(1) In the Great War, 5 soldiers of the New
Zealand Expeditionary Force were executed, after trial by court martial,
for certain offences:
(2) They were all volunteers:
(3) One was executed for the offence of mutiny:
(4) The other 4 were executed for the offence
of desertion:
(5) Their execution was not a fate that they
deserved but was one that resulted from—
(6) The execution of those 5 soldiers brought
dishonour to both the soldiers themselves and New Zealand:
(7) It is now desired to remove, so far as
practicable, the dishonour that the execution of those 5 soldiers
brought to those soldiers and their families.