Photographs/case studies for my book - last hope

[keatsbabe]

Hi there

My book Shell Shocked Britain - The Great War's Legacy for Britain's Mental Health is to be published by Pen & Sword in October this year and I am now on the final edit stage before proof reading starts. However, a case study has decided the issue is too sensitive and I would be really grateful to have another personal story, along with a photo if possible, to replace it to ensure the real 'voices' are heard. I understand why people have found it hard to be part of the project - talking about a grandparent or parent's response to their experience in the Great War has proved difficult - there is a feeling that the person is being disloyal to the memory of someone who chose (or could not) talk of their experiences.

However if there is anyone out there who would be happy to share a story with me to be included in the book I would love to hear from you - soon obviously. I will treat all information sensitively (I am an advocate for mental health issues on in this century) and everything will of course be properly acknowledged and the Forum recognised. It is an important subject as I am keen to express how the trauma some men (and women) experienced had an impact on children and grandchildren as a reason why we are so emotionally drawn to the conflict.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Suzie

[scottmarchand]

Well - maybe not exactly what you are after, but a friend of mine is a retired RCAF Col, he recounted to me whilst talking about WW I, the story of his father - a Sgt. in one of the western Canadian battalions on the western front, his father never spoke to my friend about his experiences and never wore his medals or went to Nov. 11 parades etc.The family lived in the central valley in B.C., one time in high school, say c.1952 my friend came home later one staturday night in July and tremendous thrunderstorm was going on, shaking, crashing, flashing eerywhere. The house was dark and he presumed everyone was asleep, He came into the kitchen and in the light of one of the flashes he saw his father huddled under the kitchen table, weeping, rocking and muttering about how he'll never escape the guns. My friend doesn't think his father was aware of him and neither of them ever acknowleged the incident later. Now that is my recollection of someone elses experience. If you wanted I could put you in touch with him.

BTW - The social impact was not relegated to WW I vets, many WW 2, especailly Bomber crew I know suffered terribly and have related some sad tales. It certainly had an impact on their families and personal realtionships. Over here in the states in some respects people using claims of PTSD as an excuse or exoneration or even an attention seeking device has detracted negatively for those genuinely needing empathy and attention from being treated credibly, both in side a very resitant military health system, and a dysfunctional civilian health system.

Your book sounds fascinating - good luck.

[keatsbabe]

Thank you! That is the kind of story that was all too common and I would appreciate being put in touch with your friend. It is so sad to think that the incident had to remain between them, unacknowledged.

You are right about the ongoing issues. Despite some effort to prevent similar trauma in WW 2 and even to the present day (and despite the symptoms going by a number of different names - PTSD, combat stress etc) it still happens, sometimes manifesting itself only years after discharge. The establishment still does assume some pre-war weakness in a man or woman, rather than attributing the symptoms to combat experience and as they were in WW1, are frequently considered 'malingerers'. (That is not to deny some did use it as an excuse to get back to blighty, but it was a tiny minority).

I look forward to hearing from you, and I do hope the book is of interest. Suzie

[Anneca]

Suzie, you may not have seen this previous thread.

Anne

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=200350&hl=%22shell+shock%22

[DaveBrigg]

even to the present day (and despite the symptoms going by a number of different names - PTSD, combat stress etc) it still happens,

Good luck with this project. I have no personal knowledge of Great War shell shock but have seen first-hand the effect it had on children in the former Yugoslavia. In some cases the experience had left them so traumatised that I suspect they will never fully recover. At least in the present day there is an acknowledgement that the condition exists. For returning soldiers it must have been even harder.

[clive_hughes]

Three different short stories, not sure how far they'd be of help.

1. I was talking to a WW1 ex-RAF groundcrew man back in the 1970s, who recalled a victory parade (not sure whether 1918 or 1919) in a North Wales town. The parade was headed apparently by the great and good of the town, shopkeepers and councillors and the like, and not servicemen. As it was going by he suddenly saw a man he knew, an ex-serviceman who had been suffering with his nerves, perched high up on one of the buildings. He was waving his arms frantically, and then just jumped off to his death. My friend reckoned the sight of those who'd not left their homes and businesses having the position of honour had tipped the balance of the poor chap's mind. I never verified the incident, though it ought to have been mentioned in the local newspapers.

2. Where I live, there was a family including four brothers. The three older ones joined up in the same battalion and went to France at the end of 1915. In the spring of 1916 one was invalided to the UK with his nerves - his pension papers survive and the medical authorities labelled him a neurasthenic, the war having according to them aggravated a pre-existing nervous condition. While he was still in hospital prior to discharge on health grounds late in 1916, the other two went missing, killed in action on the same day on the Somme. By 1918 the youngest brother was also called up, but mercifully survived unhurt. The family ran the local bakery, and afterwards the discharged man helped by driving the bread cart but according to his family he was "not good for much" after his return. He would do odd things like suddenly getting up in the night and walking to Colwyn Bay, about 60 miles away. He died forty years after discharge, his condition unchanged. The family, descended from the youngest brother, still live in this area and have some photos.

3. Not shellshock as such, but...in the early 1980s I was sent a typescript WW1 memoir by the author. He explained that he had a bad war, and wanted only to forget the whole subject - he had no interest in veterans organisations, remembrance or anything related to it. In about 1980 he had gone on holiday to a South coast resort, booked in at the hotel and went up to his room. He opened his suitcase, and...Wham! He was back on Passchendaele Ridge and the shells were going off all around him. The experience, surging through the defensive crust he'd so carefully nurtured for 60 years, was so intense he had to sit at the table and just write and write about it as a means of releasing the whole thing. He typed it up later, and here it was, so to speak. I think he made a number of copies, the one I saw is in the Dept. of Documents at the IWM Lambeth. It ought to be findable, but alas I can't recall his name.

If anything here warrants further interest on your part, please PM me.

Clive

[asanewt]

Clive, would that have been W. R. Thomas, Blaenau Ffestiniog ?

[clive_hughes]

Hi Jules,

No, WRThomas wasn't in any of those stories though a copy of his memoir is at the IWM as well.

Clive