On Caps, Or Die
Is it possible to be shot at dawn for refusing to put your cap on? The full might of British military justice did just that. Read the shocking facts in the case of Private 227 Patrick Downey of the 6th. Battalion Leinster Regiment. 10 (Irish Division).
Downey was tried by Field General Court Martial at Hasanli, Serbia on 1st December 1915. The court was presided over by Captain R Mansergh, 6th Bn. Royal Irish Rifle and the two members were Second lieutenants J Powell, 13th Bn. Hants. Reg. and J K Starke 6th. Bn. Royal Irish Rifles.
Official regulations requiring a Field Officer to preside over his case had been waived by the convening officer, Brigadier General R S Vandeleur, with the explanation that, "None can be spared". The trial was conducted well away from the front line and the entire proceedings, were recorded on three pages of notepaper. It is reproduced below.
Aside from other shortcomings, it is difficult to believe the Private Downey was fully aware that pleading guilty to a capital offence was tantamount to suicide. That the court accepted the plea is no less disturbing.
This is the verbatim transcript of Downey's Court Martial.
Summary of Evidence in the case of No. 227 Pte Patrick Downey, 6. Leinster Regiment.
First Witness: No 9207 C.S.M. Bagnall states-
"On the 26th November 1915, or thereabouts, I ordered the accused to fall in at 2.30 p.m. for fatigue. The accused replied "I wont", I repeated the order, and accused answered "No", Capt Cradock ordered accused to put on his cap and accused replied "No I wont". [signed: W. Bagnall C.S.M.]
The accused declines to cross-examine this witness.
Second Witness: No 7905 Sgt Mackey 6 Bn Leinster. R. states:
"On the 26th November 1915 at about 2.30 PM I ordered accused to fall in, accused replied "No I wont fall in". C.S. Maj Bagnall also ordered accused to fall in, and accused replied "No I wont fall in". [singed C. Mackey Sgt.]
The accused declines to cross examine the witness. The accused reserves his defence. Taken down by me in the presence of the accused this 30th day of November 1915.RP4 (c) (d) (c) has been complied with.
[signed:] H.W. Andrews Capt. & Adj. 6 Bn. Leinster Regt. R. Mansergh Capt. President FGCM
The Schedule states that Downey was charged with:-
"On active service disobeying a lawful command in such a manner as to show wilful disobedience of authority given personally by his superior officer in the execution of his office."
Downey was undefended at his court martial. The actual record is reproduced below:-
Proceedings in the case of No.227 Private Downey 6th Leinster Regiment.
The Accused No.227 Private Downey 6th Leinster Regiment pleads Guilty to the charge.
Capt. H.W. Andrews 6th Leinster Regiment having been duly sworn states:-
I produce AFB 122
Refusing to comply with an order - one entry
Losing by neglect - three " "
Disregarding Bn. order - one " "
Drunkenness - one " "
Miscellaneous - two " "
[#crossed out with a single line in the original: "The accused is also awaiting sentence by Court Martial at the present time."]
[Note in margin, relating to # above] Awarded (84) eighty-four days Field Punishment No.1 by Field General Court Martial for insubordination on the 25th November 1915
Character: Very bad
The accused has fifteen months present service
Age: nineteen (19) years & nine (9) months
The accused states he has previously served for two months in the 5th SR Royal Munster Fusiliers.
The accused in mitigation of punishment states that he was never in prison in civil life.
Sentence:
The court sentence the accused no.227 Private P. Downey 6 (S) Bn. Leinster Regiment to suffer death by being shot.
The sentence passed by the court was agreed unanimously and the proceedings were referred Lt. General Bernard Mahon, Commanding British Force in Greece. Before forwarding the papers to the Command-in-Chief, Mahon commented:
Under ordinary circumstances I would have hesitated to recommend that the Capital Sentence awarded be put into effect as a plea of guilty has erroneously been accepted by the Court, but the condition of discipline in the Battalion is such as to render an exemplary punishment highly desirable and I therefore hope that the Commander in Chief will see fit to approve the sentence of death in this instance.
[signed:] B. Mahon, Lieutenant General Commanding British Force in GREECE.
H.Qrs. British Force
SALONIKA
12th December 1915
On 18th December 1915, the death sentence was confirmed, without additional comment by General C C Monro, Commander in Chief, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and promulgated on 26th December 1915. At 8.00 a.m. the following day, Downey was executed at Eurenjik, near the port of Salonika by a firing squad under the command of Captain Charles Villiers, Assistant Provost Marshal, 10th (Irish) Division. His death was reported to have been instantaneous.
K.C. Mackenzie (ed) No. 4 Canadian Hospital - Letters of Prof. J.J. Mackenzie (Macmillan: Toronto:1933
Dec 28th, Tues. There was a tragedy in the next camp to us yesterday. A young Irishman in the Leinster who had been giving trouble ever since he came out here was court-martialled, the immediate charge being desertion in the face of the enemy and general insubordination. he was sentenced to be shot and the sentence was duly carried out. An officer who had command of the unit said that when he heard the sentence he began to laugh, and said, "That is a good joke, you let me enlist and then bring out here and shoot me."
Downey was shot by a firing party from the Durham Light Infantry.
Julian Putkowski writes that little was known about Downey other than he might have come from County Limerick and may have been younger than his declared age. This may account for the fact his comrades were extremely angry with the execution. On the other hand, the 10th (Irish) Division, including the Leinsters had been grievously mauled at Gallipoli. Transferred to Salonika, the division suffered in a shambles of a retreat in the face of a Bulgarian attack in the weeks before Downey was arraigned and on 17th December, he and his comrades were dumped for a couple of days in a tented camp formerly occupied by 22nd Division - a sea of freezing mud. At the time of his offence they were nowhere near the front line but the men would have been disaffected enough even without Downey's death.
The Durham Light Infantry may also have been involved in the execution of Lance-Sergeant 132827 Harry Ashton, 11th Bn. Scottish Rifles (Cameronians) who was executed for desertion in Salonika on 8th July 1917. Ashton had originally enlisted in the Cameronians in Hamilton in September 1914, when he was 17. He had served them on the Western Front and been wounded twice and in 1917 was drafted to serve with the 11th Bn. in Salonika
He was charged with having deserted at 21.00 hours on 8th May 1916 and failing to report back for duty until 2300 hours next day. At his trial he explained that he and another NCO had fallen asleep in a wood (they had orders not to move about during daylight to avoid attracting enemy fire) and missed the beginning of the attack. When they had woken up he couldn't make up his mind what to do because his unit had already moved off. Ashton, a committed and enthusiastic Wesleyan, claimed he had been incriminated by a fellow NCO who had lied at the FGCM which was eventually held on 30th June. Though found guilty and sentenced to death, the court recommended him to mercy on account of his good character and previous service. According to Captain James Low, Ashton was "Clean and honest", if a little indecisive and his behaviour under fire was unknown.
However, Ashton was executed because the Cameronians were alleged to have "committed crimes to avoid taking part in operations." Candidly, the latter comment was at best insensitive and at worst a lie. A quarter of the battalion had been killed, wounded or were missing as a consequence of the 8th May attack which had been organised by the man who mad the remark, The General Commanding 26 Division, Major General A.E. Gay. Gay was temporarily relieved of his command on 7th July because of sickness. Ashton was shot the following morning.
Though the immediate effects of battle trauma or "shellshock" were not raised by Downey or Ashton, the manner in which their cases were dealt with by the military authorities gives cause for concern. Both had volunteered when under age for overseas service and though Downey seems to have been less then perfectly behaved, Ashton's case demonstrated that an unblemished disciplinary record was no defence when the authorities wished to conjure up someone to execute by way of intimidating the rank and file The feeling of these men's families, when they came to hear of how these young men had been killed, can only be surmised but it is doubtful whether they would endorse the repeated official assurances that justice had been done.
