The face of a Mill Hill soldier cut a poignant image in a poppy wreath placed on the Cenotaph memorial in Whitehall on Remembrance Sunday.
A picture of Private Abraham Bevistein, shot at dawn for desertion in the First World War, was in the middle of a wreath dedicated by the Shot At Dawn Campaign. The group is seeking pardons for Priv Bevistein and 305 other British and Commonwealth soldiers shot for offences such as desertion, sleeping on duty and disobedience.
The photo of Priv Bevistein shot at Labourse, near Calais on March 20, 1916 was found after his niece Betty Jacobs, who now lives in Canada, was traced.
Initial research suggested Poland-born Priv Bevistein, part of the 11th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment formed in Mill Hill, was 21-years-old.
But Doreen Jansen, a member of the Shot At Dawn Campaign, said Priv Bevistein's niece had confirmed he would have been around 16 when he enlisted making him just 17 when he was shot.
"That makes his story even more tragic," said Mrs Jansen. Army records show Private Bevistein to be of good character with an unblemished army record. He was suffering from shell-shock after being wounded in a mine explosion. Two other Mill Hill soldiers, Henry Carter, 18, and David Stevenson, 23, were also shot.
November 14, 2001 17:48
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