Desertion

thumb|The Defector, by [[Octav Băncilă, 1906]]

thumb|Deserteur (Дезертир), by [[Ilya Repin, 1917]]

Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave<!-- The word "official" does not belong in the term "absence without leave", according to the UCMJ, Article 86 --> (AWOL ), which are temporary forms of absence.

Desertion versus absence without leave

In the United States Army,

By country

thumb|right|[[Armenian soldiers in 1919, with deserters as prisoners]]

Australia

thumb|upright|A 1918 cartoon by [[Cecil Hartt making light of the high incidence of soldiers going absent without leave in the Australian Imperial Force]]During the First World War, the Australian Government refused to allow members of the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) to be executed for desertion, despite pressure from the British Government and military to do so. The AIF had the highest rate of soldiers going absent without leave of any of the national contingents in the British Expeditionary Force, and the proportion of soldiers who deserted was also higher than that of other forces on the Western Front in France.

Austria

In 2011, Vienna decided to honour Austrian Wehrmacht deserters. Following the fall of Kabul in August 2021, the remaining forces of the ANA either deserted their posts or surrendered to the Taliban.

Canada

During World War I, the Canadian Expeditionary Force passed more than 200 death sentences on deserters. Only 25 men were actually executed.

Per the National Defence Act, "every person who deserts or attempts to desert is guilty of an offence and on conviction, if the person committed the offence on active service or under orders for active service, is liable to imprisonment for life or to less punishment and, in any other case, is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to less punishment".

Colombia

In Colombia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Spanish: FARC) insurgency were highly affected by desertion during the armed conflict with the Military Forces of Colombia. The Colombian Ministry of Defense reported 19,504 deserters from the FARC between August 2002 and their collective demobilization in 2017,

From 1914 to 1918 between 600 and 650 French soldiers were executed for desertion. In 2013, a report for the French Ministry of Veteran Affairs recommended that they be pardoned.

Conversely, France considered as highly praiseworthy the act of citizens of Alsace-Lorraine who during WWI deserted from the German army. After the war it was decided to award all such deserters the Escapees' Medal ().

During the First Indochina War (1946–54), the French Foreign Legion was deployed to fight the Vietnamese insurgency. Some of the legionnaires, such as Stefan Kubiak, deserted and began fighting for the Việt Minh and People's Army of Vietnam upon witnessing torture of Vietnamese peasants at the hands of French troops.

Germany

thumb|German street posters in [[Danzig as the Red Army approached in February 1945, warning soldiers that escaping with civilians will be treated as desertion]]

During the First World War, only 18 Germans who deserted were executed. However, the Germans executed 15,000 men who deserted from the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. In June 1988 the Initiative for the Creation of a Memorial to Deserters who deserted the Wehrmacht came to life in Ulm.

thumb|Deserters from the Portuguese Army during the [[Portuguese Colonial War in Africa, Amsterdam, 1969]]

Ireland

Ireland was neutral during the Second World War; the Irish Army expanded to 40,000 men, but they had little to do once it became clear in 1942 that invasion (either by Nazi Germany or by the British Empire) was unlikely. Soldiers were put to work cutting trees and peat; morale was low and pay was bad. Of the 60,000 men who passed through the army in 1940–45, about 7,000 men deserted, about half of them deciding to fight on the Allied side, most joining the British Army.

Once the war was over, the EPO 362 order meant deserters were allowed to return to Ireland; they were not imprisoned, but lost rights to an army pension and could not work for the state or claim unemployment benefits for seven years. They were also seen as traitors by some Irish people in their homes.

Decades after, the morality of their actions was debated; on the one hand, they had illegally abandoned their country's armed forces at a time when it was threatened with invasion — indeed, it was argued that their acts were treasonous at a time when Britain may have been planning to seize control of Ireland's ports (see Plan W); on the other hand, they chose to leave a safe if tedious posting in order to risk their lives fighting against fascism, and many were motivated by genuine idealism.

In 2012, the Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter issued a pardon and amnesty to all World War II–era deserters from the Irish Defence Forces.

Italy

During World War I, 15,096 Italians served life sentences and around 750 were executed (391 by firing squad) for deserting from the military; the Roman punishment of decimation was claimed to have been used. In 1918, Italy agreed to pardon all deserters, who, after their conscription in their military, joined the United States Army, affecting thousands. In total, about 128,000 desertion cases took place due to the First World War in Italy. In Italy during the Napoleonic Wars, about 40,000 soldiers deserted from the military, with Italy's Ministry of War of the Kingdom, describing desertion as a "destructive worm". To halt desertion, in 1808, the Italian government created the consigli di guerra speciali, a group of military courts.

New Zealand

During the First World War, 28 New Zealand soldiers were sentenced to death for desertion; of these, five were executed. These soldiers were posthumously pardoned in 2000 through the Pardon for Soldiers of the Great War Act.

Rhodesia

The Rhodesian government did not have a formal mechanism to track down men who did not report for the national service and conscription scheme. While desertion could be punished by death, this was not enforced. Most Rhodesian Security Forces officers were not concerned about men in their units evading call ups or deserting. As late as 1977 the Army did not keep records of men who deserted. The heavy burden conscription placed on the white minority during the final years of the Rhodesian Bush War led to many white people emigrating. This undermined the Rhodesian government's war effort and contributed to the transition to majority rule, with the country becoming Zimbabwe in 1980.

Russia

During the 2022 Russian mobilization, the Putin-controlled State Duma of Russia adopted amendments to include the concepts of mobilization, martial law and wartime in the Criminal Code, and introduced several articles related to military operations. Desertion during a period of mobilization or wartime will be punished by up to 10 years in jail. In December 2022, Kazakhstan deported back to Russia a Russian officer who was trying to avoid the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Russian independent media outlet Mediazona reported that military courts have received thousands of AWOL cases since Russia's 2022 mobilization. Pro Asyl estimated that 250,000 Russian conscripts have fled to other countries since February 2022. There is a distinction however between potential conscripts who could be conscripted if they stayed in Russia (the german court ruled that they faced virtually no risk of being sent to fight in Russia's war in Ukraine) and active duty contract soldiers and officers who desert from the war.

According to leaked Russian documents, more than 50,000 Russian soldiers deserted during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, mostly in 2023 and 2024.

Somalia

The Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) suffered from mass desertions during the Ethiopian military occupation (2007–2009). In December 2008 the United Nations reported that more than 80% of the army and police, about 15,000 men - had deserted.

Soviet Union

Russian Civil War

In 1919, 616 "hardcore" deserters of the total 837,000 draft dodgers and deserters were executed following People's Commissar Leon Trotsky's draconian measures. According to Figes, "a majority of deserters (most registered as 'weak-willed') were handed back to the military authorities, and formed into units for transfer to one of the rear armies or directly to the front". Even those registered as "malicious" deserters were returned to the ranks when the demand for reinforcements became desperate". Figes also noted that the Red Army instituted amnesty weeks to prohibit punitive measures against desertion which encouraged the voluntary return of 98,000-132,000 deserters to the army.

World War II

Order No. 270, dated 16 August 1941, was issued by Joseph Stalin. The order required superiors to shoot deserters on the spot.

Soviet–Afghan War

Many Soviet soldier deserters of the Soviet–Afghan War explain their reasons for desertion as political and in response to internal disorganization and disillusionment regarding their position in the war. In early 2023, a new law was signed into the Ukrainian Parliament which stated that desertion or "failure to appear for duty without a valid reason" would result in up to 12 years in prison. Critics of the law argued that the law punishes soldiers more harshly rather than try to deal underlying causes of desertion. Per the Ukrainian Office of the Prosecutor General, more than 60,000 criminal cases have been opened for desertion with almost half occurring between January 2024 and September 2024. This number rose to 80,000 by October 2024 and 100,000 by the end of November 2024. In November 2024, it was estimated that the number of deserters residing in the country could be as high as 200,000. Tens of thousands have also attempted to flee the country with 21,113 being caught by August 2023. According to The Wall Street Journal, as of 10 September 2024, over 44,000 male Ukrainian deserters have successfully fled since the beginning of the war to Romania, Moldova, and Slovakia. This figure does not include those who fled to any other countries, or those who left Ukraine with papers obtained through bribery. For Ukrainian penal battalions, if a soldier of a penal battalion attempts to desert or retreat without authorisation, an additional 5 to 10 years would be added to their sentence.

United Kingdom

Historically, one who was paid to enlist and then deserted could be arrested under a type of writ known as arrestando ipsum qui pecuniam recepit, or "for arresting one who received money".

Napoleonic Wars

During the Napoleonic Wars desertion was a massive drain on British army resources, despite the threat of court martial and the possibility of capital punishment for the crime. Many deserters were harboured by citizens who were sympathetic to them.

First World War

"306 British and Commonwealth soldiers were executed for...desertion during World War I," records the Shot at Dawn Memorial. Of these, 25 were Canadian, 22 Irishmen and five New Zealanders. Capital punishment for desertion was abolished in 1930 so most were imprisoned.

Iraq War

On 28 May 2006, the UK military reported over 1,000 absent without leave since the beginning of the Iraq War, with 566 missing from 2005 and that part of 2006. The Ministry of Defence said that levels of absence were fairly constant and "only one person has been found guilty of deserting the Army since 1989".

War of 1812

The desertion rate for American soldiers in the War of 1812 was 12.7%, according to available service records. Desertion was especially common in 1814, when enlistment bonuses were increased from $16 to $124, inducing many men to desert one unit and enlist in another to get two bonuses. Several hundred deserters went over to the Mexican side; nearly all were recent immigrants from Europe with weak ties to the United States. The most famous group was the Saint Patrick's Battalion, about half of whom were Catholics from Ireland, anti-Catholic prejudice reportedly being another reason for desertion. The Mexicans issued broadsides and leaflets enticing U.S. soldiers with promises of money, land grants, and officers' commissions. Mexican guerrillas shadowed the U.S. Army, and captured men who took unauthorized leave or fell out of the ranks. The guerrillas coerced these men to join the Mexican ranks—threatening to kill them if they failed to comply. The generous promises proved illusory for most deserters, who risked execution if captured by U.S. forces. About fifty of the San Patricios were tried and hanged following their capture at Churubusco in August 1847.

The total number of Confederate deserters was officially 103,400. He argues that a hegemonic "planter class" brought Georgia into the war with "little support from non-slaveholders" (p.&nbsp;12), and the ambivalence of non-slaveholders toward secession, he maintains, was the key to understanding desertion. The privations of the home front and camp life, combined with the terror of battle, undermined the weak attachment of southern soldiers to the Confederacy. For Georgian troops, Sherman's march through their home counties triggered the most desertions.

thumb|The execution of a U.S. deserter in the Federal Camp, Alexandria

Adoption of a localist identity caused soldiers to desert as well. When soldiers implemented a local identity, they neglected to think of themselves as Southerners fighting a Southern cause. When they replaced their Southern identity with their previous local identity, they lost their motive to fight and, therefore, deserted the army.

A growing threat to the solidarity of the Confederacy was dissatisfaction in the Appalachian mountain districts caused by lingering unionism and a distrust of the slave power. Many of their soldiers deserted, returned home, and formed a military force that fought off regular army units trying to punish them. North Carolina lost 23% of its soldiers (24,122) to desertion. The state provided more soldiers per capita than any other Confederate state, and had more deserters as well.

Philippine–American War

During the Philippine–American War, the counter insurgency campaign conducted by the American military involved considerable brutality on both sides, including summary executions of both combatants and civilians. In the course of the conflict, 17 American soldiers were sentenced to death for desertion. However, only two sentences, applied to African-American soldiers (Edmund DuBose and Lewis Russell) of the 9th Cavalry Regiment, who had been convicted of far more serious charges of desertion to the enemy, in 1902, were carried out; an action which critics have asserted amounted to a selective and unfair application of the death penalty. These were the last American soldiers to be executed for desertion until the execution of Private Eddie Slovik during the Second World War.

First World War

alt=|thumb|The Deserter (1916) by [[Boardman Robinson. Anti-war cartoon depicting Jesus facing a firing squad made up of soldiers from five different European countries.]]

Desertion still occurred among American armed forces after the U.S. joined the First World War on 6 April 1917. Between 6 April 1917, and 31 December 1918, the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) charged 5,584 servicemen and convicted 2,657 for desertion. 24 AEF troops were eventually sentenced to death, albeit all of them avoided execution after President Woodrow Wilson commuted their death sentences to prison terms. Deserters were often publicly humiliated.

Second World War

Over 20,000 American soldiers were tried and sentenced for desertion. Forty-nine were sentenced to death, though forty-eight of these death sentences were subsequently commuted. Only one U.S. soldier, Private Eddie Slovik, was executed for desertion in World War II.

Vietnam War

thumb|The [[Intrepid Four, four U.S. Navy seamen who deserted from the USS Intrepid in protest against the war in Vietnam]]

According to the Department of Defense, 503,926 United States servicemen deserted during the Vietnam War between 1 July 1966 to 31 December 1973. Some of these migrated to Canada. Among those who deserted to Canada were Andy Barrie, host of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio's Metro Morning, and Jack Todd, sports columnist for the Montreal Gazette.

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Works cited

• includes an alphabetical listing of more than 17,000 Australian soldiers who were court-martialled by the AIF during World War I.

Further reading

• David Cortright. Soldiers in Revolt: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2005.
• Charles Glass. Deserter: The Last Untold Story of the Second World War. Harperpress, 2013.
• Maria Fritsche. "Proving One's Manliness: Masculine Self-perceptions of Austrian Deserters in the Second World War". Gender & History, 24/1 (2012), pp.&nbsp;35–55.
• Fred Halstead. GIs Speak Out Against the War: The Case of the Ft. Jackson 8. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1970.
• Kevin Linch. "Desertion from the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars". Journal of Social History, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Summer 2016), pp.&nbsp;808–828.
• Peter Rohrbacher. "Pater Wilhelm Schmidt im Schweizer Exil: Interaktionen mit Wehrmachtsdeserteuren und Nachrichtendiensten, 1943–1945". Paideuma: Mitteilungen zur Kulturkunde, no. 62 (2016), pp.&nbsp;203–221.
• Jack Todd. Desertion: In the Time of Vietnam. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001.
• Chris Lombardi. I Ain’t Marching Anymore: Dissenters, Deserters, and Objectors to America’s Wars. New York: The New Press, 2020.
• Paul Benedikt Glatz. Vietnam's Prodigal Heroes. American Deserters, International Protest, European Exile, and Amnesty. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2021.

External links

• Missing movement from About.com
• Memorial to German World War II deserters in Ulm, Germany at the Sites of Memory webpage
• Memorial to all deserters in Stuttgart, Germany at the Sites of Memory webpage
• AWOL Information