Warrant Officer II William Alexander
PERSONAL INFORMATION
MILITARY INFORMATION
Warrant Officer II, 10th Battalion, Infantry (Army).
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RESEARCH INFORMATION
When on active service - desertion, in that he, in the field on 16 August 1917, when acting as platoon sergeant of No. 14 Platoon, during active operations (Battle of Hill 70), absented himself without leave from his platoon and remained absent until 18 August 1917. He was tried for desertion on September 29, 1917 and executed by firing squad at 6.10 a.m. on October 18, 1917 near Houdain. Alexander had 8 years prior service with Kings Royal Rifle Corps.
"Those who go to war at the request of their nation do not know the fate that lies in store for them. This was a war of such overwhelming sound, fury and unrelenting horror that few combatants could remain unaffected," said Minister Duhamel. "While we cannot relive those awful years of a nation at peril in total war, and although the culture of that time is subsequently too distant for us to comprehend fully, we can give these 23 soldiers a dignity that is their due, and provide closure to their families." (The Honourable Ron J. Duhamel, Minister of Veterans Affairs 11 December 2001)
The Government of Canada has offered an apology and formally announced its regret for this situation. On December 11, 2001, Veteran Affairs Minister, Dr. Ron Duhamel rose in the House of Commons and with sincerity and passion, read the names of those 23 Canadians into the Parliamentary record and announced their names will be written into Parliament Hill's Book of Remembrance. He was whole-heartedly supported by all of Canada's opposition Parties.
During the course of these battles, Alexander, had behaved "exceptionally well". Briefly absent through sickness a couple of times he was eventually hospitalised with a swollen knee. On discharge he joined his comrades for the attack on the well-fortified Hill 70. Previously, two British Divisions had been annihilated on its slopes. Although successful in taking the Hill, three hundred men, almost half the unit, were down. They were then ordered to attack the Quarry the following day. By then they were down to less than 130 men. Next, Alexander, as a platoon sergeant in D Company, was ordered to lead an attack on Chalk Quarry. When zero hour came he was missing and a corporal led instead. After twenty minutes vicious fighting and repeated counter-attacks by the Germans, the position was won. The 10th came out of the line having suffered 400 casualties and won more than 80 awards for bravery, including a posthumous Victoria Cross.
Two days later, Alexander was found in a village where the battalion had previously been billeted before the attack. He said he had been knocked down by a shell but had no visible injuries. He admitted he had not gone sick nor had he reported to a superior officer, but instead had gone back to where his battalion had been billeted. He had fought tenaciously with daring and courage under hellish conditions for thirty-three months, but in the end it counted for nothing. He was placed under arrest and one month later charged with desertion, sentenced to death and shot.
Canon Frederick George Scott was in a state of shock and the military authorities, probably feeling shamed, informed his kith and kin he had been killed in action. When eventually they did tell the family the truth, his brother in Winnipeg wrote back saying,
"But my lot was even worse than that, to be shot like a spy and a traitor to his country, that was the lot for my brother, even in death. He is still my brother and his noble spirit will live forever with me even in death, and his death was awful to be shot like a dog. ...May the Lord have mercy on the man who judged him, if he was wrong."
[Company Quartermaster Sergeant Army Canadian Infantry 10th Battalion Headquarters Company ]