"Une permission!C'est bon pour une recrue": Discipline and illegal absences in the 22nd (French-Canadian) Battalion, 1915--1919

Abstract

This thesis explores three issues relating to the Canadian experience during the First World War, but more specifically, to that of the 22 nd (French-Canadian) Battalion (commonly referred to as the 'Van Doos'). It first considers the assumption that the 22nd Battalion suffered from a disciplinary problem, and determines whether this was the case in a meaningful comparative context. Several Canadian historians have examined the unit's discipline. While some have argued that its thousands of infractions and five executions demonstrate that it suffered from a disciplinary problem, others believe that without proper comparison with other units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), these figures are meaningless. By examining the disciplinary records of the other three battalions of the 5th Brigade (the brigade of which the 'Van Doos' were a part) and comparing them to that of the 22nd Battalion, this thesis conclusively demonstrates that the unit did suffer from a disciplinary problem, and confirms the assumptions of several historians. This thesis also examines in detail the unit's disciplinary problems, and attempts to explain why it suffered from such aberrant behaviour. Evidence suggests that poor morale was the likely cause. One of the most important elements in combat, morale can spell the difference between a disciplined and a disobedient unit. This thesis demonstrates that the arrival of hundreds of untried reinforcements after the Somme offensives of 1916, and the loss of the unit's commanding officer (Lieut.-Col. Thomas Tremblay) had a significant impact on the spirits of the men, which subsequently led to poor discipline. Finally, this thesis considers the issue of illegal absences. Not only were illegal absences the most common infractions in the 'Van Doos', they were also for the entire 5th Brigade. For so considerable a problem amongst the soldiers of the CEF, the subject surprisingly has yet to receive the full attention of Canadian historians. This thesis thus attempts to find factors that could explain why soldiers would risk courts-martial, and perhaps their lives, by leaving their units without permission. Several factors were discovered such as battle exhaustion, poor conduct, and neuropsychological issues.