A SOLDIER who was shot for cowardice during the First World War and pardoned more than 90 years later is to be recognised on a war memorial.

Private Harry Farr fought with the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment and served continuously in France from 1914 to 1916.

He had been in hospital for five months, suffering from severe shellshock, when he was sentenced to death.

Pleas for mercy were rejected because it could not be proven conclusively that shellshock was behind his refusal to go back to the Front.

He was executed in October 1916, aged 25 - one of 306 soldiers shot for military offences during the conflict.

His story was one of many highlighted in The Northern Echo's Shot at Dawn campaign, which urged Prime Minister Tony Blair to clear their names. All have now been pardoned.

Pte Farr's name will be added to Wealdstone war memorial, in north-west London, next year.

His daughter, Gertrude Harris, 93, from Harrow Weald, London, said she was delighted with the news.

She said: "There have been times whether we wondered whether we were wasting our time, but it just goes to show that all the hard work campaigning has been worth it."

Her daughter, Janet Booth, added: "We are delighted because that is where his wife, also called Gertrude, would have wanted it.

"It means that our family can go there and see his name engraved on the memorial and feel proud."

Veteran campaignerJohn Hipkin urged all councils in the region to add the names of pardoned soldiers from their areas to their war memorials.

Mr Hipkin said: "We owe The Northern Echo an enormous debt for highlighting the cases of the soldiers from the area every day during its campaign.

"It is now up to local authorities to recognise those from their area with the honour and dignity they deserve. Their names deserve to be up there with their other fallen colleagues.

"Nothing stands out quite like a newly-engraved name on a war memorial. It is embossed, showing that it is a new addition, and it leaps out at you."