"Misbehaving before the enemy in such a manner as to show cowardice". This was the reason given for the court-martial verdict on one of the 306 British soldiers shot at dawn during the first World War. Others concerned desertion, disobedience and refusal to obey orders to fight.
A disproportionate number of those shot in this way were Irish - 26 or 8 per cent of the total compared to the 2 per cent of Irish recruits serving in the British army at the time. The imperial spread of the issue is well illustrated by the fact that in addition to the United Kingdom and Ireland the other countries involved are Canada, New Zealand, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Jamaica, Nigeria, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Burma and Afghanistan.
Yesterday's long-delayed proposal by the British government that the soldiers should be pardoned on a group basis is a welcome recognition that such verdicts were fundamentally flawed. Defence secretary Des Browne announced he is to seek parliamentary approval for such a decision during passage of an army bill this autumn.
It is expected to be passed, following intensive political and military lobbying leading up to his announcement. The last time it was considered in 1998 it was turned down. Military establishments the world over resist such upendings of disciplinary tradition, whatever the legal or moral case made for declaring verdicts null and void.
Taken by commanding officers in the heat of battle, often for fear that a refusal to return to it by ordinary soldiers would trigger collective mutiny, these courts martial, it is now admitted, denied those charged a fair trial. Fundamental features of modern warfare such as shell shock were disregarded or simply not realised and understood at the time. Mr Browne explained that he does not want to "second guess the decisions made by commanders in the field, who were doing their best to apply the rules and standards of the time. But the circumstances were terrible, and I believe it is better to acknowledge that injustices were clearly done in some cases, even if we cannot say which - and to acknowledge that all these men were victims of war."
It is an honourable formula, which has deservedly been welcomed by the Government and the Irish Shot at Dawn Campaign on behalf of the Irish soldiers who died. The stigma has been borne as much by the Irish as the British families and those of the other nationalities involved. Lobbying on this issue was conducted through the British-Irish inter-parliamentary body over recent years, and this outcome illustrates its usefulness.