When war came home: air-raid shock in World War I.

Stefanie Caroline Linden

doi:10.1177/0957154x21998217

Abstract

During World War I, civilians became a target of the war machine. Air raids transformed the lives of those not involved in active combat and blurred the lines between the home front and the war front. This paper argues that the experience of air raids in World War I was comparable to the combat stress at the Western Front. The author bases her argument on contemporary publications in medical journals, measures taken by British authorities to prevent air-raid shock, and contemporary case records. The narratives of air-raid shock – similarly to those of shell-shocked soldiers – reflect the feelings of terror and loss of control, and demonstrate the profound effect these experiences could have on individuals’ mental health.

Highlights

The psychological trauma of World War I has been inextricably linked to combat-related mental breakdown in soldiers, often subsumed under the heading of ‘shell shock’
With the centenary of World War I, much has been written about shell shock and the devastating consequences of war for the psychological health of soldiers
For the first time in history, the idea that the home front and the war front were naturally separated was challenged by the technological changes that accompanied World War I, the use of Zeppelins and planes to attack civilian populations (Grayzel, 2006: 590)

Summary

Introduction

The psychological trauma of World War I has been inextricably linked to combat-related mental breakdown in soldiers, often subsumed under the heading of ‘shell shock’. Air raids would have been fundamentally different from the combat experience of the soldiers at the front line, which continued to trigger severe mental trauma up to the end of the war and beyond (Linden, 2017).

Results

Conclusion