Desertion

Just to confirm, do you mean desertion or AWL? (Tom did I type it correctly this time! )

The difference between the two may have a lot to do with intention, or seems to be the interpretation of that / proof etc, so that someone could be convicted of desertion for a matter of days / weeks absence, whereas I know of a few cases of AWL involving several months. I also read in a unit war diary of deserters from Rep. of Ireland returning to their old unit upon mobilization at start of war... they seemed to have been welcomed back. A case of a man who went AWL for several months finished his training after time in military prison, and was subsequently promoted whilst on active service.

There are files in the National Archives at Kew dealing with Courts Martial, though Drew would be best placed to explain them better than I. I gather the registers are difficult to search through, but you might get an idea of charges and sentences from those.

Or, someone here might have a copy of the Regulations and could look punishments for you, but I'd imagine if found guilty it would be time in the glasshouse / hard labour.

A mate of my father's got a Dishonourable Discharge post-hostilities. He wasn't treated badly by his mates, only by their association which could get quite snobby about such matters, despite some of them never having lifted a rifle in anger.

 

Another book recommendation:
Sean Longden's 'To the Victor the Spoils'.
Excellent and well-balanced summary of 'the other side' of a large Army on it's way from D-Day to VE Day.
They weren't angels, they were ordinary men representing the full spectrum of society & human behaviour (something I find more interesting than the oft-encountered perception of godlike perfection).

Looking in the Oxford Companion to the Second War:
"More than 100,000 deserted from the British army in the course of the War.
In May 1942 General Auchinleck, disturbed by the number of deserters during the Western desert campaigns, recommended the reintroduction of the death penalty, which was refused. One British divisional General, Maj-general James Elliot, remarked on the very high level of what he called battle absenteeism. This was higher than the numbers killed in certain actions and sometimes even higher than those wounded. 'It was at times', he wrote, 'common for some 20 men in a battalion to become Battle Absentees in a given section. About 400 men were battle absentees in the average division in 1943-4 in a period of about six months. When it is realised that these men came almost entirely from the rifle companies of Infantry battalions, the numbers became serious'."

 

It's well-referenced, and there's a separate section of 'WO' numbers in there, along with Interviews, letters & secondary sources..
It'd be a bit of a struggle to go through and link each file to a specific subject in the text, but d'you fancy a scan of the raw list?

 

2 random sample images from registers Drew found at Kew.

If you look at 4th and 5th entry these are the first for desertion, sentenced to H.L. (Hard Labour?), 2 years.

There are more further down the page.

[I see one man from my father's bn - breaking out of barracks, tut tut. :mellow: ]

 

Mike, I just scrolled to the bottom of the page and ... there it was (I hope) amongst the 'similar threads'.

When Did 'AWOL' Become 'Desertion'?

Alan has supplied some stats in this other thread
Desertion Rates during WW2

 

In this instance, your wish is my command:
View attachment 70209
(And I've been dying for a legitimate reason to try controlling new wireless scanner with new phone... so, errr, cheers for that . Yes... I'm quite sad.)

 

I have two relatives, both volunteers, with similar stories Tim.
One deserted a cavalry unit for another, under an assumed name, during WW1. He was informed on much later, C-M'd and by all accounts pardoned due to nature of his service and given his name back. Anyway, the facts bear out that he continued serving with the 2nd regiment participating in ceremonial duties, well into the 1930s.

Another joined a Guards regiment very early on in the war, apparently hated it, and in his own name 'left' for the MN, sailing on Atlantic convoys.

Given these examples, it could be a simple case of the first unit being 'not for them', Kenneally VC being another example. He actually applied for a transfer to his preferred regiment, but was refused, so he took another route assuming the identity of an Irish worker who had returned to Eire.

I don't think any the worse of them, despite what some might stress about oaths upon attestation.