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List Of New Zealand Soldiers Executed During World War I
The following soldiers serving on the Western Front with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force were executed for military offences during World War I. The executions, carried out by firing squad, were not made public at the time. All five were posthumously pardoned on 14 September 2000, when New Zealand's ''Pardon for Soldiers of the Great War Act'' became law. The bill was presented by Mark Peck, Member of Parliament for Invercargill. The vote was 112 for the motion and five against. List : References Sources * Pugsley, Christopher (1991). ''On the Fringe of Hell''. Auckland: Hodder & Stoughton. * Putkowski, Julian & Sykes, Julian (1966). ''Shot at Dawn: Executions in World War One by Authority of the British Army Act''. Barnsley: Pen & Sword {{ISBN, 978-0-85052-613-4 * Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Front (World War I)
The Western Front was one of the main theatres of war during the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The German advance was halted with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France, which changed little except during early 1917 and in 1918. Between 1915 and 1917 there were several offensives along this front. The attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. Entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire and artillery repeatedly inflicted severe casualties during attacks and counter-attacks and no significant advances were made. Among the most costly of these offensives were the Battle of Verdun, in 1916, with a combined 700,000 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Māori People
The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori. Initial contact between Māori and Europeans, starting in the 18th century, ranged from beneficial trade to lethal violence; Māori actively adopted many technologies from the newcomers. With the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the two cultures coexisted for a generation. Rising tensions over disputed land sales led to conflict in the 1860s, and massive land confiscations, to which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was merged with the Historical Manuscripts Commission to form The National Archives, based in Kew. It was under the control of the Master of the Rolls, a senior judge. The Public Record Office still exists as a legal entity, as the enabling legislation has not been modified. History 19th century The Public Record Office was established in 1838, to reform the keeping of government and court records which were being held, sometimes in poor conditions, in a variety of places. Some of these were court or departmental archives (established for several centuries) which were well-run and had good or adequate catalogues; others were little more than store-rooms. Many of the professional staff of these individual archives simply continued their existi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julian Putkowski
Julian Putkowski (born 1947) is a British university teacher, military historian, researcher, and broadcaster. He has written extensively on military executions in World War I. Putkowski graduated from the University of Essex in 1976. He has since then been researching military discipline and dissent. In 1989, he was co-author, with Julian Sykes, of ''Shot at Dawn: Executions in World War I by Authority of the British Army Act''. The publication of the book led indirectly to renewed public interest in the topic of soldiers executed during the war, culminating in the issue of pardons to 306 men who were shot for various offenses, including cowardice. Later, Putkowski wrote a book entitled ''Murderous Tommies'' with Mark Dunning, a lawyer interested in British Army capital courts martial cases. ''Murderous Tommies'' is also about the First World War, and gives an account of 13 soldiers who committed homicide in France and Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Pugsley
Christopher John Pugsley (born 1947) is a New Zealand military historian. He is published as Chris Pugsley and Christopher Pugsley. Career Pugsley became interested in writing in 1984 when, as a career officer in the New Zealand Army, he worked on a television documentary about New Zealand's involvement in the Gallipoli campaign and authored ''Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story'', which was shortlisted for the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Award the same year. In 1988, he retired from the New Zealand Army to dedicate himself to a new career as an historian. Academic career He received his PhD from the University of Waikato in 1992, and in 1994 he became Writing Fellow at the Victoria University of Wellington. He then taught at University of New England, Australia from 1996 to 1999. Until 2014 he was Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Adjunct Senior Fellow at New Zealand's University of Canterbury. Areas of interest During the 1990s he wr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shell-shocked
Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a reaction to the intensity of the bombardment and fighting that produced a helplessness appearing variously as panic and being scared, flight, or an inability to reason, sleep, walk or talk. During the war, the concept of shell shock was ill-defined. Cases of "shell shock" could be interpreted as either a physical or psychological injury, or as a lack of moral fibre. The term ''shell shock'' is still used by the United States’ Department of Veterans Affairs to describe certain parts of PTSD, but mostly it has entered into memory, and it is often identified as the signature injury of the war. In World War II and thereafter, diagnosis of "shell shock" was replaced by that of combat stress reaction, a similar but not identical response to the tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pioneer (military)
A pioneer () is a soldier employed to perform engineering and construction tasks. The term is in principle similar to sapper or combat engineer. Pioneers were originally part of the artillery branch of European armies. Subsequently, they formed part of the engineering branch, the logistic branch, part of the infantry, or even comprised a branch in their own right. Historically, the primary role of pioneer units was to assist other arms in tasks such as the construction of field fortifications, military camps, bridges and roads. Prior to and during the First World War, pioneers were often engaged in the construction and repair of military railways. During World War II, pioneer units were used extensively by all major forces, both on the front line and in supporting roles. During the 20th century, British Commonwealth military forces came to distinguish between small units of "assault pioneers" belonging to infantry regiments and separate pioneer units (as in the former Royal P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Engineer
Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics behind military tactics. Modern military engineering differs from civil engineering. In the 20th and 21st centuries, military engineering also includes other engineering disciplines such as mechanical and electrical engineering techniques. According to NATO, "military engineering is that engineer activity undertaken, regardless of component or service, to shape the physical operating environment. Military engineering incorporates support to maneuver and to the force as a whole, including military engineering functions such as engineer support to force protection, counter-improvised explosive devices, environmental protection, engineer intelligence and military search. Military engineering does not encompass the activities undertaken by thos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Spencer
Victor Manson Spencer (1 November 1896 – 24 February 1918) was a volunteer from Invercargill, New Zealand who fought in the Otago Infantry Regiment of the New Zealand Division in World War I. Spencer was executed for desertion on 24 February 1918, despite later suggestions that he was severely traumatised by shellshock, having fought and survived several campaigns. New Zealand soldiers were subject to New Zealand military law which, like all nations involved in the conflict, had the death penalty for a number of crimes, including desertion. Out of the 28 death penalties handed down by the New Zealand military. only four were carried out, the rest being quashed by the British commanders of the armies involved. (In addition, New Zealand Private Jack Braithwaite was executed by the British for mutiny.) By contrast, death penalties imposed on Australian soldiers had to be confirmed by the Governor-General, which the Australian government did not allow, although Australians were ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Expeditionary Force
The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZEF of World War I became known as the ''First New Zealand Expeditionary Force''. The NZEF of World War II was known as the ''Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force'' (2NZEF). The 2NZEF was led by General Bernard Freyberg. 1st New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight for Britain during World War I. Upon the outbreak of war, New Zealand immediately offered to provide two brigades—one of infantry and one of mounted troops—with a total of 8,500 men. As was the case with the Australian army the existing New Zealand army was a "territorial" force, designed for the defense of the home islands. It could not be deployed overseas. Hence, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AWOL
Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which are temporary forms of absence. Desertion versus absence without leave In the United States Army, United States Air Force, British Armed Forces, Australian Defence Force, New Zealand Defence Force, Singapore Armed Forces and Canadian Forces, Canadian Armed Forces, military personnel will become AWOL if absent from their post without a valid Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave. The United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, and United States Coast Guard generally refer to this as unauthorized absence. Personnel are dropped from their Military organization, unit rolls after thirty days and then listed as ''deserters''; however, as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Braithwaite (journalist)
John Braithwaite (3 January 1885 – 29 October 1916) was a New Zealander who served in the First World War with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Supposedly a journalist before the war, in 1916 he was convicted of mutiny and executed by firing squad. He was posthumously pardoned in September 2000 through the passage of the Pardon for Soldiers of the Great War Act 2000. Early life John Braithwaite was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 3 January 1885, as Cecil James Braithwaite, one of 16 children to bookseller Joseph Braithwaite and his wife Mary Ann. After completing his schooling, he worked alongside his father, who would rise to become the mayor of Dunedin in 1905/06. Braithwaite later claimed to have become a journalist who lived in Sydney, Australia, for a time from 1911. However, over the period from 1911 to 1915 he appeared in court in New Zealand for a number of criminal offences, including theft of jewelry and a bicycle. He also appears to have spent time on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
