The extraordinary story of the deserters of the Second World War. What made them run? & what happened after they fled? During the Second World War the British lost 100 000 troops to desertion & the Americans 40 000. Commonwealth forces from Canada Australia New Zealand South Africa & Britain's colonial empire also left the ranks in their thousands. The overwhelming majority of deserters from all armies were front-line infantry troops; without them the war was harder to win. Many of these men were captured & court martialled while others were never apprehended. Some remain wanted to this day. Why did these men decide to flee their ranks? In ' Deserter' veteran reporter & historian Charles Glass follows a group of British & American deserters into the heat of battle & explores what motivated them to take their fateful decision to run away. The result is a highly emotional & engaging study of an under-explored area of World War II history.