War Diaries Talk

Pardoning of convicted men

  • Stork by Stork

    Most of you probably know this, but some may not: I just read a good murder mystery by Rennie Airth titled The Reckoning. It's set soon after WW2, and it involves the 1917 court martial and execution of a British soldier in Arras. There's an Author's Note at the end which reads, "In November 2006 Parliament passed a law pardoning men of the British and Commonwealth armies convicted by court martial and executed during the First World War. However, the law did not overturn the sentences, which remain in effect."

    It's called the Armed Forces Act 2006.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_Act_2006#Pardon

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  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    Thanks for posting this!

    Posted

  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    Extract from part of an article regarding pardons.

    "For 90 years, families, friends and campaigners for the young soldiers have argued that their deaths were a stain on the reputation of Britain and the army.

    In many cases, soldiers were clearly suffering from shellshock but officers showed no compassion for fear that their comrades would have disobeyed orders and refused to go "over the top".

    Link for article: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/aug/16/military.immigrationpolicy

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