The family of Private Henry MacDonald, who was shot for desertion in 1916, are hoping a Private Members Bill due before Parliament in July will bring him a posthumous pardon.

They are pinning their hopes on the bill by Andrew McKinley, MP for Thurrock. He is leading the fight for pardons for British Empire soldiers executed by firing squad during the First World War.

He will re-present a bill on July 1, and is confident that Parliament will use the anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme to pardon those who paid the ultimate penalty for their frailty.

Pte MacDonald's grandson, Harry Mac-Donald, has campaigned on his forebear's behalf for 12 years. He says former Prime Minister John Major referred to the executions as a 'poison of history'. He is hopeful that Mr McKinley's bill will succeed.

The Keighley soldier's case is one of 345 being reviewed by Army Affairs Minister John Reid. Keighley News readers have backed the campaign, and a petition and cuttings from the newspaper were handed to Mr Reid by Keighley MP Ann Cryer.

Mrs Cryer says she will continue to keep up the pressure for a pardon for Pte MacDonald. She says there is nothing to lose by pardoning men like him and everything to be gained.

"It was such an awful period in history," she says. "I think that with hindsight and retrospect we should try to put right what those in authority did with such viciousness."

Mr Reid may decide to:

reject or defer the pardon proposal for further consideration

express official regret and announce a general apology

initiate an examination by suitably qualified judges

consider posthumous pardons for those where irregularities and unfairness may be identified

announce a blanket posthumous pardon in all except the most serious cases.

Pte MacDonald, known as Harry, was among the first to enlist at the outbreak of war. After recovering from wounds and frostbite suffered in the Dardanelles in 1915 he went back to active duty.

He was sent back to the front line at the Battle of the Somme after being buried alive, rendered unconscious and left shell-shocked. Confused and concerned about his young family, he went absent without leave and was executed for desertion.

In January Harry MacDonald proudly unveiled his grandfather's name on Keighley's roll of honour at a ceremony beside the cenotaph, following a campaign by the Keighley News and its readers.

Mr MacDonald says it is not clear whether relatives will be consulted directly as part of the review or about the Private Members Bill.

He says previous objections from the army and Whitehall officials have included the view that current standards should not be used to judge past events, that trial records are incomplete and that pardons for those executed would be unfair to those who died 'honourably'.

But Mr MacDonald says war pardons campaigners have discovered that the trials records are in fact complete, but were classified by successive governments until five years ago.

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