British Expeditionary Force were in retreat. 40,000 British soldiers fought in the battle, and 7,800 were killed. Early on the morning of 6 September 1914, Highgate left the frontline, saying he needed to "ease himself", and hid in a farmhouse. He was found by a gamekeeper, who was both English and a former soldier, wearing civilian clothes and without his rifle. His army uniform was discovered nearby. Historian Julian Putkowski wrote that the total time of Highgate's desertion was likely "no more than an hour or two". Highgate reportedly found the fighting too overwhelming; he is recorded as having said to the gamekeeper, "I want to get out of it and this is how I am doing it". He was arrested by the Gendarmes and taken into custody by Captain Milward. Highgate told Milward that he did not remember having done anything except leave his bivouac shelter. In court, Highgate said that he remembered walking around, entering the farm, lying down in a civilian house, and putting on civilian clothes but did not recall much else. Highgate was not the only soldier to act dishonourably during the retreat from Mons; two officers attempted to surrender their battalions to the enemy. They were discharged and did not face the death penalty. There were other instances of soldiers looting and travelling with civilians, as well as one allegation of rape. As a result, there were concerns about discipline throughout the British Expeditionary Force. Execution Highgate was accused of desertion, and a Field General Court-Martial was arranged a few hours after he was discovered in the farm house. He was unable to call members of his battalion as witnesses as they had all been killed, captured or injured during the Battle of Mons. He also did not have an officer to call as witness, despite that being his right. Two days later, on 8 September, he was executed by a firing squad consisting of men from the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment in the 15th Brigade. Highgate died at 7:07, 45 minutes after he himself found out about his guilty verdict. Aged 19, Highgate was the first British soldier to be shot for cowardice on the Western Front, 35 days after the war began. Putkowski said that there may have been a "crisis of confidence" amongst senior officials in the army, who at the time of Highgate's trial had seen the deaths of 20,000