Battle Exhaustion…. Shell Shock. In my estimation: The very worst of battle wounds. It is a deep wound to the mind, and its effects remain with the poor devil that succumbs, for the rest of his life. We had two battle exhaustion cases. One of the most odd things about this particular war injury, is the often bizarre behaviour of those afflicted. One thing is certain, these cases all react in different ways… The first of these cases took place in an orchard, under very heavy fire. Automatic gun, mortar, shell, and Moaning Minnie fire. That coupled with a three tonner in the orchard, loaded with a great many boxes of explosives and mines, did nothing for our peace of mind. During that time, a salvo of Minnies came down smack on target, and straddled the orchard fair and square. That was the trigger for one of our number to suffer the dire effect of exhaustion. His reaction was to tear around the orchard with his Commando knife, trying to stab everyone. in the end, several men tackled him with a typical rugby tackle. and tied him up. They put in a fox hole. I never knew what became of him. The second case was that of a very good mate of mine. A very brave fellow. He had taken part in several of the very worst battles previously. That must have had a “build up” effect to what happened later. For on the night of that terrible assault crossing of the Escaut canal, waiting under fire for word go. At 1,15 at night, a pitch black night. This was gong to be a real shocker, and it turned out to be just that. A crossing under direct fire. When the time came…My mate just burst into tears, sobbing with his whole body shaking. I put my arm round his shoulder saying come on **** But it was useless, he suffered a deep battle exhaustion. One where there was no way back. After trying to help, I had to leave him in the ditch, where we sheltered from the fire while waiting. I still have a vague feeling of guilt for leaving him. Afterwards, he was a completely changed man, very similar to someone that had suffered a stroke. He was never the same again. But that is nothing to the bizarre behaviour of some victims. I never managed to find him after the war, That is sad. Sapper
I will agree with this; I've seen this terrible infliction first hand from pretty much all the wars post 39 save the new Iraq-Afghanistan conflicts. It ruins lives just as surely as any broken limb; but in different, and sometimes totally shocking ways. At risk of turning this thread into a rant the british system needs to start investing serious money in this area. I'd also like to say thank you for your service Sapper; and that i'm sorry you've felt this way for so long.
Thanks for sharing this and your other experiences with us, it really does help ww2 become about much more than just the history books, especially for us of a younger generation. I only wish my Granddad was still around to share some of his stories, but then I suspect he probably wouldn't have wanted to. Looking back we all think he was a classic case of PTSD but I dont think the mental side of things was handled very well back then, especially in the years afterwards.
Oh I have nothing but deep sympathy for those stricken with this terrible wound. I am just very sorry,that I never managed to find that pal after the war,,, But there was then,a certain feeling that anyone that succumbed...showed "weakness" and tended to be treated with a faint, but still tangible disdain. To that end: I tried for many years to get the men that were shot for desertion in WW1 when they had suffered Shell Shock. It gave me an immense lift when at last they were recognised as very sick people. Sapper
" The Anatomy of Courage " is an old (WW1) and somewhat 'of it's time' styled book. But, it's still considered something of a classic on this subject. And now, if you gentlemen will excuse me? I'm off to do something distracting and clear my head of the crushing, ominous feeling that even mention of this vile condition sparks off in me. 'Lest We Forget' ? One never does. Never can, it seems to me.
This is a great book by Andrew Godefroy about the 25 Canadians shot in the First War. Very sad stories of the limits of endurance. Sapper, thanks for reminding us that the battle wounds are not always so visible and that they are just as deep. I talked some years ago with an officer who lost some men on a scheme and still wakes at night thinking that there must have been something he could have done differently. You remind us that while the guns go away, peace in the soul of the soldier is a totally different story. Thank you. phil
A few more discussions below on the same subject. http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/general/12053-ptsd.html http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/general/13244-shell-shock.html
Brian, Absolutely agree with you. Post Traumatic Stress effects each individual differently. I have even seen it in the Police effecting officers, following attandances at horrific accidents. Regards Tom
What was surprisng is the few Shell Shock cases we had .taking the fury of the conflict into consideration, and in many cases the conditions that had to be endured. That begs the question... Did you get many shock victimes in that bloody awful slog up through Italy Ron? Cheers Sapper
" The Anatomy of Courage " is an old (WW1) and somewhat 'of it's time' styled book. But, it's still considered something of a classic on this subject. It seems quite dated now, but at its time it was pretty forward thinking. I think by WW2 the Army was beginning to understand mental conditions such as shell shock and battle stress, but it still seems to have been something of an 'elephant-in-the-room' topic. Shell shock seems to have been understood relatively well due to experiences in WW1, but Vietnam seems to have been when understanding of PTSD developed. There is a chapter about the Army's policies on mental illness in a book called 'Time to kill' by Angus Calder, and also in 'Raising Churchill's Army' by David French.
Farley Mowat, a well known Canadian writer and former 2nd Lieutenant in the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, devotes a lot of attention to shell shock in his book, And No Birds Sang. Throughout his time in Italy and NW Europe his witnessed several cases and spoke of his own fear of succumbing to the "worm that turns". He had been warned about the effects from his father who had served in the trenches in WW1. As Sapper has mentioned, every man seemed to have a breaking point and some very brave soldiers eventually couldn't take any more. My father, a policeman for 20 years, spoke of the many sad cases he came across and where generally the cops gave some special consideration to veterans who exhibited the effects of PTS. Many became alcoholics.
Shell Shock has no respect for any man. from the bravest, to the not so brave. It has all been said before: it strikes all ranks, and is not choosy in who it affects. Once that terrible wound strikes, then it stays with you for the rest of your life.You may recover from its effects......But never... from the knowledge that you succumbed to it......Therein lies the worst of this severe mental wound. That indefinable, but exceptionally savage blow to a mans pride, Sapper
There is a bitter irony in beating the odds by surviving front line combat only to be afflicted for life by the various effects of shell shock. I've always felt it particularly cruel for aircrew to have survived a tour or more only to have their legacy be the label of LMF.
My father suffered from the effects of shellshock after he was disharged from the Recce. He was at Dunkirk and was blown up in Tunisia whilst on a Portee. It affected him to a some degree for the rest of his life. Cheers Paul
Its unfortunate how many people did suffer from it, my grandfather who didn't even witness a tenth of the horrors of the war still suffered. Whatever he witnessed on the beaches of Normandy those first few days haunted him until the day he died. Whenever we had tried to asked him about the beaches, he just shook his head and cried. My mom had told me that years ago when she was younger he had a mental breakdown and had to be hospitalized for a couple of months which she had blamed on his experiences in the war.
That is why I think that the effect of shell shock is the very worst wound one can sustain. It is very sad indeed. I also think that it can depend on your nature. We all have pain thresholds, and it seems reasonable that we also have breakdown thresholds. Whatever. I would love to be able to meet my old mate that suffered. But it may be that he does not wish to be found? That is even sadder. That some men became casualties to shell shock,is not surprising when considering the ferocity of some of the battles that took place Sapper
I think what my Granddad suffered after Arnhem was classic PTSD. Nowadays - hopefully - it would have been picked up a lot sooner. One night apparently he tried to strangle my Nan when he was having a flashback. I can't even begin to understand what it must feel like to suffer from things like that. He hardly ever talked about it, in part I think because he was so old fashioned and in his world men didn't do emotions. But looking back we all agree it definitely overshadowed his life in a lot of ways.
That is very sad, but it is also one of the bizarre symptom's. The worst, is that there still remains a tinge of shame when a man succumbs. Though it is entirely a stupid way of looking at the injury. But the fact is, most men can never get over that feeling they failed. Its no good beating about the bush that is exactly what happens. And how most men feel. Absolutely unjustified, as we all know. It is a wound to the brain not of a limb. Sapper
Brian, A veteran I know well also spoke to me about being haunted by memories. Quite different from shell shock, he described that the worst memories were not from what he witnessed but from what he personally did. That part he said was only discussed amongst veterans themselves but he reminded me that they went overseas to win a war and were not choirboys in doing so. His experience and one he said was not uncommon for combat troops was to have a recurring nightmare or flashbacks of one particular enemy soldier he killed. Can you relate to those comments? This man spoke of having nightmares about a single German soldier for over 25 years. He never suffered shell shock and had no other negative effects.
My Dad before he died investigated a grave that he knew was of a service man from WW1 he had been shot for being a so called coward. I will post the details at another time of who etc but to cut a long story short my dad found records etc and discovered that he was suffering from shell shock. His name was engraved onto the war memorial and his name is also called out on rememberence day after my dad put things right.
