AWOL

I happened to be reminiscing the other night when I remember my old man telling me about blokes that would turn up at the guardroom and saying "I wish to turn myself in". "What for ?"They would ask
" I've been AWOL"(this is going back to early 70's)
"When did you go AWOL?" would be the reply from the provo
"Oh back in '56"
My dad never did tell me the outcome of these guys I think my dad dealt with at least 6 cases like that. So my ? is what would the end result be for guys that went AWOL for years on end ? finally what is the longest time anyone has been AWOL?

A.W.O.L, now known as Unauthorised Absence.

I thought that after a period of time absentees came off the AWOL list and became deserters.

When i was on my T2 at Catterick i discovered there was no works parade on a Monday morning,so my weekends became long weekends,reporting back on the Tuesday..I got away with it for about six weeks before being caught..
Aha thought the bold Gordon,you are about to be bust,but my lying excuse was accepted and i got away with an admonishment.

Gordon. wrote:

A.W.O.L, now known as Unauthorised Absence.

I thought that after a period of time absentees came off the AWOL list and became deserters.

When i was on my T2 at Catterick i discovered there was no works parade on a Monday morning,so my weekends became long weekends,reporting back on the Tuesday..I got away with it for about six weeks before being caught..
Aha thought the bold Gordon,you are about to be bust,but my lying excuse was accepted and i got away with an admonishment.

What excuses did you come up with ? do tell Gordon

Ferry running late due to stormy weather causing me to miss train connection to Darlington.
A complete pack of lies.Unlike to day when the ferries go off at the slightest puff of wind.In days gone by they sailed in all kinds of weather..H&S again

We had a cook by the name of Ralph Cross attached to an infantry battalion in Hemer who deserted to East Germany in May 1955. (We had no Catering Corps in the Canadian Army - our cooks were RCASC). I had forgotten about it until a story popped up in the local newspaper about his return to Canada in early 1984.

It turns out he was arrested for showing a bit too much interest in a Soviet missile site or something, and, since he was suffering cancer of the mouth, was apparently deemed by his benificent DDR masters to be of no further political or economic benefit, but simply a drain on their resources and kicked back to the west after a short period of incarceration.

At any rate, he was shipped back to Canada, locked up at an air force base near Ottawa, and subsequently moved to the detention barracks in Edmonton. He pleaded guilty to desertion and was sentenced to a few months instead of a more severe sentence, but in reality he was terminally ill and spent his time in hospital.

Reports said he had difficulty speaking and no longer spoke english fluently. He may also have received a lighter sentence due to his willingness to cooperate with Canadian intelligence people who had expressed a lot of interest about his life in the worker's and peasant's paradise. He died a few months later.

Those I spoke to stated that he was one of those characters who was always having brushes with the law, both civilian and military, and had an unhappy family situation. I learned from a chap who had slept in the next bed space that he wasn't surprised when he awoke and saw his empty, unslept-in bed because he had apparenlty been voicing his troubles for quite a while.

At one point I considered writing a story about the case, and gathered a lot of information from various sources. However, it's still in the mill.

when i was doing my trade training in 24 sigs i was on guard one night and after guard mounting we went in to the guard room and in one of the cells was this civvi sitting there.
after further questions it turned out he'd gone absent about 1952 and had decided to give himself up. i think after a few months they just stopped looking for, could'nt be bothered.
there were 2 blokes in my mob who went absent and were never caught, one from chesterfield who was killed on an opencast site after 14 years and one from doncaster never to be seen again, this was in 1970.

My g.g.grandfather, William Henry Artus, deserted from the Queen's Own 7th Hussars in 1846, was recaptured in 1850, flogged and imprisoned, then deserted again. He spent the rest of his life as a fugitive.
Full story http://www.artus-familyhistory.com/source/William%20Henry%20Artus.html

Makes you wonder then how many blokes go AWOL from Afghanistan. Maybe none, hard to get out of the joint. But a few might fail to return from leave to go back.

I read that there is a high rate of absenteeism from thr army at the moment..I`ll try and find the article

Quote :

More than 1,000 British soldiers are risking jail sentences by remaining absent without leave (Awol), latest figures show.



New documents reveal a total of 1,013 soldiers were Awol at the start of this month - with more than 60 registered as absent since 2002.

From MOD Oracle Nov 2008....I suspect the figures are much higher now,

recce83 wrote:

We had a cook by the name of Ralph Cross attached to an infantry battalion in Hemer who deserted to East Germany in May 1955. (We had no Catering Corps in the Canadian Army - our cooks were RCASC). I had forgotten about it until a story popped up in the local newspaper about his return to Canada in early 1984.

It turns out he was arrested for showing a bit too much interest in a Soviet missile site or something, and, since he was suffering cancer of the mouth, was apparently deemed by his benificent DDR masters to be of no further political or economic benefit, but simply a drain on their resources and kicked back to the west after a short period of incarceration.

At any rate, he was shipped back to Canada, locked up at an air force base near Ottawa, and subsequently moved to the detention barracks in Edmonton. He pleaded guilty to desertion and was sentenced to a few months instead of a more severe sentence, but in reality he was terminally ill and spent his time in hospital.

Reports said he had difficulty speaking and no longer spoke english fluently. He may also have received a lighter sentence due to his willingness to cooperate with Canadian intelligence people who had expressed a lot of interest about his life in the worker's and peasant's paradise. He died a few months later.

Those I spoke to stated that he was one of those characters who was always having brushes with the law, both civilian and military, and had an unhappy family situation. I learned from a chap who had slept in the next bed space that he wasn't surprised when he awoke and saw his empty, unslept-in bed because he had apparenlty been voicing his troubles for quite a while.

At one point I considered writing a story about the case, and gathered a lot of information from various sources. However, it's still in the mill.

This is quite interesting and would, I think, make for an interesting piece. Perhaps a series of stories as one story for a magazine or what-have-you may not be sufficient. Heavens, there may even be a book in it for you!!!

I am assuming the cook when he took off for the DDR was in his early 20's or so....that he could no longer speak English fluently after being returned to Canada is also very interesting.

I can't imagine, apart from maybe political/philosophical sympathies, anyone wanting to live in the DDR! I quite understand the desire to "emigrate" to Germany (FDR or DDR), even if the standard of living were lower than, say, here in Canada (which it was in the 70's when I headed back to work there and planning on staying there...that didn't work out too well for me!) but West Germany in the 50's 60's and 70's was a damn sight better than the East, and West Germany was not in great shape in the 50's and early 60's. Better in the 70's, though.....I suppose he was a budding little socialist or whatever.

west germany in the 50s i found to be a good posting, much better than being anywhere in blighty, the giggies and other goods you could buy from the naafi was like a second currency, we lived quite well ,ginger

Don't forget the Cheap booze, Tax Free Cars, Cheap electrical goods and BP Petrol Coupons just to name a few!

I remembered an LI chap who apparently was deemed a nuisance by his OC, and on one occasion as he approached his OC, he was told by him to F*** off. He took it literally,grabbed some of his kit and disappeared.

While on Basic Trade Training at Bordon in the late '60's , there was this distinguished looking gentleman in the nick at Havannah Barracks. We were told that he was a Managing Director of a London Insurance firm that had gone AWOL some 20 years previously.

alan8376 wrote:

Don't forget the Cheap booze, Tax Free Cars, Cheap electrical goods and BP Petrol Coupons just to name a few!

You forgot to mention the German Frauleins ! AND the Bratwurst, who could forget the bratwurst.

interesting thing here in Fiji at the moment. lots of fijian boys in the British army of course. fiji has run out of passports would you believe, and can only issue a certificate of identity. the UK border agency will not accept this as an international travel document, so you can not travel to UK on one. the boys here on leave are 'loosing" their passports, cant get another one, cant travel on a C of I, so have to stay here, on leave, on pay, till it gets sorted. not really AWOL, but a good scam eh.

Hi Steve from Fiji, now Fiji is no longer in the British Commonwealth right? because of their 'issues.' Do they still allow you live there, as a Brit?

I have been over there twice on holidays/cruises, not since 2007, though. Called in at Suva.

Les .....Fiji is suspended at the moment..Like Nigeria they will be back at some stage
Oh BTW it is now the Commonwealth of Nations...There was a PC issue about "
British"

Looks like your carrier pidgeon got lost

Steve, I was talking about this the other day, that a British Emergency Travel Document costing £60 for a single journey can be issued by the BHC in Suva since April. But I have not checked this out! Have you heard of this?

Coming back on track the only time I was AWOL (if you can call it that) was when I turned up 12hrs late for guard duty (I was in London Union Jack club with female company).Strolled in to camp and walked passed guardroom when the provo sgt ran out and grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and dragged me into the cell where I had the bollocking of my life charged next day(after many show parades the night before) guilty punishment on month in the SGTs mess as barman one month CB/RP never read Part one orders ( what happened to part two orders)

they couldn't grab them by the scruff of the neck these days

Where is General Jim?

A regular contributor to the site who checked in on almost daily basis to check all was well, impose discipline and boost morale with a few words of humour and wisdom?

Not been seen or heard for almost a month now

going back a good many years ,i used to escort prisoners to beilefeld, there was a military prison there, , does anyone else on site remember the place, men were sent there instead of colchester, an evil place indeed. i cant seem to find anyone else who remembers it, ginger

gingerjim wrote:

going back a good many years ,i used to escort prisoners to beilefeld, there was a military prison there, , does anyone else on site remember the place, men were sent there instead of colchester, an evil place indeed. i cant seem to find anyone else who remembers it, ginger

I don't remember it, but before I enlisted I knew a bloke in civvy street that had done time there, by all accounts it was a terrible place. He said he landed up with his facial twitch, because of what went on there.
(No Human Rights, then !!!!)