THE EXECUTION OF GEORGE ERNEST ROE (1896 – 1915)

The following information was obtained from the web-site of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The first table gives the bare details of George's military career and his place of burial

Perth Cemetery (China Wall) is located 3 Kms east of Ieper town centre, on the Maaldestedestraat, a road leading from the Meenseweg (N8), connecting Ieper to Menen. From Ieper town centre the Meenseweg is located via Torhoutstraat and right onto Basculestraat. Basculestraat ends at a main cross roads, directly over which begins the Meenseweg. 1.7 Kms along the Meenseweg at a major roundabout lies the right hand turning onto the Maaldestedestraat. The cemetery itself is located 1 Km along the Maaldestedestraat on the left hand side of the road.

I did not know about this particular execution until I received the following e-mail in July 2007

"I work in Sheffield Local Studies Library and came across your fabulous site while researching a local man who was executed for desertion in the First World War. He is not named in your list of Sheffielders but in the report mentioned on p44 of Shot at Dawn there is no indication that he was local apart from he was in the KOYLIs.

George Ernest Roe of the 2nd Bn, 3/1433 was shot on 11 June 1915 aged 19. This makes him the first, unless there are others yet to uncover. His next of kin was Mrs Mary Roe, mother of 24 Brough Street and I have found that although not named on the city's Role of Honour his name is listed on the one for the nearest parish church St Bartholomew's, off Langsett Road. This was put on at the time so it seems people were again unaware of true circumstances.

Hope this gives you further material for research, by far the best information I gathered on the subject and will be recommending it to our users".

Information on George in the interim has been difficult to obtain but in March 2011 I obtained access to the UK 1911 Census and found the following entry

Name George E Roe
Relationship to Head of Household Son
Condition Single
Gender M
Age 17
Estimated Year of Birth 1894
Occupation Labourer
Employed Y
Working at Home N
Industry Steel Works
Place of Birth Sheffield
Enumerator Information
Address 16 C 1 H Alfred Road Sheffield
Parish Sheffield
Town Sheffield Type of Building Private House
Number of Rooms 2 Rooms Inhabited Y
Reference RG14PN27976 RG78PN1599 RD510 SD6 ED17 SN119 Administrative County Yorkshire (West Riding)
Registration District Sheffield Registration Sub District East Brightside Enumeration District 17

George's family is listed as follows

This information allowed me to find George's birth details on the FREE BMD website

Births March 1894 Roe George Ernest Ecclesall B. Volume9c Page434

I was then able to find George and his family in the 1901 census

Name George E Roe
Relation to Head of Family Son
Age Last Birthday 7
Sex Male
Profession or Occupation Juvenile
Where Born Yorkshire Sheffield
Address 4 Ct 4 Ho Solfernio Street
Civil Parish Ecclesall Bierlow
Town or Village or Hamlet Sheffield
Ecclesiastical Parish St Matthias Parliamentary Borough or Division Ecclesall Division
County Borough, Municipal Borough or Urban District Sheffield County Borough
Administrative County Yorkshire Ward of Municipal Borough or Urban District Ecclesall

An interesting discrepancy is the age of George. When he was executed he was clearly 21 years of age, but the information from the CWGC states that he was 19. Young soldiers did lie about their age in order to join the Army but this entailed adding years onto their age, not deducting them. It is also worth noting that he was in the regular army at the time of his death.

He was executed for desertion. His battalion - 2nd King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry was heavily engaged in the spring of 1915 in what was known as the Second Battle of Ypres. More specifically their involvement was in the storming of Hill 60 which resulted in heavy fighting and high casualty rates. Was it the ferocity of the fighting that led to George deserting? 

Notes

From Wikipedia

Six other soldiers who were executed by the British Army are also buried in Perth Cemetery (China Wall)

Private Thomas Harris, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). He was executed for desertion in June 1915, aged 21.
Private Thomas Docherty, King's Own Scottish Borderers. He was executed for desertion in July 1915.
Corporal Frederick Ives, Worcestershire Regiment. He was executed for desertion in July 1915,aged 30.
Private Ernest Fellows, Worcestershire Regiment, from Birmingham. He was executed for desertion in July 1915, aged 29,leaving a wife, Annie, and his parents James and Emma.
Private Louis Phillips, Somerset Light Infantry. He was executed for desertion in August 1915,aged 23.
Private Evan Fraser, Royal Scots. He was executed for desertion in August 1915,aged 19. He is commemorated on a special memorial, his original grave having been lost. Fraser absconded from his regiment at 4pm on 24 May 1915. He was arrested the next day at a local railway station in possession of a forged pass and handed back to the British. Whilst in British custody he escaped, but again was caught after little more than 24 hours. Two weeks later, he escaped custody for a second time and again was arrested within a day. On 13 July he was charged with having deserted on three occasions and of conduct to the prejudice of good order (having a forged pass). He was undefended at his trial. He pleaded guilty to the forgery, but not guilty to the counts of desertion. His battalion adjutant gave evidence, saying that Fraser was "a continual source of annoyance", a shirker and a continual deserter. He was shot at 4am on 2 August 1915.

Shot at Dawn - Julian Putkowski and Julian Sykes - The standard reference work about soldiers executed under the British Army Act in the First World War (1989).

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

1901 UK Census

1911 Census

Free Bmd

Sheffield Indexers

It seems as though the family continued to live at 24 Brough Street Sheffield after the war - I found these two records of school admissions - they are the sons of George's elder brother John William who is mentioned in the 1901 Census.

Roe, Eric Arthur (Student, dob 14 Mar 1928).
Parent or guardian name(s): Jno Wm (~), of 24 Brough St.
Admitted to Langsett Road Infants School, Hillsborough, as of 27 Feb 1933, until 23 Jul 1936, reason for leaving: To Boys& Jun B. Previously attended None.
Roe, Jno Herbert (Student, dob 29 May 1924).
Parent or guardian name(s): ~ (~), of 24 Brough St.
Admitted to Langsett Road Infants School, Hillsborough, as of 08 Apr 1929, until 24 Nov 1933, reason for leaving: Boys Depart. Previously attended None. 

Did they know about their Uncle George?

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This page was last updated on 27/04/11 08:40