The table above depicts the number of British soldiers executed during WWI. Military doctors diagnosed cowardice, desertion, and unwittingly sentenced shell-shocked men to execution based on the very poor psychological knowledge of the time. Doctors refused to treat soldiers if they did not have a physical injury, they did not realize you could develop a mental wound.
Shot at Dawn Memorial
The Shot at Dawn Memorial is the British military's burial ground for the soldiers who were executed because of doctors' misconceptions. 306 men were buried here in shame, without headstones or personal markers. Execution–the penalty for cowardice or desertion–was used as punishment and deterrent. Unfortunately, many suspected deserters were shell-shocked. Though relatives and psychologists, such as Rivers, claimed their deaths were unjust, the men were still executed.
To read letters written by the soldiers remembered
at the Shot at Dawn memorial, Click Here
Continue to Shell Shock (PTSD)