MT...unfortunately it is difficult to determine who does and doesn't have nerves of steel until the shooting starts. The onset of panic that can ensue when men begin to throw down their weapons and run away is and was well known to field commanders, and it often took the threat of execution to prevent it. Particularly in World War 1, where the tools of mechanized destruction were employed against the traditional tactic of sending waves of soldiers against the enemy, the only reasonable response of a man called upon to leave the trenches and stand up to gas, artillery, and machine gun fire would be to refuse to attack. Because this response was completely understandable, I think the tolerance by the commanders may have been even lower. The nightmare for the officers in the field was realized in the front ranks of the Russian Army, where discipline collapsed, soldiers deserted or fled, and men often turned their weapons against their own leaders.