Reid: sensitive issue

"Time to look again at cases"

Campaigners Welcome Government Review Of Soldiers Shot For Desertion

Medical evidence suggests that many were suffering from mental illness as a result of their battlefield experiences.

The Royal British Legion and the Western Front Association welcomed the Government's action but stressed the importance of dealing with each case on its own merits.

"Each case need to be reviewed individually. A lot of our members would not be happy with a blanket pardon. For some people it wasn't their first offence, they had already been cautioned, and so a pardon might not be appropriate for them," said Kathy Stevenson, spokeswoman for the Western Front Association, which is dedicated to promoting the memory of the Great War.

"It has been our policy for some years that in the light of current medical evidence, World War One service men executed for cowardice should be pardoned," said a Royal British Legion spokesman.

Remembering the war dead

In a statement, the Armed Forces Minister John Reid stressed how complicated the issue was. "The issue of pardons for servicemen executed for cowardice in the First World War is an important one, one that is moving for all of us and particularly for the families of those concerned," he said.

"From where we stand today, we can only imagine the horrors of life in the trenches then and seek to understand what those who experienced it went through," added Mr Reid.

"That is why I am prepared to look again at these cases. However, we are over three-quarters of a century away from these events and no-one should underestimate the difficulties and complexities of reviewing such matters, nor, in addressing one perceived injustice would I wish to create others," said the minister. "Therefore while I fully understand the concern and feelings aroused by this issue, I would not wish to build up hopes prematurely."

The Labour backbencher Andrew Mackinlay has been a vociferous campaigner for the rights of the dead soldiers. He has put down a Commons motion about the issue.

Viggers: Unwise to reopen cases

He told the BBC Radio 4's World at One programme that the soldiers were denied the opportunity to prepare their defence, the right to adequate representation and the right to appeal against the death sentence.

A move to pardon the soldiers in an ammendment to the 1996 Armed Forces Bill was supported by a third of the present Cabinet but was defeated by the then Conservative government. There's a strong chance now that that judgement will be overturned.

The Conservative MP Peter Viggers, who chaired the Armed Forces Committee in the old Parliament, argued that it was unwise to re-open the cases after such a long period of time, but Mr Mackinlay retorted that it was the government itself that had suppressed the documents for 75 years.