Perspectives On The Front

There has been great focus over the last two decades on the tragic but situational case of twenty-three Canadian soldiers serving in the Canadian Expeditionary Force who were executed during the war for alleged desertion and cowardice. While victims of the times, these soldiers were recognized by the Canadian Government in 2001 and their names added to Canada’s Book of Remembrance, and were included in a broader pardon of those executed, issued by the British Government in 2006.

Two soldiers however, were not included in the pardon, both executed for murder. Benjamin Defehr, a rancher from Winkler, Manitoba was tried on 22 August, 1916 for the “wilful murder” of Regimental Sergeant Major James Scott. Sentenced to “suffer death by being shot”, the verdict was confirmed by General Sir Douglas Haig three days later and he was executed at Cassel the same day – his body being then removed to the Northumbrian Casualty Clearing Station – another tragic story from the Front.