John Braithwaite

John Braithwaite (3 January 1885 – 29 October 1916) was a New Zealander who served in the First World War with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Supposedly a journalist before the war, in 1916 he was convicted of mutiny and executed by firing squad. He was posthumously pardoned in September 2000 through the passage of the Pardon for Soldiers of the Great War Act 2000. Early life John Braithwaite was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 3 January 1885, as Cecil James Braithwaite, one of 16 children to bookseller Joseph Braithwaite and his wife Mary Ann. After completing his schooling, he worked alongside his father, who would rise to become the mayor of Dunedin in 1905/06. Braithwaite later claimed to have become a journalist who lived in Sydney, Australia, for a time from 1911. However, over the period from 1911 to 1915 he appeared in court in New Zealand for a number of criminal offences, including theft of jewelry and a bicycle. He also appears to have spent time on Rotoroa Island, an alcohol rehabilitation facility run by the Salvation Army, for at least a part of 1912. He was acquitted of one offence, in February 1915. First World War Braithwaite enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) in May 1915. Some of his brothers were already serving abroad with the NZEF, one being wounded at Gallipoli. He was posted to the 2nd Battalion of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and embarked for the Middle East in January 1916. Within a matter of weeks of arriving in Egypt, he was transferred to 2nd Battalion, Otago Infantry Regiment. Promoted to lance corporal in April, his unit was shipped to France for service on the Western Front. His performance as a soldier soon deteriorated.