Good morning, LEST WE FORGET In memory of my grandfather, Alfred Holland and his five sons who all fought and survived the horrors of WW1. http://home.it.net.au/~lambeth/holland.html Including my grandfather's brother : George James Holland and his son George Stephen Holland DCM who were both KIA while fighting the Germans in France ----------- I have just read the Winter 2006/7 issue of , " This England " which contains an article about the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire England which has been built as a living tribute to all those who died in the conflicts of the 20th. century and beyond. The first tree was planted in 1997 and there are now over 50,000 trees. A Millennium Chapel has been built as well as over 100 major memorials. (p. 40 - 41) Arboretum East includes the Shot at Dawn memorial which the article says is sought out by many visitors. The memorial was unvield on 21st. June 2001. Six conifers symbolize the riflemen who comprised the firing squad and behind them are 306 stakes resembling the posts to which the men were tied before being shot. Each stake bears a metal plaque giving details of their names, age, rank and date of death. A Shot at Dawn statue stands near the stakes which shows Pte. Herbert Burden age 17, with his hands tied behind his back and a blindfold covering his eyes before he was shot for alleged desertion. At his court martial for desertion on 2nd July 1915 there was no one to defend him and his explanation that he had gone to comfort a friend in another unit who had just lost a brother was dismissed by the High Command and he was found guilty of desertion. The fact that he had been ill at the time of his actions was also ignored. In the article it says, that following a lengthy campaign the Government has recently revealed that it will seek parliamentary approval to grant a group pardon to all those men who were executed. The Defence Secretary, Des Brown has said, that, " ..... it is better to acknowledge that injustices were clearly done. " Its sad to note that we Brits executed more of our own troops than did any other country whose soldiers took part in WW1. Including the German and French. The Australians, to their credit, did not execute any of their men although over 200 were charged and found guilty of the same crime of desertion as were the Tommies . We Brits have also been the last government to pardon the men who were Shot at Dawn. The Canadian, New Zealand and Irish governments have all already given a group pardon to their soldiers who were executed. I wonder why were we the worst and why are we the last to say sorry ? LEST WE FORGET Patrick Holland. Perth, Western Australia