The Malingerers' Handbook

[Hobilar]

The allies used many ways to undermine the morale of the German soldier and Civilian. Late in the war allied propagandists came up with an idea to encourage German soldiers to use sickness as a means to malinger. A series of booklets entitled 'Sickness saves' found their way into the hands of German garrisons. No attempt was made to disguise the fact that these booklets had come from Allied sources, but 'Sickness Saves' booklets gave a lot of nicely-crafted details of desirable illnesses ranging from ' minor troubles' through 'More serious troubles' to 'really serious diseases'.

The booklets stressed how even minor illnesses could save a Private's life, for example, being excused having to embark on a troop transport or to undertake some dangerous mission. The booklets even went on to describehow ailments such as Tuberculosis, Skin disorders and even Heart Disease could be simulated, and even went on to describe how the Doctor should be approached and fooled. If a German soldier managed to fool his Army Doctor then it was one less soldier for the allied armies to fight. If he failed to fool the Doctor and was shot for cowardice as a result then it achieved the
same requirement.

This campaign proved to be quite successful and in 1945 German medical reports indicated that there was a marked increase in the number of soldiers reporting sick from skin disorders. In the end however, the plan backfired when German propagandists copied the booklets and started distributing it back to allied soldiers.