Thomas Highgate

Private Thomas James Highgate (13 May 1895 – 8 September 1914) was a British soldier during the First World War and the first British soldier to be convicted of desertion and executed by firing squad on the Western Front. He was born in Shoreham, Kent, and worked as a farm labourer before joining the army in 1913 as a seaman. When the First World War began, he fought with the First Battalion of the Royal West Kents. Highgate was executed 35 days into the war, on 8 September 1914, after being found hiding in a farmhouse wearing civilian clothes. His death was made as public as possible and used as an example to other soldiers. Highgate's name was not included on the war memorial at Shoreham; from the late 1990s onwards, some local residents fought for his name to be added whilst others disagreed. Posthumous pardons for soldiers who had been executed, including Highgate, were announced in 2006.

Early life Thomas Highgate was born on 13 May 1895 in Shoreham, Kent. He was one of five sons to his mother, Alice Highgate. His family lived in poverty and travelled between Shoreham and the outskirts of London. Highgate is recorded as having worked as a farm labourer. On 4 February 1913, aged 17, he joined the army and served as a seaman. Whilst at sea, Highgate suffered a fall, was in two shipwrecks, and contracted yellow fever in Africa. Captain Tate, a medical officer at Richmond Barracks, produced a memorandum in June 1914 regarding Highgate's health. He wrote that Highgate had a "peculiar" disposition and that his illness and injury may have accounted for issues with memory loss. Highgate was recorded as being absent from the army before the First World War broke out; he did not attend tattoo on 7 September 1913 or 1 July 1914, and he deserted the army from 28 February to 4 May 1914. He was caught and imprisoned for 42 days when he tried to enlist with a different unit at Woolwich in order to be closer to his brother. Despite his absences, Highgate was described as a "good worker" in his army records. and hid in a farmhouse. He was found while wearing civilian clothes and without his rifle by a gamekeeper, who was both English and a former soldier. he is recorded as having said to the gamekeeper, "I want to get out of it and this is how I am doing it". He was arrested by the gendarmes and taken into custody by Captain Milward. Highgate told Milward that he did not remember having done anything except leave his bivouac shelter. In court, Highgate said that he remembered walking around, entering the farm, lying down in a civilian house, and putting on civilian clothes but did not recall much else.

A notice in the Sidcup and District Times on 23 June 1916 reported that Highgate had been killed in 1915 and had fought with the East Surrey Regiment. Michael Hankins, a local historian in Sidcup, speculated that this report was incorrect because Highgate's family were attempting to change the story. Also known as the Memorial to the Missing of the Marne, it was erected in 1928.

The names of soldiers executed for crimes including cowardice and desertion were not likely to appear on local war memorials, and the memorial in Shoreham, Highgate's home village, did not bear his name when it was erected. In March 2000, the British Legion was in the process of restoring the memorial, which provided an opportunity to add Highgate's name. Reverend Simmons believed the villagers should decide, so a vote was held for the 1,700 residents of Shoreham to decide whether Highgate's name would be added to the memorial. The council wanted to wait to see if the government pardoned men who were shot for desertion before adding Highgate's name. A gap was left on the memorial in case his name should be added at a later date.

In 2006, the government granted posthumous pardons to men who were shot for cowardice and other crimes during the First World War, but Highgate's name remained missing from the memorial. Highgate's great nephew, Terence Highgate, was still campaigning for his name to be added in 2014.

During the campaign to have Highgate's name added to the memorial, a local historian discovered that his name already appeared on another memorial in Sidcup. The Sidcup memorial lists Thomas Highgate and two brothers: L/Cpl Robert Highgate, killed in France on 3 January 1915 aged 24, and Pte Joseph Highgate, who died of his wounds on 6 June 1916 aged 19.