The grandson of a soldier shot at dawn on the Western Front is calling on Parliament to rubber stamp his posthumous pardon in time for Armistice Day.

Private Henry MacDonald, executed in November 1916, is one of 306 British soldiers to have the stigma of cowardice wiped from their names.

His grandson, 66-year-old Harry MacDonald, from Hampshire, wants the official pardons to be announced in time for Poppy Day on November 11.

"That would be very appropriate and welcomed by the families. I would like to see that happen," said Mr MacDonald, who has campaigned for 20 years to get his grandfather a posthumous pardon.

"We are very pleased something has been done at last. I never thought it would happen."

The news of the pardon came as Defence Secretary Des Browne announced he was to seek emergency legislation in the autumn to exonerate the men.

He said: "I hope we can take the earliest opportunity to achieve this by introducing a suitable amendment to the current Armed Forces Bill."

The Ministry of Defence expects the move to be ratified by Christmas.

Mr MacDonald said he recently visited his grandfather's grave at Louvencourt on the Somme, along with his two sons.

"It was a very moving experience. We were the first in the family to go in all that time. My gran knew he was buried somewhere in France, but that was all. The visit helped to put a ghost to rest."

The execution had plunged the family into poverty when his grandmother was denied Pte MacDonald's army pension, Mr MacDonald explained.

She had to seek poor relief and his father was sent to live with his grandfather's sister in Hull.

His grandfather had fought at Gallipoli, where he was wounded, before being sent back to the Western Front.

He had been allowed compassionate leave to visit his pregnant wife Lily, but had been suffering mental stress at the time of his going absent without leave.

Keighley honoured Pte MacDonald after a campaign in the 1990s.

His name has been included on the town's Roll of Honour and a ceremony to mark the occasion was held at the Keighley war memorial in 1998.

He was a member of the West Yorkshire regiment and had fought at the battle of the Somme, where he was buried alive when a shell exploded near his trench. He received treatment for shell shock but was posted back to the front line.

He deserted his post and set off back to Keighley, concerned about his pregnant wife.

Pte MacDonald was shot by firing squad, aged 32, on November 4, 1916.

l The case for posthunous pardons was highlighted by the family of Private Harry Farr, of the 1st Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, who campaigned to clear his name after he was executed for alleged cowadice in 1916.

e-mail: clive.white@bradford.newsquest.co.uk