Quote Originally Posted by Burney View Post
Large-scale desertion didn't start on the Eastern Front until very late in the war. That was because the Germans had started to replace their effective troops with children, crocks and old men who had received minimal training and were led by inexperienced officers and NCOs.

However, for the most part, experienced conscripts fought just as well as anyone else. Not running is about morale, training, discipline and comradeship rather than how one got into the army in the first place.
I would argue desertion started as soon as it began to look like a better chance of survival than staying. I suppose that comes under morale.