Never Mind The Dambusters
Never Mind The Dambusters…It’s The Bomber Command Podcast!
Join historians and authors Jane Gulliford Lowes and James Jefferies as they delve into the world of RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War. In this weekly podcast (episodes released every Wednesday), Jane and James explore strategy, policy, and the events which shaped one of the most controversial campaigns of the war.
Despite their iconic status, Bomber Command's history extends far beyond the famed Dambusters raid of 1943 and the Avro Lancaster. Through insightful discussions, expert analysis of the strategic bombing campaign and first hand accounts by veterans and civilians on the ground, Never Mind the Dambusters offers listeners a comprehensive exploration of Bomber Command's operations and the diverse aircraft it employed, as well as tackling some tough topics.
Jane and James will be joined by leading academics, historians, aircraft enthusiasts, technicians and engineers and veterans' family members. Expect discussions on relevant books and films and a spotlight on a different aircraft in each episode. Please send in your questions to us on X (twitter) at @RAFBomber_Pod and on Instagram at @NeverMindTheDambusters. You can email the show at nmtdambusters@gmail.com.
Never Mind The Dambusters
(Premium) Episode 13 Combat Stress, Psychiatric Casualties, & 'Lack of Moral Fibre' - Dr Dan Ellin & Mary Brazier
**Episode on public release 28 August 2024
‘Even heroes have a breakdown point. Honour and moral fibre are variables. Like pain, the threshold is different in each of us.’
- Phillip Gray, Bomber Pilot.
This week, Jane discusses the issue of psychiatric casualties in Bomber Command, with Dr. Dan Ellin (University of Lincoln and International Bomber Command Centre) and Mary Brazier (mental health professional). They explore the treatment of mental health issues during World War II and the differences between psychology and psychiatry. They also discuss the RAF's lack of moral fibre policy and the stigma surrounding psychiatric casualties. The conversation touches on the comparison between the RAF and other services, such as the US Army Air Force, and the different approaches to mental health care. Jane, Mary and Dan explore the use of anaesthesia and the importance of sleep and rest in forward psychiatric units during World War II.
The team delves into the lack of moral fibre policy (and the many myths surrounding it) and how post-war understanding was influenced by changing medical beliefs and veterans' hopes for recognition. The fear of being labelled lacking in moral fibre was a real threat for aircrews and was equated with cowardice. The impact of the policy may have been exaggerated, but it was an effective deterrent. The conversation also touches on the social constructs of mental health and the challenges of language and terminology.
Further reading:
Dr Dan Ellin https://t.co/v9q3hTwfgK
Jane Gulliford Lowes https://www.justcuriousjane.com/lack-of-moral-fibre-part-2-origins/
We've listed more titles in the transcript section of the show notes.
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Thank you for listening! You can reach out to us on social media at @RAF_BomberPod (X) or @NeverMindTheDambusters (Instagram)
You can find out about James' research, articles, lectures and podcasts here .
You can read more about Jane's work on her website at https://www.justcuriousjane.com/, and listen to podcasts/media stuff here
Further reading:
Allan D English, The Cream of the Crop: Canadian Aircrew 1939-1945, (McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal), 1996.
Alan Cooper, Air Battle of the Ruhr, (Airlife Publishing Ltd, Shrewsbury), 1992.
Martin Francis, The Flyer: British Culture and the Royal Air Force 1939-1945, (Oxford University Press, Oxford), 2008.
Francis Houghton, The Veteran’s Tale – British Military Memoirs of the Second World War, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge), 2019.
Richard Overy, The Bombing War – Europe 1939-1945, (Allen Lane, London), 2013
Sonya Rose, Which People’s War? National Identity and Citizenship in Wartime Britain 1939-1945’, (Oxford, Oxford University Press), 2003, p.20.
Ben Shephard, A War of Nerves: Soldiers and Psychiatrists 1914-1994, (Jonathan Cape, London), 2000.
Daniel Ussishkin, Morale – A Modern British History, (Oxford University Press, New York), 2017.
Mark K Wells, Courage in Air Warfare – The Allied Experience in the Second World War (Frank Cass, London), 1995.
Articles:
Lynsey Shaw Cobden, ‘Neuropsychiatry and the Management of Aerial Warfare: The Royal Air Force Neuropsychiatric Division in the Second World War,’ PhD thesis, University of Oxford, 2016.
Edgar Jones, ‘“LMF”: The Use of Psychiatric Stigma in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War’, The Journal of Military History, 70, April 2006, pp.439-58.
Hans Pols and Stephanie Oak, ‘War and Military Mental Health: The US Psychiatric Response in the 20th Century’, American Journal of Public Health, December 2007, Vol 97, No.12, pp. 2132 – 2142.
Elizabeth Roberts-Pedersen, A Weak Spot in the Personality? Conceptualising “War Neurosis” in British Medical Literature of the Second World War’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, 2012, pp. 408-420.
