British Military Service Research Articles

‘Après la guerre’: John Redmond, the Irish Volunteers and Armed Constitutionalism, 1913–1915

Abstract The received narrative of the Ulster crisis relegates John Redmond to the role of bystander as parliamentary politics were sidelined by paramilitarism. Only the First World War, in this account, arrested the advance of armed force in Irish politics. This article seeks to disrupt this narrative by demonstrating that Redmondites were not untouched by the militarist turn which Ireland experienced in these years. Instead, home rulers developed an armed strategy of their own in response to the advent of militant extra-parliamentary politics. Having taken over the Irish Volunteers in spring 1914, Redmondites began to arm their supporters in defence of self-government. Separatists were scornful of these efforts, and it is true that Redmondites initially saw this activity primarily in political terms. But the outbreak of war persuaded Redmond that the eventual return of loyalist soldiers to Ireland at the end of the conflict could be decisive if the Ulster crisis resumed. Believing that nationalists needed to plan for this contingency, Ireland’s prime minister-in-waiting resolved to use the war to build a home rule army. Initially, pro-war nationalists hoped that this could be achieved through the Volunteers becoming a government-sponsored home guard, but War Office opposition forced Redmond to the conclusion that only British military service could ensure a sufficient force to secure the future of self-government. Though this strategy of armed constitutionalism had unravelled by Easter 1916, that it was attempted suggests that late Redmondism should not be conceived of only in terms of Redmond’s public rhetoric of orange and green reconciliation through common battlefield sacrifice.

The Pleasure Culture of War in Independent Ireland, 1922–1945

Most studies of Irish recruitment to the British forces during the Second World War have identified a desire for adventure as one of the principal motives. While this motive has existed throughout history, this article argues that its prominence among Irish recruits was due to the image of war that was diffused in independent Ireland. The interwar market for children’s literature and cinema was dominated by British boys’ weeklies and war films, which portrayed British soldiers as glamorous heroes participating in wars that were exciting and just. For some Irish youths this influenced their perception of British military service.

British Military Service Tribunals, 1916–1918: ‘A very much abused body of men’, by James McDermott

British Military Service Tribunals, 1916–1918: ‘A very much abused body of men’, by James McDermott

‘Quite an awkward situation to be in’: perceptions of patients, carers and health and social care professionals of the supportive cancer care in British military personnel stationed in Germany

This paper reports findings from a study which identified the nature and volume of supportive care received by British military services personnel and their dependents who experience cancer and are based in Germany. The objectives were to (1) identify any gaps in the provision of supportive care, (2) determine the potential for additional supportive care services (local or remote), and (3) identify any educational or development issues for DMWS personnel. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with people with cancer (n = 7), informal carers (n = 6), British health care professionals employed by British Forces in Germany (n = 8), German health care professionals (n = 3), senior military personnel (n = 6) and army support personnel (n = 5). Analysis of the data was thematic and focused on accounts of care related to core issue identified in the UK's National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines (24). The paper explores the difficulties which British military personnel experience in their cancer care. The shortfalls in best practice are discussed in the framework of NICE guidelines focusing on communication, information, psychosocial care and coordination of care/inter-agency working. Significant gaps in the supportive care service provision are apparent The limited assessment and discussion of patients' supportive care needs suggests key areas for service improvement for providers both within the British Military in Germany, and in the services provided by German organisations. These findings highlight issues that should be considered by those providing supportive care for marginalised patient groups, such as patients and carers from different cultures.

Sir Ronald Ross and the Discovery of the Mosquito Transmission of Malaria

The death of Sir Ronald Ross on September 17, 1932, at the age of 75 years makes this an appropriate time to review briefly his contributions to Medical Zoology. Although Ross was a mathematician and a poet, as well as a student of tropical medicine, his epoch-making discovery of the method of transmission of malaria appears at present to have been the most important work of his life. The history of this discovery is presented in detail in his Memoirs and in other publications. Briefly it is as follows. Ross realized the importance of malaria since he had been connected for I4 years with the British military service in India before he began his studies. In 1894 Sir Patrick Manson demonstrated to Ross the malarial parasite and emphasized the probable r6le that the mosquito played in the transmission of this disease. On his return to India in 1895 Ross began to study the relations of mosquitoes to malaria at Secunderabad. The events that culminated in success are listed below.

R. Ruggles Gates in British Military Service

Journal Article R. Ruggles Gates in British Military Service Get access Journal of Heredity, Volume 8, Issue 11, November 1917, Page 509, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a111669 Published: 01 November 1917