Brilliant book, well researched and very well written. I didn’t know that many men abandoned their original units to get to the front faster. This really helps with my family research.

In this book densely packed with interesting details covering the war years Hetherington makes it clear that, contrary to the more publicly held belief that many deserters were those executed on the war fronts, in fact they were the extreme end of a much wider spectrum of behaviour and response. Using a combination of military records – albeit that substantial numbers of them have been damaged or deliberately destroyed – and a broad sweep of newspaper articles of the time, she has managed to make this abundantly clear, on how the response to absenteeism might be both random and changeable to reflect the stage of the war. It should be said that she has largely concentrated on army (rather than naval) records and her coverage of the “dominions” is restricted to the Anzacs and Canada, rather than troops from the wider Empire. She covers issues of those executed, treatment of conscientious objectors and the “special” differences between most of mainland UK and Ireland and Irish expectations.
She makes it clear that from the start of the War there was a clear issue of different expectations of behaviour from the professional army with its rigid disciplinary rules and rules and the largely civilian volunteers (and later conscripts). For many absence for work at various times had never been a legal matter, it was in some industries normal behaviour – even ignoring the use of short term casual labour in so many others. Most troops would see a clear difference between “absenteeism”, especially at quieter times, and “desertion”. Something that the military command would not agree with and increasingly tried to get dealt with more stringently with adapted legislation and military guidelines. Much of this is detailed here.
A soldier who was absent would be posted missing. This could be advertised through police briefings and the press (police were paid a bounty for those they caught). At this stage most would be dealt with by the civilian courts before being returned to the army. Public courts often had press present so Hetherington has mined this source of information to record possible charges and punishments both often reflecting attitudes of magistrates and witnesses. Hiding a runaway was a crime, so again there is a suite of cases shown here together with analysis of the broader changing responses. Where possible she has shown examples of persistent offenders as well as the more anodyne using both the effectively non-combatants and those who were escaping the trauma of a known experience, often with physical and mental health issues. But she never forgets that these were real people going through difficult times.
A person absent from military service would not be able to work legally. So there were real issues of how they, or their families, managed to support themselves. Often they were vulnerable to exploitation. She reports press suggestions that some communities were deliberately allowing men to avoid serving and covers too the possible racist undertones to these reports. Importantly she reflects on the impact of both the war – and absentee soldiers – on their families back at home. No service meant no pay and no support payments for the family (cancelled with immediate effect) leaving many families near destitute. Equally partners being imprisoned for hiding spouses or other family members meant that children could be left unsupported and dragged into the dreaded Workhouse system, some would not live to return to their families. The examples selected here are as wide as human differences.
So this book is very much an eye opening read, taking things that most people who are interested in either war or family history and expanding the vistas behind it to the incredibly personal and giving real meaning to the ideas of the “impact” of this war on so many people. This together with both established class privilege and further the seeming randomness of the legal process for ordinary people (no doubt matching that of the military experience for so many men) makes this quite a painful read at times. The impact of the establishment of minutiae of military requirements on people (often those who didn’t even volunteer for this life) on top of the daily financial difficulties of life for so many are especially poignant for readers who might experience something similar. Hetherington has produced an impressive melding of facts and reactions and the impact on ordinary people, so this is a very humane and important book even for the non specialists.

I really enjoyed this book. Having already read a lot of books about the First World War, this book was refreshing and a very enjoyable read, I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the war and social history.

This book was such an emotive read. I really enjoyed the read and would so recommend it but be prepared to have tumbling emotions.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pen and Sword for the read.

I first encountered deserter stories reading about the American Civil War. I was always under the assumption deserters, when caught, were executed. Didn't make sense, then learned it wasn't the norm. I have often wondered it's frequency in other countries. Well, WW1 Britain has satisfied my curiosity! Still, I can't believe over 300 men were executed! Seriously, what was the point? Another 80,000 deserted with no consequences (and there shouldn't have been any, imo). The 80,000 sounds about right as far deserters go in any given war. There are always circumstances to be considered. Much like our Civil War, WW1 also had circumstances when men deserted. I enjoyed this book as it gave me insight not only into the war, but the challenges the everyday men faced in fighting it, or not. Good historical account and seems as well researched as it could be considering the shelling Britain took during either world war. I am aware of records be lost due to bombings in Europe, so London's losses don;t surprise me. I am glad the author has worked to gather the info into the this book. It needs to to told. Kudos to Andrea Hetherington. I was also glad to learn those who were executed were exonorated.