Aby Bevistein was born in Russian-occupied Poland in 1898 and came to London when he was three. In September 1914 Aby volunteered, changing his surname to the English "Harris".
His parents were heartbroken when he joined the army
Soon after his arrival in France Aby discovered the wretched nature of trench warfare. He wrote home:
"Dear mother, I've been in the trenches four times and come out safe. We're down the trenches for six days and then we get relieved for six days' rest. Dear mother, I do not like the trenches. We're going in again this week."
For Aby, and many like him, the trenches meant cold and mud, wet clothes and rats, the smell of death and the sight of mutilated flesh, long monotonous hours interrupted by terror.
On 29 December 1915 Aby was caught in a German mine explosion - the enemy had tunnelled under the trench where he was stationed. He was wounded and suffered what was then simply called "shock". In today's military lexicon it would be described as "combat stress" or "post traumatic stress disorder".
By early spring Aby was back on the front. On 12 Feb 1916 the Germans again attacked his position, this time with grenades.
Dear mother, I'm in the trenches and I was ill so I went out, and they took me to the prison and I'm in a bit of trouble nowAby Bevistein
Suffering from shock, Aby wandered back and forth along the British lines. He was eventually arrested and charged with desertion. His last letter home is that of a boy who seems determined to underplay his situation, not to put stress on his mother at home.
"Dear mother, I'm in the trenches and I was ill so I went out, and they took me to the prison and I'm in a bit of trouble now."
The following month Aby then aged 17, became one of the 306 British soldiers executed during the Great War

He enlisted in Sept 1914, under the name of Harris & went to France in May 1915. He was initially enthusiastic, but disenchantment set in after his first spell of front-line duty.
Just before Christmas, at Givenchy, Harris was wounded in the back by the explosion of a German mine, but returned to his unit from hospital on 19 Jan.
On the morning of 13 Feb, at Sailly la Bourse, Harris reported to a senior NCO, saying that he had been sent from the trenches suffering from the shock from a rifle-grenade; that he had failed to find a dressing-station the previous night; & that he had spent the night at Vermelles. He was taken to see a doctor, who however said that Harris was fit for duty. (The doctor in question was to say at trial that Harris complained of deafness; but that he had found him to be suffering from no appreciable disease, or from nerves).

Harris was sent with a note, & ordered to report to the Adjutant in the trenches; went off at about 1000-1030 in that direction, but made no such report.

On 13 Feb, at about 1100, Harris was seen by a Corporal at the farm where he was billeted, saying that he had just come out of hospital. Later that day, he was arrested when he finally said that his regiment was in the trenches. His French landlady said that Harris had arrived between 1500 & 1600, telling her that ‘….the Germans had been bombing our trenches & he had left them & was going to England’.

At trial, Harris testified, saying: ‘I left the trenches because 3 rifle-grenades exploded near me. I was deafened & my nerves had gone a bit’. When ordered back to the trenches, he had felt nervous & lost his head, ending up at his billet, thinking to return to duty after a few days. Under cross-examination, however he admitted his intention not to return until the company came out of the trenches.

Following conviction, his good character was proved, but in vain.(