Sir Tony Robinson features in a new film, The Fallow Few, which brings to light the stories of 306 British soldiers executed for desertion during World War One. The film, written and directed by newcomer JR Rappaport, is set in a claustrophobic cell where condemned soldiers await execution.
A Family Connection to the Great War
Sir Tony, who grew up in Hackney, East London, recalls being told as a child about the day his grandfather Jack returned from the front lines. "My grandad laid newspaper on the floor," he says. "He stood on it and took off all his louse-ridden uniform and his boots, wrapped them all up and threw them on the little coal fire."
His father and uncle Cyril watched the burning, which seemed to last for hours. After it turned to ashes, Jack went upstairs to bed and never spoke about World War One again.
Tens of thousands of soldiers developed what is now known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The condition, then called "shell shock," was poorly understood, and soldiers who tried to flee the trenches faced court-martial and, in many cases, a firing squad.
The Story of Two Men Shot in 1917
Sir Tony plays Frederick Scott, a real army chaplain in the First World War. "He was actually Canadian, although he was serving with British Army soldiers, and he came upon what we would think of now as a terrible injustice," Sir Tony explains. A soldier was about to be executed for cowardice for breaking ranks when firing started, a case that would now be recognised as PTSD.
The film is inspired by two men shot for desertion in 1917: Edwin Dyett, a 21-year-old Welsh officer, and Canadian quartermaster William Alexander, 37. Sir Tony says Scott investigated Alexander's background and discovered mental illness in both sides of his family, hoping to appeal the sentence. However, officers refused, saying exceptions would undermine discipline.
On the morning of Alexander's execution, his face was covered with a gas mask turned 180 degrees, not to prevent him seeing the firing squad, but so the soldiers with guns would not see a real human face and potentially fire wide.
Remembering the Fallen
Dyett and Alexander were among 306 troops granted conditional posthumous pardons by the Government in 2006. The wording expressed regret for sentencing them to death but did not quash their convictions.
Sir Tony stresses the importance of remembering these men like any other British soldier. "Our history is who we are," he says. "How do we know who we are if we don't know where we come from?"
The Fallow Few is out now to rent or buy on Apple TV, Prime Video, YouTube, Google TV and Rakuten TV. Clapham Picturehouse in south London is hosting a screening and Q&A session with the cast and director on November 11 at 6pm.
