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6 November 1914 Carl Hans Lody was shot as a spy on this day

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6 November 1914, broke cold, foggy and bleak, and at a very early hour Lody was brought from his cell, and the grim procession formed up on the veranda of the Tower Main Guard. It was led by the Chaplain, solemnly reading the Burial Service, followed by the prisoner, with an armed escort marching on either side of him, and the firing-party of eight…

8 January 1917: PTE James Tongue

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Pte 11850 J. Tongue of the 1st King's Liverpool Regiment was executed after a trial for desertion, the execution taking place between 6.30 and 7.45 am at Brailly on 8 January 1917. 'The case is a bad one' wrote the commander of the Fifth Army. 'I am unable to concur in the view that a man who has been passed fit for General Service can be excused …

'The killing of the Iron Twelve' with Dr. Hedley Malloch

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Dr. Hedley Malloch will be giving a talk based on his book of the same name 'The killing of the Iron Twelve: an account of the largest execution of British soldiers on the Western Front in the First World War'. IMAGES: Book Cover, Edith Stent at the grave of the eleven soldiers and the graves as they appear today featured on the Iron 12 Story web…

The Iron 12 : The inauguration of the Iron Memorial and Commemorative Plaques in Guise

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This article first appeared in Bulletin No.91 October/November 2011. Bulletin and Stand To! are the two magazines of The Western Front Association, each are sent to members alternatively, each three times a year, either in print or digitally. INTRODUCTION Between October 1914 and February 1915 Iron sheltered eleven British soldiers trapped beh…

'Behind the Lines - The Story of the Iron Twelve' [Part 2] by Hedley Malloch

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This article, Part 2 of 2 parts, first appeared in Stand To! No. 88. April/May 2010. This and all issues of Stand To! are available to Members to view via their Member Login. In the first part of the story of eleven British soldiers, trapped behind the lines in the retreat from Mons to the Marne in the summer of 1914, Hedley Malloch told how they…

The Shot At Dawn Memorial

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In May 2001 HRH the Duchess of Kent officially opened the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, Staffordshire, after a seven-year fundraising campaign in which many members of the WFA had been highly active. Some 150 acres of land had been gifted for the project at this time and more than 40,000 trees planted. In addition, a visitor centre and M…

The King Crater Incident and the Courts Martial : November / December 1916

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The Bantam Division is the stuff of legend. Its correct military designation was 35th Division but it was associated with the eponymous fighting cock because its twelve infantry battalions were composed of short but robust, tough soldiers. They were raised in a blaze of publicity in 1914, embodied as a division in 1915, joined the British Expeditio…

22 April 1915 : Pte Albert Troughton

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Albert was the son of Nathaniel Troughton (a coal miner) and Ann Elizabeth (née Warner) At the 1901 Census that family lived at 59 Eden Street, Coventry At the time of the 1911 Census (and of their son’s death) Nathaniel, Ann and other members of the family lived at 14 Ash Grove, Stoney Station Road, Coventry. Albert was one of three boys and …