Hi Lynne, Being absent without leave or desertion was and remains a fairly common offence in the Royal Navy. When a person did so his documents would be marked R for RUN. The procedure when I was Captains Secretary in HMS Hermes was to retain the ratings documents on board for three months. If he remained absent after this time his kit would be packed and removed to Barracks, his Service Documents closed ie marked R and I would raise a Warrant for his Arrest and send to the local police. The documents would accompany his kit to the Naval Provost Marshall at the Barracks. To prove desertion was always difficult to prove since we had to show that the culprit intended to remain PERMANENTLY absent from his ship. Mike Waterlooville