Private Frank Hughes was one of the 28 members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who were sentenced to death, and the first of the five who had their sentence confirmed and were “shot at dawn”.
He was found guilty of deserting and “evading duty in the trenches” by a Field General Court Martial held on 12 August 1916. The sentence was confirmed on 21 August, 1916 by the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig.
Early on the morning of the 25 August he was led from his cell to face a firing squad made up of members of the Pioneer Battalion and “the sentence was duly carried out at 5.30 am”.
Hughes had previously been in trouble with the authorities for neglect of duty and being absent without leave. On the last occasion, 27 July 1916, he was “awarded one years imprisonment with hard labour” but the sentence was suspended. If the sentence had been carried out he may well have avoided the firing squad.
The other four members who were executed were:-
Private John Joseph Sweeney - 1 October 1916
Private Jack Braithwaite - 29 October 1916
Private John King - 19 August 1917
Private Victor Manson 24 February 1918
All had volunteered and all were pardoned by Act of Parliament in 2000.
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