Person

Born in Nantyglo, South Wales in 1886, Jesse Short was working as a miner at Heworth Colliery and living in Felling with his wife, Dinah, and two young children, when the First World War began. Though his service papers have not survived, it is clear that Jesse Short originally enlisted in 1914 in the 3rd Tyneside Irish (26th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers), but transferred to the 24th Battalion before the Tyneside Irish Brigade sailed for France.

Jesse Short almost certainly fought with the Tyneside Irish on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916, when the Brigade lost 600 men killed and over 1,500 wounded. A year later, the Brigade was serving on the front at Ypres, where, because of a shortage of replacements, the 24th and 27th Battalions Northumberland Fusiliers were merged into one battalion.

On 11 September 1917, Corporal Jesse Short was at the base camp at Etaples on the French coast, where, having recovered either from wounds or illness, he was undergoing re-training before being returned to the front line. Disturbances broke out in the camp that day, possibly caused by the harsh treatment meted out by camp’s instructors and possibly influenced by events in Russia, and one group of 80 soldiers carrying placards and armed with sticks marched on a bridge across the river Canache. There Corporal Short was arrested for inciting the soldiers guarding the bridge to lay down their weapons, attack their officer, and throw him into the river.

Jesse Short was court martialed the next day, found guilty of inciting mutiny and sentenced to death. He was executed at Boulogne on 4 October 1917: the only soldier executed after the Etaples mutiny.

Jesse Short is buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery in the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. On his headstone is an inscription chosen by wife: “Duty called and he went forward. Ever remembered by his wife and children.”

Where to look for more information about this person:

Julian Putkowski & Julian Sykes, Shot at Dawn (Barnsley, 1998), pp. 226-229.

Cathryn Corns & John Hughes-Wilson, Blindfold & Alone (London, 2005), pp. 392-394.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/45707/SHORT,%20JESSE%20ROBERT

North East War Memorials Project
http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=7724

The National Archives
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/service_records/p_field.htm

NewcastleGateshead.org
http://www.newcastlegateshead.org/PAGESHOTATDAWN.htm#.VLTkxieJcXU

Civil Parish: Heworth

Birth date: 1886-Jul-1886

Death date: 4-Oct-1917

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: 11 Parkinson Street, Felling, Gateshead.

Employment: Miner, Heworth Colliery.

Family: Parents: William and Margaret Short.
Wife: Dinah Short (married 1911); children, Margaret (born 1912) & Mary (born 1914).

Military service:

26/626 Private (later Acting Corporal), 26th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (3rd Tyneside Irish). Also served with 24 NF and 24/27 NF.

Medal(s): As he had been executed, the British War and Victory Medals were not sent to his widow.

Memorial(s): Boulogne Cemetery East.
Heworth Colliery’s Memorial Plaque (plaque now lost).

Gender: Male

Contributed by Durham County Record Office | Durham at War Volunteer