Helen McCartney

Post-combat syndromes from the Boer war to the Gulf war: a cluster analysis of their nature and attribution

Abstract Objectives: To discover whether post-combat syndromes have existed after modern wars and what relation they bear to each other. Design: Review of medical and military records of servicemen and cluster analysis of symptoms. Data sources: Records for 1856 veterans randomly selected from war pension files awarded from 1872 and from the Medical Assessment Programme for Gulf war veterans. Main outcome measures: Characteristic patterns of symptom clusters and their relation to dependent variables including war, diagnosis, predisposing physical illness, and exposure to combat; and servicemens changing attributions for post-combat disorders. Results: Three varieties of post-combat disorder were identified — a debility syndrome (associated with the 19th and early 20th centuries), somatic syndrome (related primarily to the first world war), and a neuropsychiatric syndrome (associated with the second world war and the Gulf conflict). The era in which the war occurred was overwhelmingly the best predictor of cluster membership. Conclusions: All modern wars have been associated with a syndrome characterised by unexplained medical symptoms. The form that these assume, the terms used to describe them, and the explanations offered by servicemen and doctors seem to be influenced by advances in medical science, changes in the nature of warfare, and underlying cultural forces.

The First World War soldier and his contemporary image in Britain

The image of the First World War soldier as a cowed victim, caught in the grip of a meaningless, industrialized war, is one that has become entrenched in the British popular imagination. It was not, however, the image that dominated public discussion of the soldier between 1914 and 1918. This article seeks to examine how the portrayal of the soldier changed during and after the First World War and proposes that the victimized soldier motif has been reinforced today by the coalescence of three trends. The first is the growth of the family history industry that encourages an individualized and empathetic approach to the First World War. The second trend is concerned with an increasing public interest in psychological reactions to war. Since the Vietnam War, there has been a growing expectation that soldiers will be psychologically damaged by wartime experience. This has influenced the public perception of the First World War soldier, affecting, in particular, the discussion surrounding those executed for military crimes during the conflict. Finally, the article argues that long-term changes in British attitudes to the use of force, coupled with the experience of recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, have also coloured the way in which the First World War is portrayed. A range of interest groups have cast the contemporary British soldier as a victim in recent years and the article argues that the explicit linking of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq with the First World War has reinforced this victim image for each conflict.

Commemorating the centenary of the First World War: National and trans-national perspectives

This special issue examines the ways in which contemporary political, diplomatic, social and cultural trends have influenced centennial commemoration of the First World War in Europe, Russia and the Middle East. The four articles identify and examine a diversity of narratives that have emerged over the centenary period, charting similarities and differences between states, organisations and individuals. While divergent narratives certainly exist within and between states, the greatest differences may be located in attitudes to the use of force and the way in which different cultures interpret the loss of life in war.

Commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme in Britain

Centenaries play a dynamic role in revitalizing the symbolic significance of historical events. They generate opportunities for discussing familiar public narratives and for reappraisal or reaffirmation of their meaning and relevance to the societies commemorating their past.1 The Battle of the Somme has dominated British public narratives of the First World War for many decades. It has come to epitomize a particular narrative of the war, being interpreted as a bloody and futile episode in a wider war lacking meaning.2 Its enduring cultural resonance ensured that it was marked as a key moment in the British centenary calendar.3 Building on historical work that has examined modes of remembrance and meaning for previous anniversaries, this article seeks to investigate the effect the centenary moment has had on public discussion of the Battle of the Somme.4