General McNaughton was a popular and well-respected war hero, though he had been asked to resign as commander of the First Canadian Army in 1943 after his disastrous performance in Operation Spartan war game, though the official story was McNaughton had retired for health reasons. McNaughton was opposed to sending the Zombies overseas and from King's viewpoint had the additional benefit that he and Ralson hated one other. McNaughton believed that he could persuade by the force of his personality enough of the Zombies to go overseas, a policy that failed. One Zombie was quoted in the press as saying: "If Mackenzie King wants me to go overseas, he'll have to send me. I'm damned if I'll volunteer to help out this government". McNaughton was unable to produce large numbers of volunteers for the army, although there were numerous volunteers for the navy and air force. The Canadian historians Jack Granatstein and Desmond Morton noted: "The news of Ralston's sacking put the conscription crisis on the front pages in screaming headlines. To King's horror and to McNaughton's distress, the publicity created a firestorm of reaction against the once-popular general. Audiences booed and jeered when he tried to rally the country behind the no-conscription policy". In Vancouver, General George Pearkes, commanding officer of the Pacific command called a press conference to explain why the Army was asking the Zombies to "go active", which led to King, who distrusted all of his generals, to write in his diary: "These men in uniform have no right to speak in ways that will turn people against civil power".