Les Morts Dansant – We British Weren't Always Humanitarians

Way back in the late eighties and early nineties I was a big fan of a band called Magnum, some of you may remember them, they troubled the charts occasionally with some pretty good quality British rock, they were quite impressive live too. Anyway last weekend, for some reason (why? I don’t know), I decided to pull one of their CDs out and give it a play. Took me back, reminded me how good they were, made me wonder where they are now, usual nostalgia stuff that we all indulge in from time to time.

Les Morts Dansant – The Dancing Dead

One track though intrigued me, Les Morts Dansant (the French translates to ‘The Dancing Dead’). It’s probably the best track on the album and also one of the most poignant, moving tracks I’ve ever heard. It made me wonder exactly what it was all about. So I did a bit of ‘Googling’ and was surprised to find it to be about a particular nasty, shocking part of our military history that I suspect isn’t well known. So I though I’d tell it.

Next year sees the hundredth anniversary of the start of World War One often known as The Great War. They’ll be many events commemorating the war and the people who fought it. The story played out in ‘Les Morts Dansant’ though will probably be brushed under the carpet; it most certainly wasn’t the British’s greatest day.

Cannons roared in the valley they thundered
While the guns lit up the night
Then it rained and both sides wondered
Who is wrong and who is right

Atrocities in War

There have been many atrocities during warfare in the last hundred years; it’s not often though, that we commit them to ourselves. In World War One, the executions of 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers took place. Such executions still remain a source of controversy with some believing that many of those executed should be pardoned as they were simply suffering from shell shock. These executions were primarily of non-commissioned ranks.

On the wire like a ragged old scarecrow
Bloody hands and broken back
When they fire see him pirouette solo
Jump in time to the rat a tat

Today, we still recognise shell shock but now refer to it as post-traumatic stress disorder; we acknowledge and treat it as an illness. Back then though, our soldiers knew their king and country expected them to fight to the death. Such was the expectation of their military commanders, their political leaders and even their loved ones; there was no question that if mortal danger came, they should face it like men. It was the only way for good to triumph over evil.

Firing Squads

The Great War quickly became the most brutal war in history and not even the most seasoned servicemen were prepared for the scale of carnage that unfolded before them. For many the horror proved too much. Hundreds were unable to cope, many were driven insane and several simply ran away. There were those who suffered from severe shell shock. They could not stand the thought of being on the front line any longer and deserted, they were deemed to be traitors

The British army could no more afford to carry cowards than it could traitors, and once caught, many of those who did flee faced instant retribution with a court martial and death by a twelve man firing squad.

Those condemned to death usually had their sentences confirmed by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig on the evening following their court-martial. A chaplain was dispatched to spend the night in the cell with the condemned man and execution took place the following dawn, with some men facing their last moments drugged with morphine or alcohol.

When the time came, the offender was tied to a stake, a medical officer placed a square piece of white cloth or paper over the man's heart and a priest prayed for him. Then the firing line - usually made up of six soldiers - was given orders to shoot. One round was routinely blank and no soldier could be sure he had fired a fatal shot.

By the wall in a silhouette standing
Through a flash of sudden light
Cigarette from his mouth just hanging
Paper square to his heart pinned tight

Gather round reluctant marksmen
One of them to take his life

Immediately after the shooting, the medical officer would examine the man. If he was still alive, the officer in charge would finish him off with a revolver.

Deterrence

Senior military commanders would not accept a soldier’s failure to return to the front line as anything other than desertion. They also believed that if such behaviour was not harshly punished, others might be encouraged to do the same and the whole discipline of the British Army would collapse. Some men faced a court martial for other offences but the majority stood trial for desertion from their post, “fleeing in the face of the enemy”. A court martial itself was usually carried out with some speed and the execution followed shortly after.

What a night though it's one of seven
What a night for the dancing dead
What a night to be called to heaven
What a picture to fill your head

These Were Just Kids

Few soldiers wanted to be in a firing squad. Many were soldiers at a base camp recovering from wounds that still stopped them from fighting at the front but did not preclude them from firing a rifle. Some of those in firing squads were under the age of sixteen, as were some of those who were shot for ‘cowardice’.

James Crozier from Belfast was shot at dawn for desertion – he was just sixteen. Before his execution, Crozier was given so much rum that he passed out. He had to be carried, semi-conscious, to the place of execution. Officers at the execution later claimed that there was a very real fear that the men in the firing squad would disobey the order to shoot.

They dispatch their precious cargo
Knock him back right off his feet
And they pray may no one follow
Better still to face the beast

Private Abe Bevistein, aged sixteen, was also shot by firing squad at Labourse, near Calais. As with so many others cases, he had been found guilty of deserting his post. Just before his court martial, Bevistein wrote home to his mother:

"We were in the trenches. I was so cold I went out (and took shelter in a farm house). They took me to prison so I will have to go in front of the court. I will try my best to get out of it, so don't worry."

Outlawed and Putting Things Right

Not one of the executed soldiers would be shot today; the military death penalty was outlawed in 1930. Shell shock is now treated as the illness it is, though whether we give enough long term support to those suffering is debatable.

When the field has become a garden
And the wall has stood the test
Children play and the dogs run barking
Who would think or who would guess

It took over 90 years for these injustices to be partially rectified. A new law passed on the 8^th November, 2006 included as part of the Armed Forces Act the pardoning of men in the British and Commonwealth armies who were executed in World War One. The law removes the stain of dishonour with regards to executions on war records but it did not cancel out the sentences.

Magnum - Les Morts Dansant

Magnum’s track dates back to the eighties and was before the pardon. It is their tribute to the harrows of war and to the injustice of what happened, it’s their call for a pardon.

I found this video someone had made to accompany the track on YouTube, its worth watching as it brings home exactly what we did to our own soldiers all those years ago.

NB: Research for the above came from the historylearningsite.co.uk and from the BBC website.