217739 Pte. Thomas Hope British Army 2nd Btn. Leinster Regiment from:Westmeath, Ireland (d.2nd March 1915) Thomas Hope was the son of Mrs B. Hope, of 5, Mill Road, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. He was executed on the morning of March 2nd, 1915 before a British firing squad in Armentieres in France, after being arrested, court martialled and convicted of desertion, drunkenness and bad conduct within the army. He is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium.
Thomas Hope is featured in a new book about Irishmen shot at dawn. Twenty year old Thomas Hope was one of 28 Irishmen serving in British regiments featured in the book "Forgotten Soldiers - The Irishmen Shot At Dawnâ€, which traces the lives of men who enlisted to fight an enemy but ended up being killed by their own side. Written by award-winning Belfast journalist Stephen Walker, the book draws its information from war diaries, court-martial papers and interviews with veterans and family members. Dealing with the circumstances surrounding each individual execution case, “Forgotten Soldiers†details how these Irish soldiers, often exhausted by battle, suffering shellshock, or branded cowards for refusing to fight, were shot at dawn by a firing squad. Thomas Hope was one of the 350,000 young Irishmen who volunteered to join the British Army during World War 1.
Private Thomas Hope served with the 2nd Battalion of the Leinster Regiment and his tragic story began just two days before Christmas 1914 on the front-line trenches L`Épinette. In his trial, a charge of desertion was brought against Hope after he had gone missing for nearly seven weeks from 23rd December 1914 until 10th February 1915. Hope had argued in his defence that he had just learned of the deaths of his two brothers who were also enlisted in the army, and left the trenches on a sudden impulse. He said that he ended up in enemy territory from which he escaped, but was unable to find his way back to his regiment. Hope`s court martial was held on Valentine`s day, 14th February, and he was not defended at his trial.
“I had no intention of going absent when I left the trenches. It was a sudden impulse. The first night I was away I got by mistake into the German trenches. The enemy kept me for three days and took me to their Headquarters in Lille. I escaped from he Germans during an attack and got into the French trenches and stayed there two days. Then I met some British troops and stayed there some three or four days. I have been walking around since and tried to find my own regiment,†Hope stated in his own defence. The three-man panel found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Senior officers later endorsed the panel`s findings.
General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, a veteran commander of the 2nd Army, put pen to paper nine days after Hope`s sentence was handed down. “The Brigade discipline is second worst and the battalion discipline is also the second worst in the army. The case is a very bad one indeed and I recommend that the extreme penalty be carried out.â€
Hope`s destiny was sealed by the stroke of a pen and within days the sentence was confirmed by Commander-in-Chief, Sir John French. On 2nd March 1915, Thomas Hope was executed as an example to all other soldiers considering desertion.
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