THE Bishop of Durham led North-East churchgoers in prayers marking the anniversary of one of the most tragic acts of the First World War.

Exactly 87 years ago yesterday, three Durham Light Infantrymen faced a dawn firing squad in a French farmyard, shamed as cowards by the Army they had volunteered to serve.

Sergeant Joseph "Will" Stones, a 25-year-old father of two from Crook, Lance Corporal Peter Goggins, 21, from South Moor, Stanley, both County Durham, and Corporal John McDonald, 28, from Sunderland, were victims of the war's only triple execution.

Campaigners for the trio and 303 other British soldiers executed in the 1914-18 conflict welcomed the move by the Bishop, the Right Reverend Tom Wright.

He included them in prayers during a visit to the church of St James and St Bede, at Gateshead. At Durham Cathedral, the Dean of Durham, the Very Reverend Michael Sadgrove, prayed for them at services throughout the day.

John Hipkin, a driving force in the so far unsuccessful Shot at Dawn campaign, was in the Gateshead congregation.

He said: "The Church is showing the way on this. I see this as a huge breakthrough and I am proud that the bishop chose to honour the memories of these brave men."