of 1916 they had grown to a disastrous magnitude. Early in 1916 there were so many deserters roaming about Russia that the military authorities paid money to anyone who would bring them back. The chief "catchers" were the notorious "strazhniki," the village guards; and the more zealous of them not only received money payments, but were rewarded with military crosses and medals, to the great indignation of the army. Deserters were often caught in villages very far from the front, and a whole system was elaborated for reinstating them in their units. There were collecting stations behind the lines where the "strazhniki" had to bring them, and from there whole train loads of deserters were despatched to the front.
The people in Russia nicknamed the deserters, with gentle humour, "lictchiki" or flying men. The majority of these flying men formed an utterly desperate and despondent class, which had no more desire or fear in life. They were indeed severely punished on their return to the army, but they had little fear of this punishment and were never likely to submit. They only waited for an opportunity to escape again. Officers have said that they never wanted to come near a train which was carrying back deserters to the front. The deserters drank home-made vodka which they got from the railway servants in exchange for their (army) boots, and they were wild and turbulent.
The actual number of such "flying men" is not known. Even the Russian General Staff never knew their real number. This is hardly surprising, considering that the General Staff did not even know the number of mobilised men.
When I was in Russia, I asked every officer I met about the character and extent of the desertions from the army before the Revolution. All evidence goes to prove that desertion was a mass phenomenon. Its beginning was remarkable, and had very little to do with any kind of insubordination or lack of discipline. It was the perfectly natural result of the great retreat
