“He would be expected to crack:” Battle Exhaustion, Desertion and the Court Martial of Lieutenant R. J. Woods

Authors

Matthew Barrett

Abstract

This article examines psychological breakdown, combat stress and military justice through the 1945 general court martial of Lieutenant Reginald James Woods. During his first day in combat with the Lake Superior Regiment (Motor) on 17 August 1944, the twenty-five-year-old platoon leader disappeared. Woods remerged nearly two months later in London where he claimed to suffer from amnesia. The subsequent medical investigation and legal proceedings forced Canadian authorities to grapple with assumptions about combat leadership, mental responsibility and criminal culpability. This article adopts a graphic history approach to illustrate the subjective and contingent nature of memory and truth through the fog of war.

Recommended Citation

Barrett, Matthew "“He would be expected to crack:” Battle Exhaustion, Desertion and the Court Martial of Lieutenant R. J. Woods." Canadian Military History 30, 1 (2021)