First World War Military Executions

Alexander, Wm. - Sgt Q.M. 10th Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 18 Oct. 1917. Age 37 - Charge of Desertion

Arnold, Frederick S. - Bdr. 1st Bgd. Cdn. Fld. Art. - Executed 25 July 1916. Age 26 - Charge of Desertion

Auger, Fortunat - Pte. 14th Cdn. Inf. - Executed 26 March 1916. Age 25 - Charge of Desertion

Carter, Harold Geo. - Pte. 73rd Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 20 April 1917. Age 23 - Charge of Desertion

Comté, Gustave - Pte. 22nd Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 3 July 1917. Age 22 - Charge of Desertion

Dagesse, Arthur Ch. - Pte. 22nd Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 15 March 1918. Age 32 - Charge of Desertion

Délisle, Léopold - Pte. 22nd Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 21 May 1918. Age 26 - Charge of Desertion

Fairburn, E. - Pte. 18th Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 2 March 1918. Age 23 - Charge of Desertion

Fowles, Stephen M. - Pte. 44th Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 19 June 1918. Age 21 - Charge of Desertion

Higgins, John M. - Pte. 1st Bn. Cdn. Inf. Executed 7 Dec. 1916. Age 25 - Charge of Desertion

Kerr, Henry H. - Pte. 7th Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 21 Nov. 1916 Age 25 - Charge of Desertion

La Lancette, Joseph - Pte. 22nd Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 3 July 1917. Age 22 - charge of Desertion

LaLiberté, Come - Pte. 3rd Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 4 Aug. 1916. Age 23 - Charge of Desertion

Ling, W. Norman - Pte. 2nd Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 12 Aug. 1918. Age 22 - Charge of Desertion

Lodge, H.E.J. - Pte. 19th Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 13 March 1918. Age 21 - Charge of Desertion

Moles, Thom. L. - Pte. 54th Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 22 Oct. 1917. Age 26 - Charge of Desertion

Perry, Eugene - Pte. 22nd Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 11 April 1917. Age 21 - Charge of Desertion

Reynolds, E.J. - Pte. 3rd Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Exceuted 23 Aug. 1916. Age 20 - Charge of Desertion

Roberts, John Wm. - Pte. 2nd Cdn. Mnted. Rif. - Executed 30 July 1916. Age 21 - Charge of Desertion

Sinizki, Dimitro - Pte. 52nd Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 9 Oct. 1917. Age 22 - Charge of Cowardice

Welsh, C. - Pte. 8th Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 6 March 1918 Age 29 - Charge of Desertion

Wilson, James H. - Pte. 4th Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 9 July 1916 Age 37 - Charge of Desertion

Young, Elsworth - Pte. "D" Co., 25th Bn. Cdn. Inf. - Executed 29 Oct.1916. Age 21 - Charge of Desertion

Names of Executed Soldiers to be Placed into Canada’s Book of Remembrance

Ottawa - The Honourable Ron J. Duhamel, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Western Diversification) (Francophonie) today announced that the names of 23 Canadian soldiers executed in the First World War will be added to the Book of Remembrance. The Minister made his announcement during a special statement in the House of Commons concerning the 23 soldiers who were executed for military offences of desertion and cowardice.

"Those who go to war at the request of their nation do not know the fate that lies in store for them. This was a war of such overwhelming sound, fury and unrelenting horror that few combatants could remain unaffected," said Minister Duhamel. "While we cannot relive those awful years of a nation at peril in total war, and although the culture of that time is subsequently too distant for us to comprehend fully, we can give these 23 soldiers a dignity that is their due, and provide closure to their families."

"Adding their names to the pages of this sacred book will be a fair and just testament to their service, their sacrifice, and our gratitude," the Minister stated. "While the 23 soldiers came from different regions of Canada, they all volunteered to serve their country in its citizen-army and their service, and the hardships they endured prior to their offences, will be unrecorded and unremembered, no more."

The First World War Book of Remembrance lies in the Memorial Chamber located on the second level of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. It contains the names of the 66,655 Canadian men and women who lost their lives in the Great War. Separate Books of Remembrance honour merchant mariners and Newfoundlanders who died in the First World War and other wars. There are three other Books of Remembrance in the Chamber which attracts more than half a million visitors each year.

Minister Duhamel also expressed his appreciation to Canada's veterans' organizations for their helpful advice on this matter.

The full text of Minister Duhamel's statement and a backgrounder listing the name, rank, regiment, and date of death are attached. Both documents are also available at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] More information can also be obtained on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and at National Archives: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Speaking Notes for The Honourable Ronald J. Duhamel
Minister of Veterans Affairs
Regarding First World War Military Executions

Delivered in the House of Commons
December 11, 2001

Mr. Speaker, honourable colleagues, I rise today in this Chamber to speak to you about the First World War and the fate of some Canadian soldiers, a fate that has been essentially forgotten in the pages of our history .

For the young nation of Canada, the promise and optimism that infused the dawning 20th century was abruptly cut short by the First World War. No one anticipated such carnage. Or that we would soon be sending young citizens into a war that would see sixty-five million from 30 nations take up arms; where 10 million would lose their lives and 29 million more would be wounded, captured or missing.

Never before had there been such a war. Neither in the number of lives taken, nor in the manner of their taking. New weapons would turn fields of battle into slaughter grounds, while the rigours of life in the trenches would kill many of those who escaped bullet or bayonet.

This "war to end all wars" challenged our small country of 8 million to its limits. Almost 650,000 served in the Canadian Forces in the Great War. Over 68,000 - more than one in ten who fought - did not return. Total casualties amounted to more than one third of those who were in uniform. Thousands came home broken in body, mind, and spirit.

The service of Canadians in uniform was as remarkable as it was distinguished. History records their sacrifice in places whose names resonate even to the present day. Battle names such as Ypres, The Somme, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele and Amiens. Those who lived then and the historians who followed would declare that Canada came of age because of its actions and ingenuity during the First World War. But where history speaks of national sacrifice and achievement, it is too often silent on the individual stories of triumph, tragedy and terror of those who fought and died on the terrible killing fields of France and Belgium.

Those who went to war at the request of their nation could not know the fate that lay in store for them. This was a war of such overwhelming sound, fury and unrelenting horror that few combatants could remain unaffected. For the majority of the Canadians who took up arms and paid the ultimate sacrifice, we know little of their final moments. Except that they died in defence of freedom.

Today, I want to talk about 23 of our fallen. I would like to tell you about these soldiers because their circumstances were quite extraordinary. These 23 soldiers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force occupy an unusual position in our military history. They were lawfully executed for military offences such as desertion or cowardice.

We can revisit the past, but we cannot recreate it. We cannot relive those awful years of a nation at peril in total war, and the culture of that time is subsequently too distant for us to comprehend fully. We can, however, do something in the present, in a solemn way, aware now, better than before, that people may break for reasons over which they have little control. For some, it may have been what we today call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

To give these 23 soldiers a dignity that is their due, and to provide closure to their families, as the Minister of Veterans Affairs, and on behalf of the Government of Canada, I wish to express my deep sorrow at their loss of life, not because of what they did or didn't do, but because they too lie in foreign fields where poppies blow amid the crosses, row on row. While they came from different regions of Canada, they all volunteered to serve their country in its citizen-army and that service, and the hardships they endured prior to their offences, will be unrecorded and unremembered, no more.

Allow me to enter their names into the record of this House:

Quartermaster Sergeant William Alexander
Bombadier Frederick Arnold
Private Fortunat Auger
Private Harold Carter
Private Gustave Comte
Private Arthur Dagesse
Private Leopold Délisle
Private Edward Fairburn
Private Stephen Fowles
Private John Higgins
Private Henry Kerr
Private Joseph Lalancette
Private Come Laliberté
Private W. Norman Ling
Private Harold Lodge
Private Thomas Moles
Private Eugene Perry
Private Edward Reynolds
Private John Roberts
Private Dimitro Sinizki
Private Charles Welsh
Private James Wilson
Private Elsworth Young

We remember those who have been largely forgotten. For over 80 years, they have laid side by side with their fallen comrades in the cemeteries of France and Belgium.

I am announcing today in this Chamber that the names of these 23 volunteers will be entered into the First World War Book of Remembrance alongside those of their colleagues. Adding the names of these citizen-soldiers to the pages of this sacred book, which lies in the Memorial Chamber not far from here, will be a fair and just testament to their service, their sacrifice and our gratitude forevermore.

Lest we forget.