Soldiering On: British Tommies After the First World War

by Adam Powell

Overview

A month after the Armistice, Prime Minister David Lloyd George promised to make Britain a ‘land fi t for heroes’. At the time, it was widely believed. Returning soldiers expected decent treatment and recognition for what they had done, yet the fi ne words of 1918 were not matched by actions. The following years saw little change, as a lack of political will watered down any reform. Beggars in trench coats became a common sight in British cities.Soldiering On examines how the Lost Generation adjusted to civilian life; how they coped with physical and mental disabilities and struggled to find jobs or even communicate with their family. This is the story of men who survived the trenches only to be ignored when they came home. Using first-hand accounts, Adam Powell traces the lives of veterans from the first day of peace to the start of the Second World War, looking at the many injustices ex-servicemen bore, while celebrating the heroism they showed in the face of a world too quick to forget.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780750991476
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	09/09/2019
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

ADAM POWELL has taught British and European History for over twenty-five years, and has been interested in the First World War since he was a student. He is also a tour guide on the Western Front. Growing up near an impoverished First World War veteran gave him the inspiration for Soldiering On, his first book for The History Press.

Table of Contents

Prologue 7

Introduction: 'Gentlemen' and 'Players': Britain on the Eve of War 11

Part I Coming Home

1 'The Deafening Silence': The Armistice at the Front 19

2 'A Bit of Shouting': The Armistice in Britain 23

3 'We Want Our Civvie Suits': Demobilisation 27

4 Arrivals 32

Part II Unfinished Business

5 'Out of Ireland' 41

6 The Russian Expedition 49

7 The Swollen Empire 52

8 'The Watch at the Rhine': The Occupation of the Rhineland 62

Part III Adjustments

9 'The Chasm': Coping with Civilian Life 67

10 'You Had a Good Job When You Left': Veterans' Employment 76

11 Sex, Morality and Marriage 90

12 Disabled Veterans 98

13 'The Cruelly Injured Mind': Shell Shock 109

14 Pensions 120

15 'Homes for Heroes': Veterans' Housing 125

16 Back to the Land: Resettling Ex-Servicemen 137

17 'Silence and Thistles': Returning to the Western Front 143

Part IV Legacies

18 Radicals and Reactionaries: The Politics of the Soldiers 155

19 Speaking Up: Veterans' Organisations After the War 162

20 Artists' Rines: The War and Culture 170

21 The Political Scene 180

22 To End All Wars: The Search for Peace 186

23 'Lest We Forget': Reflections of Ex-Servicemen 192

Notes 199

Bibliography 229

Index 249