Lance Corporal 19/158, 19th Bn, Durham Light Infantry. Shot by order of Field General Court Martial.
Son of Bridget & the late Peter Goggins. Husband of Margaret Goggins nee Rowley of 58 South Street, South Moor, Co Durham. Peter's execution had a devastating effect on the family and his mother died soon afterwards.
In the early hours of November 26th 1916, Lance Corporal Goggins and a few of his comrades were guarding their positions on the western front when one of their sergeants, fleeing a German ambush, tore in from no-man's-land to warn them that they were about to be overrun. Peter and Corporal John McDonald abandoned their positions and headed back; it was only later that they learnt it had been a false alarm.
Even though the Sergeant confirmed that he had given the order to retreat the sentence was supported by Brigadier General H O'Donnell who wrote that he had doubts about the quality of evidence, but felt that the executions were necessary to set an example to other men in the Battalion.
They were all charged with deserting their posts. Tried by court martial on Christmas Eve, he and Corporal John McDonald and Lance Sergeant Joseph William "Will" Stones faced a firing squad at dawn on 18th January 1917. Private Albert Rochester witnessed their execution: "A motor ambulance arrives carrying the doomed men. Manacled and blindfolded, they are helped out and tied up to the stakes. Over each man's heart is placed an envelope. At the sign of command, the firing parties, 12 for each, align their rifles on the envelopes. The officer in charge holds his stick aloft and, as it falls, 36 bullets usher the souls of three of Kitchener's men to the great unknown."
A military chaplain who prayed with them just before they died later noted: "Braver men I have never met."
They are additionally commemorated on 'The Shot at Dawn Memorial' at the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, in Staffordshire, England, in memory of the 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers executed after courts-martial for cowardice and desertion during World War I. The memorial portrays a young British soldier blindfolded and tied to a stake ready to be shot by a firing squad.
It is surrounded by a semicircle of stakes on which are listed the names of every soldier executed in this fashion. In 2007, the Armed Forces Act 2006 was passed allowing the soldiers to be pardoned, although section 359(4) of the act states that the pardon "does not affect any conviction or sentence." The real usual cause for their offences has been re-attributed in modern times to post-traumatic stress syndrome and combat stress reaction.
Soldiers accused of cowardice were often not given fair trials; they were often not properly defended, and some were under age.
The memorial was created by the artist Andy De Comyn and was unveiled by Mrs. Gertrude Harris, daughter of Private Farr, in June 2001. Mrs. Marina Brewis, the great niece of Lance Corporal Goggins, also attended the service.
Births Jun 1893 Goggins Peter Easington 10a 493
1901 England Census
Peter Goggins
Age: 8
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1893
Relation: Brother
Where born: Seaham Colliery, Durham, England
Civil Parish: Ryhope
Ecclesiastical parish: Ryhope St Paul
Town: Ryhope
County: Durham
Household Members:
James Goggins 26
Bridget Goggins 47
John Goggins 22
Kate Goggins 23
Lizzie Goggins 17
Ellen Goggins 12
Bridget Goggins 13
Maggie Goggins 10
Peter Goggins 8
1911 England Census
Peter Goggins
Age in 1911: 18
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1893
Relation to Head: Son
Birth Place: Seaham Colliery, Durham, England
Civil Parish: Dawdon
County: Durham
Address: 31 Back John Street Seaham Harbour
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Driver (below) Colliery
Registration District: Easington
Household Members:
Bridget Goggins 58
James Goggins 37
Bridget Goggins 21
Peter Goggins 18
Son of Bridget & the late Peter Goggins. Husband of Margaret Goggins nee Rowley of 58 South Street, South Moor, Co Durham. Peter's execution had a devastating effect on the family and his mother died soon afterwards.
In the early hours of November 26th 1916, Lance Corporal Goggins and a few of his comrades were guarding their positions on the western front when one of their sergeants, fleeing a German ambush, tore in from no-man's-land to warn them that they were about to be overrun. Peter and Corporal John McDonald abandoned their positions and headed back; it was only later that they learnt it had been a false alarm.
Even though the Sergeant confirmed that he had given the order to retreat the sentence was supported by Brigadier General H O'Donnell who wrote that he had doubts about the quality of evidence, but felt that the executions were necessary to set an example to other men in the Battalion.
They were all charged with deserting their posts. Tried by court martial on Christmas Eve, he and Corporal John McDonald and Lance Sergeant Joseph William "Will" Stones faced a firing squad at dawn on 18th January 1917. Private Albert Rochester witnessed their execution: "A motor ambulance arrives carrying the doomed men. Manacled and blindfolded, they are helped out and tied up to the stakes. Over each man's heart is placed an envelope. At the sign of command, the firing parties, 12 for each, align their rifles on the envelopes. The officer in charge holds his stick aloft and, as it falls, 36 bullets usher the souls of three of Kitchener's men to the great unknown."
A military chaplain who prayed with them just before they died later noted: "Braver men I have never met."
They are additionally commemorated on 'The Shot at Dawn Memorial' at the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, in Staffordshire, England, in memory of the 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers executed after courts-martial for cowardice and desertion during World War I. The memorial portrays a young British soldier blindfolded and tied to a stake ready to be shot by a firing squad.
It is surrounded by a semicircle of stakes on which are listed the names of every soldier executed in this fashion. In 2007, the Armed Forces Act 2006 was passed allowing the soldiers to be pardoned, although section 359(4) of the act states that the pardon "does not affect any conviction or sentence." The real usual cause for their offences has been re-attributed in modern times to post-traumatic stress syndrome and combat stress reaction.
Soldiers accused of cowardice were often not given fair trials; they were often not properly defended, and some were under age.
The memorial was created by the artist Andy De Comyn and was unveiled by Mrs. Gertrude Harris, daughter of Private Farr, in June 2001. Mrs. Marina Brewis, the great niece of Lance Corporal Goggins, also attended the service.
Births Jun 1893 Goggins Peter Easington 10a 493
1901 England Census
Peter Goggins
Age: 8
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1893
Relation: Brother
Where born: Seaham Colliery, Durham, England
Civil Parish: Ryhope
Ecclesiastical parish: Ryhope St Paul
Town: Ryhope
County: Durham
Household Members:
James Goggins 26
Bridget Goggins 47
John Goggins 22
Kate Goggins 23
Lizzie Goggins 17
Ellen Goggins 12
Bridget Goggins 13
Maggie Goggins 10
Peter Goggins 8
1911 England Census
Peter Goggins
Age in 1911: 18
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1893
Relation to Head: Son
Birth Place: Seaham Colliery, Durham, England
Civil Parish: Dawdon
County: Durham
Address: 31 Back John Street Seaham Harbour
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Driver (below) Colliery
Registration District: Easington
Household Members:
Bridget Goggins 58
James Goggins 37
Bridget Goggins 21
Peter Goggins 18
Lance Corporal 19/158, 19th Bn, Durham Light Infantry. Shot by order of Field General Court Martial.
Son of Bridget & the late Peter Goggins. Husband of Margaret Goggins nee Rowley of 58 South Street, South Moor, Co Durham. Peter's execution had a devastating effect on the family and his mother died soon afterwards.
In the early hours of November 26th 1916, Lance Corporal Goggins and a few of his comrades were guarding their positions on the western front when one of their sergeants, fleeing a German ambush, tore in from no-man's-land to warn them that they were about to be overrun. Peter and Corporal John McDonald abandoned their positions and headed back; it was only later that they learnt it had been a false alarm.
Even though the Sergeant confirmed that he had given the order to retreat the sentence was supported by Brigadier General H O'Donnell who wrote that he had doubts about the quality of evidence, but felt that the executions were necessary to set an example to other men in the Battalion.
They were all charged with deserting their posts. Tried by court martial on Christmas Eve, he and Corporal John McDonald and Lance Sergeant Joseph William "Will" Stones faced a firing squad at dawn on 18th January 1917. Private Albert Rochester witnessed their execution: "A motor ambulance arrives carrying the doomed men. Manacled and blindfolded, they are helped out and tied up to the stakes. Over each man's heart is placed an envelope. At the sign of command, the firing parties, 12 for each, align their rifles on the envelopes. The officer in charge holds his stick aloft and, as it falls, 36 bullets usher the souls of three of Kitchener's men to the great unknown."
A military chaplain who prayed with them just before they died later noted: "Braver men I have never met."
They are additionally commemorated on 'The Shot at Dawn Memorial' at the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, in Staffordshire, England, in memory of the 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers executed after courts-martial for cowardice and desertion during World War I. The memorial portrays a young British soldier blindfolded and tied to a stake ready to be shot by a firing squad.
It is surrounded by a semicircle of stakes on which are listed the names of every soldier executed in this fashion. In 2007, the Armed Forces Act 2006 was passed allowing the soldiers to be pardoned, although section 359(4) of the act states that the pardon "does not affect any conviction or sentence." The real usual cause for their offences has been re-attributed in modern times to post-traumatic stress syndrome and combat stress reaction.
Soldiers accused of cowardice were often not given fair trials; they were often not properly defended, and some were under age.
The memorial was created by the artist Andy De Comyn and was unveiled by Mrs. Gertrude Harris, daughter of Private Farr, in June 2001. Mrs. Marina Brewis, the great niece of Lance Corporal Goggins, also attended the service.
Births Jun 1893 Goggins Peter Easington 10a 493
1901 England Census
Peter Goggins
Age: 8
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1893
Relation: Brother
Where born: Seaham Colliery, Durham, England
Civil Parish: Ryhope
Ecclesiastical parish: Ryhope St Paul
Town: Ryhope
County: Durham
Household Members:
James Goggins 26
Bridget Goggins 47
John Goggins 22
Kate Goggins 23
Lizzie Goggins 17
Ellen Goggins 12
Bridget Goggins 13
Maggie Goggins 10
Peter Goggins 8
1911 England Census
Peter Goggins
Age in 1911: 18
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1893
Relation to Head: Son
Birth Place: Seaham Colliery, Durham, England
Civil Parish: Dawdon
County: Durham
Address: 31 Back John Street Seaham Harbour
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Driver (below) Colliery
Registration District: Easington
Household Members:
Bridget Goggins 58
James Goggins 37
Bridget Goggins 21
Peter Goggins 18
Son of Bridget & the late Peter Goggins. Husband of Margaret Goggins nee Rowley of 58 South Street, South Moor, Co Durham. Peter's execution had a devastating effect on the family and his mother died soon afterwards.
In the early hours of November 26th 1916, Lance Corporal Goggins and a few of his comrades were guarding their positions on the western front when one of their sergeants, fleeing a German ambush, tore in from no-man's-land to warn them that they were about to be overrun. Peter and Corporal John McDonald abandoned their positions and headed back; it was only later that they learnt it had been a false alarm.
Even though the Sergeant confirmed that he had given the order to retreat the sentence was supported by Brigadier General H O'Donnell who wrote that he had doubts about the quality of evidence, but felt that the executions were necessary to set an example to other men in the Battalion.
They were all charged with deserting their posts. Tried by court martial on Christmas Eve, he and Corporal John McDonald and Lance Sergeant Joseph William "Will" Stones faced a firing squad at dawn on 18th January 1917. Private Albert Rochester witnessed their execution: "A motor ambulance arrives carrying the doomed men. Manacled and blindfolded, they are helped out and tied up to the stakes. Over each man's heart is placed an envelope. At the sign of command, the firing parties, 12 for each, align their rifles on the envelopes. The officer in charge holds his stick aloft and, as it falls, 36 bullets usher the souls of three of Kitchener's men to the great unknown."
A military chaplain who prayed with them just before they died later noted: "Braver men I have never met."
They are additionally commemorated on 'The Shot at Dawn Memorial' at the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, in Staffordshire, England, in memory of the 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers executed after courts-martial for cowardice and desertion during World War I. The memorial portrays a young British soldier blindfolded and tied to a stake ready to be shot by a firing squad.
It is surrounded by a semicircle of stakes on which are listed the names of every soldier executed in this fashion. In 2007, the Armed Forces Act 2006 was passed allowing the soldiers to be pardoned, although section 359(4) of the act states that the pardon "does not affect any conviction or sentence." The real usual cause for their offences has been re-attributed in modern times to post-traumatic stress syndrome and combat stress reaction.
Soldiers accused of cowardice were often not given fair trials; they were often not properly defended, and some were under age.
The memorial was created by the artist Andy De Comyn and was unveiled by Mrs. Gertrude Harris, daughter of Private Farr, in June 2001. Mrs. Marina Brewis, the great niece of Lance Corporal Goggins, also attended the service.
Births Jun 1893 Goggins Peter Easington 10a 493
1901 England Census
Peter Goggins
Age: 8
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1893
Relation: Brother
Where born: Seaham Colliery, Durham, England
Civil Parish: Ryhope
Ecclesiastical parish: Ryhope St Paul
Town: Ryhope
County: Durham
Household Members:
James Goggins 26
Bridget Goggins 47
John Goggins 22
Kate Goggins 23
Lizzie Goggins 17
Ellen Goggins 12
Bridget Goggins 13
Maggie Goggins 10
Peter Goggins 8
1911 England Census
Peter Goggins
Age in 1911: 18
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1893
Relation to Head: Son
Birth Place: Seaham Colliery, Durham, England
Civil Parish: Dawdon
County: Durham
Address: 31 Back John Street Seaham Harbour
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Driver (below) Colliery
Registration District: Easington
Household Members:
Bridget Goggins 58
James Goggins 37
Bridget Goggins 21
Peter Goggins 18
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
