There was so much that I learned from this interview process that I had no idea about prior to my research. My interview was with someone who was an expert on the Canadian and British war effort, I was grateful to tap into such a source of knowledge. I was quite curious when it came to the length a soldier had to stay at the front line. He had the same response to this question along with most others as “it depends”. There were so many factors that influenced a soldier’s time spent in battle. His rough estimate was around two to three days. However, he stressed that the Allies were, fortunately, never subject to endless battle. This is in contrast with the Germans who were basically forced to fight until they died or were considered useless. The Allies took a far more humane approach to this method of warfare. For every man on the front line, there would be about four others in behind doing such jobs as getting supplies, preparing food, and delivering mail. This allowed for far more rotations to occur, giving soldiers plenty of rest.
In addition, I realized throughout this interview how little I knew about the mental health toll these wars had on such young men from all sides. During The Great War, it was described as ‘battle exhaustion’, during The Second World War, it was called ‘shell shock’, however, now it is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). During The Second World War, there was another name for this. Soldiers in air crews were labeled with Lack of Moral Fibre (LMF). Many people thought of it as a lack of courage to keep on fighting. We now know this not to be the case. Many of these experiences faced by soldiers changed their lives permanently. According to my interviewee, “everyone went through something. Anyone who saw fighting, nobody came out the same.” An example he gave was a veteran friend of his named Frank. During a battle, he was put into a fox hole with another young soldier. They stood watch in rotations of eight hours. While Frank was asleep, a mortar went off and “obliterated the other soldier.” My interviewee described that “there was nothing left of him.” Frank was sent into a comma due to his own injuries. However, “he was never the same, he didn’t care what happened anymore.” Frank described his life after as “everything [being] just bleak, [he] didn’t care if [he] lived or died, there was no joy, [he] didn’t feel like laughing anymore.”. This experience really affected him. His wife said that “he woke up screaming until his dying days.” Frank told my interviewee about his nightmares and how “it wasn’t the images, rather, the smell of burning flesh.” My interviewee described Frank as someone “you would never know went through that; he was just such a great and kind guy. However, he was one of the guys who did well”. He made it clear how many soldiers turned to alcohol or drugs after such experiences. This really put into perspective how immense the mental ramifications of this war had on many individuals.
I am overall extremely happy I got to see a new perspective on how soldiers were affected by this war in more than just a physical way and I hope by sharing my learning, you might have seen a new outlook as well.
In addition, I realized throughout this interview how little I knew about the mental health toll these wars had on such young men from all sides. During The Great War, it was described as ‘battle exhaustion’, during The Second World War, it was called ‘shell shock’, however, now it is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). During The Second World War, there was another name for this. Soldiers in air crews were labeled with Lack of Moral Fibre (LMF). Many people thought of it as a lack of courage to keep on fighting. We now know this not to be the case. Many of these experiences faced by soldiers changed their lives permanently. According to my interviewee, “everyone went through something. Anyone who saw fighting, nobody came out the same.” An example he gave was a veteran friend of his named Frank. During a battle, he was put into a fox hole with another young soldier. They stood watch in rotations of eight hours. While Frank was asleep, a mortar went off and “obliterated the other soldier.” My interviewee described that “there was nothing left of him.” Frank was sent into a comma due to his own injuries. However, “he was never the same, he didn’t care what happened anymore.” Frank described his life after as “everything [being] just bleak, [he] didn’t care if [he] lived or died, there was no joy, [he] didn’t feel like laughing anymore.”. This experience really affected him. His wife said that “he woke up screaming until his dying days.” Frank told my interviewee about his nightmares and how “it wasn’t the images, rather, the smell of burning flesh.” My interviewee described Frank as someone “you would never know went through that; he was just such a great and kind guy. However, he was one of the guys who did well”. He made it clear how many soldiers turned to alcohol or drugs after such experiences. This really put into perspective how immense the mental ramifications of this war had on many individuals.
I am overall extremely happy I got to see a new perspective on how soldiers were affected by this war in more than just a physical way and I hope by sharing my learning, you might have seen a new outlook as well.
Photo used under Creative Commons from tcees