Play about local man executed in Great War

Play about local man executed in Great War wins Arts Council funding

The Tynemouth commemoration project has based its work on a published Roll of Honour recording names of men who died from causes related to the Great War of 1914-19. That Roll includes the name of one local man – William Hunter, of Coronation Street - caught up in one of the most controversial issues of the war - the policy of judicial execution of hundreds of men for military offences. The project commissioned North East playwright and author Peter Mortimer in 2011 to write a play based on Hunter’s court martial papers; and now the significance of his case has been recognised by the Arts Council of England, who have awarded the project £11,000 to assist in the writing and production of the play – Death at Dawn – to be first performed in week commencing 1^st September, 2014 at the Linskill Community Centre.

There are a number of unusual aspects to Hunter’s case and Peter has taken the few known facts of his early life to develop a fictional account of how his short military career might have progressed; interwoven with the information available from the handwritten court martial records. William’s life was ended by a firing squad at 6.58am on the 21^st February, 1916. He had claimed, when arrested and tried, to have been under age when he enlisted. That claim appears to have been ignored although at least one very senior officer recommended a reprieve of the death sentence, relying on Hunter’s assertion about his age but was overruled by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig who sanctioned all executions in France and Belgium.

The grant of the Arts Council money makes the staging of the play more certain, as other bodies are now likely to come forward with funds, in the knowledge that the play has support from the major funding body for the performing arts in England.

The play will be directed by Jackie Fielding and produced by North Tyneside’s only professional theatre company – Cloud Nine. Play author and Artistic Director of Cloud Nine, Peter Mortimer commented – “this is brilliant news. Arts Council funding in our straitened times is increasingly difficult to come by, so this is a real vote of confidence for the play and the project”

A Public meeting will take place on 29^th October, 2013 at 7pm at the Memorial Hall in Wallsend to gauge support for the formation of a group to begin the task of assembling the record of service and casualties of Wallsend. 

Unlike in Tynemouth Borough no document was ever produced (that is known about) giving a comprehensive record of Wallsend’s casualties. The first task of any group that is formed will be to collate the details to be found on numerous separate memorials, plaques and other artefacts connected to the town and the war. Memorials from places of employment, works, factories and shipyards as well as Church memorials will be a key source of information. The group, if formed will seek funding similar to that obtained by the Tynemouth project from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

If you are interested to help in the work of the proposed project (no previous experience in research is necessary- as training will be provided) please come to the meeting on 29^th October to find out how a properly constituted body will be formed and how you might be able to assist.

A number of opportunities will be available for people with special skills to volunteer and it is hoped that the project will get underway early in the 2014, when funding and workspace have been secured.