A SOLDIER from the North-East thought to be the real inspiration behind the TV drama the Monocled Mutineer is to be commemorated tomorrow (Saturday) nearly 100 years after he was shot at dawn.

Although the hit-series centred on Percy Toplis, researchers believe the mutineer depicted was in fact based on Jesse Robert Short, who was executed for his part in the mutiny at Etaples, in France, in September 1917.

A corporal in the 24th Battalion (Tyneside Irish) Northumberland Fusiliers, Short apparently incited his men to throw an officer into the river.

It was discovered that Cpl Short’s name and that of two other soldiers involved in separate mutinies, did not feature on the “Shot at Dawn” memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) in Staffordshire.

The memorial was created in 2000 by artist Andy DeComyn as his gift to the relatives of the 306 men that had been pardoned.

It features a stake for each man surrounding a statue of a blindfolded soldier, modelled on on Private Herbert Burden of the 1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers who was shot at Ypres in 1915.

The memorial was created before mutineers were pardoned in 2006 and campaigners have now won permission to add three stakes to the memorial.

Names featured on the new stakes, alongside Cpl Short will be New Zealander Private Cecil John ‘Jack’ Braithwaite, and British Gunner William Lewis, 124th Brigade Royal Field Artillery, both executed in October 1916.

Among those attending a special service tomorrow will be relatives of the three soldiers, including Neil Graham of Newcastle, who is a descendant of Cpl Short.

Military historian Richard Pursehouse, who with Lee Dent founded The Chase project which helped with research, said: “The National Memorial Arboretum have done a fantastic job being supportive and getting involved, as well as the artist,

“We feel very humble to have been part of this. I think its absolutely fantastic we have been able to track down the relatives and they are prepared to travel, in some cases, thousands of miles, to be here.”

Brigadier Evan Williams of the New Zealand Defence Force is also expected to attend.

At the end of the service, the Last Post will be played by Steve Taylor, a former soldier in the Staffordshire Regiment.

The omission of the mutineers’ names first came to light when Geoff McMillan of the Western Front New Zealand visited the Arboretum.

He said: “I was moved to see how the names of hundreds of soldiers executed for desertion or cowardice in World War I were recorded in the Shot at Dawn memorial, but puzzled that the name of fellow Kiwi Jack Braithwaite was missing.

“I am really pleased that the Arboretum has been so interested in my research on this issue and have been so supportive of the idea of paying tribute to the three mutineers by adding their names to the Shot at Dawn memorial.”

Arboretum managing director Sarah Montgomery, said: “When we discovered that the names of the three mutineers were missing from the memorial, we felt it was only right that they should be added.

“We are very grateful to Geoff for telling us about the fascinating stories behind these three mutineers who will now be commemorated alongside hundreds of other soldiers, who were executed, for alleged offences such as desertion and cowardice.”

Cpl Short, was working as a miner at Heworth Colliery and living in Parkinson Street, Felling Gateshead, with his wife Dinah and two young children, when the First World War began.

On September 11 1917, Cpl Short was at the base camp at Etaples, 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 one group of 80 soldiers carrying placards and armed with sticks marched on a bridge across the river Canache.

Cpl Short tried to persuade the soldiers to lay down their arms and referring to its commander said: “Don’t listen to that officer, That bugger ought to have a rope tied round his neck with a stone on it and be chucked into the river.”

Cpl Short was court martialled the next day, found guilty of inciting mutiny and sentenced to death. He was executed weeks later.