NOTES : Most of the three million British troops soon knew they faced almost certain death on the battlefield. Day after day they would witness the annihilation of their friends, never knowing if or when they would be next

Private Thomas Highgate

16-year-old Herbert Burden, who had lied that he was two years older so he could join the Northumberland Fusiliers.

to punish the deserters and to dispel similar ideas in their comrades.

the offender was tied to a stake, a medical officer placed a piece of white cloth over the man's heart and a priest prayed for him. Then the firing line - usually made up of six soldiers - was given orders to shoot. One round was routinely blank and no soldier could be sure he had fired a fatal shot.

pERIMENOYME TO thanato o poios mporei na erthei kathe stigmh. o polemos einai tromero pragma kai to katalabainoyn ligoi. einai enas thanatos poy moiazei ma to na pnigetai kaneis se xerh ammo.

So many of those who were executed were just boys. They and their families were let down. The whole issue was, and still is, a disgrace.'

military death penalty was outlawed in 1930 there was no excuse for killing soldiers who were so obviously under the most extreme stress.

Shell shock - now called post-traumatic stress disorder

they were brave by refusing to be blindfolded for their executions. They stared down the barrels of the guns which would kill them. That's not cowardice. That's courage.'

'Military justice was harsh, but life was much harsher then.

'We don't want pardons for villains. We want justice for people who were shot for insubordination because they refused to put on a hat, or who fell asleep at their post, or were just so terrified they simply could not cope.'

The real issue is not about the convictions but about the severity of the sentences,'

our great-grandfathers didn't understand that any more than they knew about blood transfusions or penicillin. 'If these men were alive today, we would not kill them

It was a sign to ask the enemy to stop firing, and they did. We could only dig down a few feet and cover them with a bit of soil, burying them where they lay. It was horrible.'

The thought never left you that you could be next.'