Few conscripts saw combat in Europe: only 2463 men reached units on the front lines. Out of these, 69 lost their lives. Politically, this was a successful gamble for King, as he avoided a drawn-out political crisis and remained in power until his retirement in 1948. However, King's refusal to commit the Zombies to action led to much bitterness among the men who volunteered to "go active". Farley Mowat recalls in his volumes of war memoirs savagely disliking those who wore the uniform but refused to make the same sacrifices he and his brothers in arms were called on to make in Italy and North-West Europe. The "Zombies" wore a black tie and collared shirts as part of their uniforms while volunteers for overseas duties did not. In April 1945 when the men of the First Canadian Army were informed that henceforth they would now wear the Zombie black tie and collared shirt, Mowat serving with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment wrote: "the black tie itself was known as the Zombie tie, and the resentment of the volunteers, who were now ordered to wear this symbol of shame was most outspoken."