Hello I’m trying to find out what happen to men who deserted the British army after WW1. My Great uncle joined the army in 1909 aged 15, for 12 years. He fought in France during the war and was awarded the Victory, British & 15 Star 1914-15 I have found his records on ancestry, this is what they say “Medals forfeited – Deserted 7th April 1919 & Still in a state of desertion 22nd May 1922” I have searched the web, but only come up with the executions of soldiers during the war, nothing about after. Thank you Terry
It looks like this fellow may have the answer ... but I could not read the whole story as I am not a subscriber. Perhaps you can send him an e-mail? http://hwj.oxfordjournals.org/content/74/1/277.extract All the Canadians were pardoned, even those that were shot. My grandfather got the M.C. at Arras and his brother deserted. He was pardoned by the government but not by his brothers. Richard
It's difficult to find out what happened to British soldiers who deserted after the war, as most of the focus here has been on trying to get a pardon for men who 'deserted' during the fighting. I'm reminded of a story told by a veteran from WW1 who had come back to the UK at the end of the war. He and his unit kept getting fobbed off with excuses about when they were going to be demobbed until eventually they pulled a gun on their Sergeant and they all left for home without permission. He recd a letter with a note of his back pay but nothing else ever happened so in a way, he could be classed as a deserter.
It looks like at some point they were pardoned, but there must have been a time when if caught they would have faced court martial.
