Thomas Highgate
Thomas Highgate | |
---|---|
Birth name | Thomas James Highgate |
Born | Shoreham, Kent, England | 13 May 1895
Died | 8 September 1914 Boissy-le-Châtel, Seine-et-Marne, France | (aged 19)
Cause of death | Execution (gunshot) |
Buried | No known grave |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1913–1914 |
Rank | Private |
Unit | 1st Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment |
Battles/wars |
|
Private Thomas James Highgate (13 May 1895 – 8 September 1914) was a
Early life
Thomas Highgate was born on 13 May 1895 in Shoreham, Kent.[1][2] He was one of five sons to his mother, Alice Highgate.[3] His family lived in poverty and travelled between Shoreham and the outskirts of London.[4] Highgate is recorded as having worked as a farm labourer.[5] On 4 February 1913, aged 17, he joined the army and served as a seaman.[1][2] Whilst at sea, Highgate suffered a fall, was in two shipwrecks, and contracted yellow fever in Africa. Captain Tate, a medical officer at Richmond Barracks, produced a memorandum in June 1914 regarding Highgate's health. He wrote that Highgate had a "peculiar" disposition and that his illness and injury may have accounted for issues with memory loss.[6] Highgate was recorded as being absent from the army before the First World War broke out; he did not attend tattoo on 7 September 1913 or 1 July 1914, and he deserted the army from 28 February to 4 May 1914. He was caught and imprisoned for 42 days when he tried to enlist with a different unit at Woolwich in order to be closer to his brother. Despite his absences, Highgate was described as a "good worker" in his army records.[4][6]
First World War
Desertion
During the First World War, Highgate was in the First Battalion of the
Highgate was not the only soldier to act dishonourably during the retreat from Mons; two officers attempted to surrender their battalions to the enemy. They were discharged and did not face the death penalty.[11] There were other instances of soldiers looting and travelling with civilians, as well as one allegation of rape. As a result, there were concerns about discipline throughout the British Expeditionary Force.[6]
Execution
Highgate was accused of desertion, and a field general
Putkowski said that there may have been a "crisis of confidence" amongst senior officials in the army, who at the time of Highgate's trial had seen the deaths of 20,000 men from the British Expeditionary Force and many others wounded or missing.
A notice in the Sidcup and District Times on 23 June 1916 reported that Highgate had been killed in 1915 and had fought with the East Surrey Regiment. Michael Hankins, a local historian in Sidcup, speculated that this report was incorrect because Highgate's family were attempting to change the story.[3] In Soldiers Died in the Great War (1921), Highgate is listed as having died of his wounds—Putkowski notes that this is unusual, as soldiers who had been executed by firing squad were not usually included in these volumes.[2]
Memorial
Highgate was commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on the La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial with other British soldiers who have no known grave.[14] Also known as the Memorial to the Missing of the Marne, it was erected in 1928.
The names of soldiers executed for crimes including cowardice and desertion were not likely to appear on local war memorials, and the memorial in Shoreham, Highgate's home village, did not bear his name when it was erected.[15][9] In 1999, some people in the village—including the vicar and padre, Reverend Barry Simmons—argued that his name should be included. The proposal was opposed by the Royal British Legion.[16][3] A vote was held among members of the British Legion; the result was split at 14 for, 14 against, and two abstains.[17] In March 2000, the British Legion was in the process of restoring the memorial, which provided an opportunity to add Highgate's name. Reverend Simmons believed the villagers should decide, so a vote was held for the 1,700 residents of Shoreham to decide whether Highgate's name would be added to the memorial.[3] 79% of people were in favour (170 voted for, 46 against),[8] but the local councillors voted 4–3 against the decision.[18] The council wanted to wait to see if the government pardoned men who were shot for desertion before adding Highgate's name.[19] A gap was left on the memorial in case his name should be added at a later date.[10] Reverend Simmons expressed unhappiness with the conclusion, saying that Highgate had served his country by dying as a deterrent, but other villagers welcomed the council's decision.[8][18] The result of the council's decision led to Simmons leaving his position at the parish for another in Gloucestershire.[20]
In 2006, the government granted posthumous pardons to men who were shot for cowardice and other crimes during the First World War, but Highgate's name remained missing from the memorial. Highgate's great nephew, Terence Highgate, was still campaigning for his name to be added in 2014.[15]
During the campaign to have Highgate's name added to the memorial, a local historian discovered that his name already appeared on another memorial in
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Thomas Highgate's name was not added to the war memorial in Shoreham.
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Thomas Highgate and his brothers' names were included on a war memorial in Sidcup.
See also
References
- ^ a b Tomasini 2017, p. 26.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Putkowski & Sykes 1990, p. Chapter One: Regular blood.
- ^ a b c d e Peter, Birkett (13 March 2000). "Village votes over disgraced soldier's name on memorial". The Independent. p. 9. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Watson, Greig (31 May 2014). "World War One: Thomas Highgate first to be shot for cowardice". BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ Sapsted, David (15 March 2000). "Village votes to honour soldier shot for desertion". The Daily Telegraph. p. 11. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ The National Archives. Archivedfrom the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ Johnson 2015, pp. 108–109.
- ^ The Evening Standard. p. 9. Archivedfrom the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d Taylor-Whiffen, Peter (1 March 2002). "Shot at Dawn: Cowards, Traitors or Victims?". BBC. Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Shot at dawn, pardoned 90 years on". BBC News. 16 August 2006. Archived from the original on 3 March 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
- ^ Johnson 2015, p. 118.
- ^ a b c Johnson 2015, p. 19.
- ^ Johnson 2015, p. 109.
- ^ "Casualty Details: Thomas James Highgate". Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
- ^ a b Tomasini 2017, p. 47.
- ^ Clements, Toby (11 August 2001). "Death at dawn". The Daily Telegraph. pp. A4. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- The Evening Standard. 10 December 1999. p. 19. Archivedfrom the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ The Evening Standard. p. 18. Archivedfrom the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- The Evening Standard. p. 4. Archivedfrom the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ Iggulden, Amy (17 August 2006). "Tears for the families who lived with shame". The Daily Telegraph. p. 4. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ "'Shot at Dawn': Manipulating Remembrance and Forgetting". Archaeological Review from Cambridge. 25 (1): 146. May 2010. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022 – via ResearchGate.
Bibliography
- Johnson, David (2015). Executed at Dawn: British Firing Squads on the Western Front 1914–1918. United Kingdom: ISBN 978-0-7509-5917-9.
- ISBN 978-1473818156.
- Tomasini, Floris (2017). Remembering and Disremembering the Dead. United Kingdom: ISBN 978-1-137-53828-4.