More than 300 soldiers -- including 23 Canadians -- who were executed for cowardice during the First World War are set to be formally pardoned, Britain's Defence Ministry confirmed Wednesday.

Defence secretary Des Browne is expected to announce a group pardon, approved by Parliament, for the 306 men on moral grounds.

The soldiers were shot by firing squad for cowardice or desertion in the 1914-1918 war -- many after court martial hearings that lasted just minutes.

Among them was British soldier Private Harry Farr, who was shot for cowardice in 1916 aged 25.

Farr's family have been campaigning for years for him to be pardoned, arguing that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress and should not have been sent back to the trenches.

The families of all the executed soldiers, who have long argued that the soldiers broke down amid the horrors in the trenches, received no military pensions, in addition to the stigma they suffered.

"I don't want to be in a position of second guessing the commanders in the field who were making decisions," but injustices "were clearly done,"  Browne told BBC Radio Four's Today program Wednesday.

A statutory "blanket pardon" recognizes that "everybody involved in these terrible cases were as much victims of World War I as those who died in the battlefield," Browne added.

However, not everyone agrees with the pardons.

Cliff Chadderton, chairman of Canada's National Council of Veteran Associations, told The Globe and Mail that while executing a soldier for desertion "sounds very brutal in today's world," it was critical for military leaders to ensure soldiers were prepared to sacrifice their lives for their fellow soldiers.

Deserters, he said, were "bad role models for other troops."

Veterans Affairs recognized the 23 Canadian soldiers and added their names to the Book of Remembrance in 2001.

The executed Canadian soldiers are listed as:

Sgt. W. Alexander, Pte. C. Laliberte, L/Bdr. F.S. Arnold, Pte. W.N. Ling, Pte. F. Auger, Pte. H.E.J. Lodge, Pte. H.G. Carter, Pte. T.L. Moles, Pte. G. Comte, Pte. E. Perry, Pte. A.C. Dagesse, Pte. E.J. Reynolds, Pte. L. Delisle, Pte. C. Welsh, Pte. E. Fairburn, Pte. J.H. Wilson, Pte. S. McD. Fowles, Pte. E. Young, Pte. J.M. Higgins, Pte. J.W. Roberts, Pte. H.H. Kerr, Pte. D. Sinizki, Pte. J. Lalancette.