham in Kent and raised through the workhouse system before being sent to sea as a boy, Highgate had enlisted in 1913 and landed in France with the British Expeditionary Force in August 1914.
After the desperate stand at Mons and the long retreat south, he was found alone near Tournan-en-Brie, in a borrowed civilian jacket and without his rifle.
What followed was a brief field court-martial for desertion. A medical note mentioning amnesia was never used in his defence.
Two days later he was executed in front of men of the 1st Cheshires and Dorsets.
This video tells Highgate's full story, then widens the lens to explain what Shot at Dawn really meant.
Most of the 346 were shot for desertion. Eleven faced charges of cowardice, including men broken by what we would now recognise as shell shock.
You will meet 17-year-old Herbert Burden, the youngest to die and the face of the memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, 46-year-old Harry Hendricks, the oldest, and the officer John Paterson.
It also traces how an Edwardian system of discipline built for a small professional army collided with a citizen army of millions, why Parliament changed the law in 1930, and why, after a decades-long campaign, 309 men were finally pardoned in 2006.
Chapters
0:00 Shot at Dawn
0:44 Private Thomas Highgate
1:57 Joins Army
3:44 Battle of Mons
4:37 Execution
6:56 Youngest & Oldest
8:45 Their Crime?
10:24 Mutiny & Murder
13:20 Forgotten Facts
16:30 Redemption & Pardon
#thomashighgate #WW1 #firstworldwar #ww1history #ww1executions
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My name is Chris Green and I love to share stories from British history. Not just because they are interesting but because, good or bad, they have shaped the world we live in today.
History should not be stuffy or a long list of dates or kings & queens.
So rather than lectures or Youtube animations, I tell stories that bring the past to life.
My aim is to be chat as if I were having a coffee or meal with you. Jean in Maryland, USA recently wrote: "Chris, is the history teacher I wish I had at school!"
Just for the record, I do have a history degree in Medieval & Modern history from the University of Birmingham and am a member of the Royal Historical Society.
I am also a member of the Victorian Military Society, the Anglo Zulu War Society and the Military Historical Society.
Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Chris Green Communication Ltd t/a The History Chap. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Chris Green Communication Ltd does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
The History Chap is a trading name of Chris Green Communication Ltd, a company registered in England & Wales (Co No: 05025587)
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