8th September 1914 saw the execution of Private Thomas James Highgate of 1st Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment.
Highgate was the first of over 300 members of the British Army who would be executed by the British Army during the course of World War 1 (WW1).
Stationed in Richmond Barracks, Dublin at the outbreak of WW1, 19year old Highgate and his comrades landed in France on 15th August 1914 and took part in the Battle of Mons.
He was arrested for desertion on the 6th September 1914, tried by Field General Court Martial without a defending officer or witnesses, found guilty and executed early on the 8th September 1914.
While the British Army did bury him, the grave was subsequently lost.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/879050/highgate,-thomas-james/
