Thomas Highgate

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Thomas Highgate
Birth nameThomas James Highgate
Born(1895-05-13)13 May 1895
Shoreham, Kent, England
Died8 September 1914(1914-09-08) (aged 19)
Boissy-le-Châtel, Seine-et-Marne, France
Cause of deathExecution (gunshot)
Buried
No known grave
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1913–1914
RankPrivate
Unit1st Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment
Battles/wars

Private Thomas James Highgate (13 May 1895 – 8 September 1914) was a

Royal West Kents. Highgate was executed 35 days into the war, on 8 September 1914, after being found hiding in a farmhouse wearing civilian clothes. His death was made as public as possible and used as an example to other soldiers. Highgate's name was not included on the war memorial at Shoreham; from the late 1990s onwards, some local residents fought for his name to be added whilst others disagreed. Posthumous pardons
for soldiers who had been executed, including Highgate, were announced in 2006.

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

gendarmes[2] and taken into custody by Captain Milward. Highgate told Milward that he did not remember having done anything except leave his bivouac shelter. In court, Highgate said that he remembered walking around, entering the farm, lying down in a civilian house, and putting on civilian clothes but did not recall much else.[6]

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

15th Brigade.[2][6] Highgate died at 7:07, 45 minutes after he himself found out about his guilty verdict.[12][6] Aged 19,[2] Highgate was the first British soldier to be executed for desertion on the Western Front,[12] 35 days after the war began.[9]

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.

plundering and another for desertion. Putkowski writes that the date must be a mistake on Smith-Dorrien's part, as the recorded execution was most likely Highgate, and there is no evidence of a man being shot for plundering on that day.[2]

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

L/Cpl Robert Highgate, killed in France on 3 January 1915 aged 24, and Pte Joseph Highgate, who died of his wounds on 6 June 1916 aged 19.[3] Highgate's name is also shown on the British memorial to the missing at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre and the Roll of Honour of the Royal West Kent Regiment. He may have ended up on multiple memorials due to his lifestyle, travelling around as a farm labourer.[21]

  • Thomas Highgate's name was not added to the war memorial in Shoreham.
    Thomas Highgate's name was not added to the war memorial in Shoreham.
  • Close-up of names on a war memorial.
    Thomas Highgate and his brothers' names were included on a war memorial in Sidcup.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Tomasini 2017, p. 26.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Putkowski & Sykes 1990, p. Chapter One: Regular blood.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^
    The National Archives. Archived
    from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  7. ^ Johnson 2015, pp. 108–109.
  8. ^
    The Evening Standard. p. 9. Archived
    from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Johnson 2015, p. 118.
  12. ^ a b c Johnson 2015, p. 19.
  13. ^ Johnson 2015, p. 109.
  14. ^ "Casualty Details: Thomas James Highgate". Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
  15. ^ a b Tomasini 2017, p. 47.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. The Evening Standard. 10 December 1999. p. 19. Archived
    from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  18. ^ from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  19. from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ "'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

External links