Shot at Dawn

Amid the carnage of the battles of World War I, a small number of Welsh soldiers made the fateful decision to abscond from their units: under the Army Act, if found guilty of the offenses they were charged with, they could suffer the ultimate penalty, to be shot at dawn. A handful of men serving in Welsh regiments absconded and, despite mitigating circumstances and with derisory field trials, usually without representation or a "soldier's friend" to speak on their behalf, they were found guilty