Good morning, Re AWOL men. The use of the term, men, by Tom in his reply to the specific question from Geoff Foster, " Does anyone know of a case where a deserter in the UK was returned to the Western Front?" seems to refer only to men who deserted, not officers. Since some officers also undoubtedly deserted as well, was the protocol used for anybody who went AWOL the same regardless of their rank.? Tom continues, " I regularly see Police reports in AWOL men's service records - often making not entirely relevant comments about things like local gossip about his wife or the woman he had been living with ! - A common theme - .... " Does Tom know what the common theme was in the case of officers who went AWOL ? As to the matter of execution, we all know that the fate of anybody found guilty of desertion was very much influenced by their rank Have a nice day ? Patrick Holland. Perth Western Australia Tom Tulloch-Marshall wrote: > Geoff - the return of AWOL men to France was the norm; normally escorted by > the MP to the point of embarkation and then handed over to Draft Conducting > Officers. As I understand it such men were escorted direct to their unit and > not sent via Base Depots. > > Various clauses of King's Regulations 1912 are relevant, but particularly > 503 (notification in Regimental Orders), 514 & 515 (reports to Civil > Police), 536 (escorts / removal orders), 1504 (embarkation returns) ... etc. > > It was the Civil Police who normally made enquiries about an AWOL man and > then carried out an arrest if he was found - then handing him over to the > Military. I regularly see Police reports in AWOL men's service records - > often making not entirely relevant comments about things like local gossip > about his wife or the woman he had been living with ! - A common theme - but > if they couldn't just report that they'd caught the man I suppose they felt > obliged to say something. > > The vast majority of men who went AWOL did so in the UK, mainly (probably) > because it seems to have been relatively difficult to get back here from > France without the necessary paperwork ............... not impossible > though - for example 4/9170 George Hunter of the 2nd DLI managed it, though > subsequently caught and returned to his unit, he was executed 2/7/16. > regards > - > Tom Tulloch-Marshall > WW1 Military Research > website > > http://www.btinternet.com/~prosearch/index.html > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GREATWAR-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >