Private Gore
Julian Putkowski
Private Frederick Gore, the son of James George Gore and Annie Sarah (nee Hughes) was born at 27 Thomas Street, Rochester on 6 June 1897. Given that his father was a barge captain perhaps his son might have joined the Royal Navy when war broke out. Instead, he enlisted in East Kent Regiment on 9 December 1914. His initial period of service with the regiment remains unclear but circumstantial evidence indicates that he was serving with the regiment’s 3/4 or 3/5 (Territorial) battalions and was not drafted overseas to join 7 Battalion until mid-1916.
On 31 July 1917, as part of 18 Division 7 battalion, East Kents took part in the in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge. The initial assault began well for the British but swiftly deteriorated into yet another bloody disaster as the attack, launched in driving rain, was halted by a devilish combination of enemy artillery fire and counterattacks. The wet weather, which was to persist for a further month, flooded the shell-craters and turned the landscape into a near-impassable, soupy bog.
Drowning in the morass became a major hazard for soldiers who wandered off the duckboard tracks that gave access to the front line. Casualty figures spiralled remorselessly upwards.
On 10 August, during a brief break in the wettest weather in decades, General Gough ordered a further suicidal attack. Exhausted British infantry floundered into action against Inverness Copse, part of a heavily-fortified network of German defences. The pulverised remains of Westhoek village was captured, but yet again, intense enemy fire halted any more progress
Amongst the reinforcements ordered to replace those killed, wounded and maddened by the attack on Glencorse Copse was Private Gore. On the morning of 10 August, Gore and party of his comrades were ordered to leave Dickebusch Huts Camp to join B Company, 7 East Kent Regiment at Railway Dugouts. They accomplished their journey by midday and six hours later B Company was warned that they were to be sent to join the remainder of the battalion in the front line.
At this point, No. 201075, Sergeant E. Attwater and a couple of other NCO's noticed that Gore was missing and ordered a search to be made for the soldier.
Gore could not be found and it was duly recorded that he had gone absent without leave. While his battalion went eastwards, Gore went in the opposite direction. He remained at liberty until 10 a.m. on 19 August, when he surrendered himself to No. 23006 Pte. G. Tonks, 6 Bn. York & Lancaster Regiment. Tonks had been on police duty patrolling the railway line at Ostrohove Camp, Boulogne. In a written report, Tonks noted that Gore was in uniform and had given his correct military identification, adding that he was a deserter from Etaples.
Gore was returned to his unit and tried by Field General Court Martial on 8 September by a court that was summoned by Lieutenant-Colonel G.D. Price, commanding 55 Brigade. The court was completely staffed by officers who were also serving with 55 Brigade, including the President, Major C.G.M. Place. The Members of the court were Captain F.G. Humfrey, 55 Machine Gun Company and Lieutenant F.J. Gaywood, 55 Trench Mortar Battery, assisted by Captain F.G.N. Alexander, 8 East Surreys. From court martial documentation, Alexander's status in the proceedings is unclear but he was recorded as being attached to Brigade headquarters and it is likely that he was a Courts-Martial Officer.
Gore was undefended and pleaded not guilty to desertion. He had never previously been arraigned before a court martial and appears to have intervened very little in the proceedings until the final part of the trial. He then submitted an uncertainly written statement to the court. It read:
"The reason why I deserted my Battalion because I cannot stand the strain of the shellfire owning to the very bad state of my nerves. I have been to the Medical Officer and he said nothing could be done for me and i have always tryed my best to carry out my duty: Before i came to France, where I have been for 15 months, i was rejected for service abroad owing to my nerves. I am sorry to think this has happened after my 3 years in the service."
It might be thought that the court would have called for medical evidence to check the details of Gore's allegations. Perhaps the court felt that the customary pre-trial medical check by his own battalion Medical Officer ("the doctor"), to certify Gore's fitness to cope with a trial by field general court martial, was sufficient. At any rate, Gore's response to cross-examination about his medical state was initially contradictory:_
"I have never reported to the Bn. M.O. that my nerves would not stand shellfire. The doctor did ask me 'What was the matter with me?' and I told him I could not stand shellfire, but he did not examine me or say anything further."
Alluding to an earlier occasion, which coincided with 18 Division's ordeal at Arras, Gore added: "I have suffered from shell-shock before this. I was on that occasion examined by an M.O. in hospital at FREVENT. I was not examined by anybody on my way from the line to Frevent. This was in May 1917."
He concluded: "I was 5 weeks in hospital and returned to the Bn. about the middle of June 1917. I had another shaking-up when we were holding the line about the end of July. On that occasion I was not examined by an M.O. but by a stretcher-bearer who sent me back to my Company."
The court found Gore guilty and sentenced him to death.
Before the proceedings were forwarded for confirmation, Gore's disciplinary record was attached. It noted that there had been four occasions on which his battalion commander had punished the soldier. In Cambridge on 7 March 1916 he was insubordinate to the Orderly Sergeant on Tea Parade and had been confined to barracks for three days.
All other offences had been committed in France during 1917. Attempted removal of unspecified Government property on 30 January earned him 10 days' Field Punishment No.2. The penultimate offence recorded on his disciplinary record involved a minor AWOL offence, committed on 28 April, for which he was punished on 22 June by losing his Lance Corporal's stripe.
During the time that had elapsed between the offence and sentence, Gore had spent five weeks' in hospital with shellshock.
Lastly, on 12 July: "Leaving his Coy. trench without permission until found on step of a dugout of another trench." For this offence, on 18 July Gore was sentenced to 28 days' Field Punishment No.1.
So, unlike most of his comrades, Gore had not enjoyed a rest after a spell in the trenches, "At the end of July". Instead the nerve-wracked soldier had been subjected to an unremitting daily round of rigorous drill in full kit, tin hat and rifle and two hours' of being tied up to the wheel of a general service wagon or a Field Punishment post.
Instead of restoring his nerves before another spell in the front line, Gore would have been weakened physically and psychologically. It is consequently unsurprising that he ran away at the prospect of being sent back into the trenches on 10 August.
On 10 October Sir Douglas Haig examined Gore's case and confirmed the death sentence.
Captain P. Cazenove, the Assistant Provost Marshal of 18 Division, supervised the soldier’s execution in Poperinge on 16 October. Gore’s corpse was later buried in the town's New Military Cemetery.
