ARMY DEATH SENTENCES

Evening Star, Issue 17401, 10 July 1920, Page 9

ARMY DEATH SENTENCES

TOTAL 343 CUBING THE WAR, During the war 343 death sentences were carried out in the British our cables announced recently, ' . ' Some information about these important figures was given for the first time hy Viscount Peel in the House of Lords n't the beginning of last month. He summarised the statistics as follows, in relation to officers and men in every theatre of war, from August 4, 1914, to December 31, 1919: Death eerrtences ... ... 3,076 Sentences carried out ..«;. '343 Percentage of total ... , M 11.15 For "cowardice" ,„ 18 For desertion _ ... ... 266 Lord Sontliborongh fformerly xSir Francis Hopwood) haa called attention to €he types of hysteria and "shell shock " from which many soldiers suffered during the war, and referred to the death penalty inflicted on men by ootu* martial i on-the charge of " cowardice." MOTION FOR INQUIRT. . Wit&out inviting any reopening of the evidence in such, painful cases, he moved, that inquiry be made into the expert* knowledge derived by Army medical authorities and the medical professions, with ' the objeer'of recording the experiences of ; the war, and to advise whether'a scientific method of dealing •witit such cases cannot be devised. Lord Home said he oouH confidently etate that latterly, if there waa any suspicion that a crime committed might bare' been caused by any of the forma of hys- ■ teria, sentence was not confirmed until the \ accused had been under the observation of \ medical authorities or detained for a time \ to enable those in inrfihority to arrive at ' a decision as to whether or not ins mental, balance had been affected. Be supported i '< the motion. • j Yiscoan* Ealdane.alfio -Bappoxted -4ha ( proposal, SPECIAL PREOAtJTI<SJS. Viscount Peel, .replying meat, said ikai immense irouhle waa ' taken in all ihepe cases to see that no person «aould ; be- condemned to death/ua-' less for the very gravest reasrafis. Great ; care was taken in all stages of .the. proceed- : ings. during oonrt martial and afterwards at confirmation of the proceedings, $p see that no man" was condemned jtoqeatsh, w!hb waa able to plead gome form of mental damage. Nbjißentence-a! death was carried out.in any iSheatre of war nnlessXit ; was.jcoiuTraaed by the CknnnTandeT-in-Ghief.. The total number of -cases in which death sentence was carried out was ck- ' ceedingiy small—cowardice 18, desertion 266. Those two particular offences embraced much' the -largest proportion of the . whole. | .'"„-.-''■ He added: 'thai <the viow of the Govern-: ment was tiiat tie greafteat advantage might be obtained from such an "inquiry as Lord Southborongh proposed, and he ; X undertook that a departmental committee v ebould beset up. '.";-'■ ',