A Conspiracy of Silence? Self-Inflicted Wounds in Fourth Army During the Battle of the Somme

This dissertation seeks to take a vague understanding of the issue of self-inflicted wounds during the First World War and contextualise and analyse known cases in order to begin to understand the scale of them, the physical cost, the issue of morale and the economic cost to the war effort. The retention of a sample of medical records by the Ministry of Health includes four admissions books for the casualty clearing station designated to receive suspected cases of self-inflicted wounds which provides names for the period covering the offensive on the Somme in the summer of 1916. Using these books as a basis on which to further investigate the known individuals, it has been possible not only to carry out an in depth assessment of almost 800 men accused of having self-inflicted wounds and expound on who they were, and exactly how they received such suspiciously regarded wounds. The study has made it possible to build upon the framework put forward by Joanna Bourke to categorise cases of malingering and self-inflicted wounds. In so far as a general appreciation of self-inflicted wounds, this study has also shown that primarily, in 1916, the issue of remained a legal one, and was not identified, for example, as a medical problem caused by a lapse in mental health. Perhaps the most interesting findings were in terms of the response of the authorities to those suspected of carrying out self-inflicted wounds. These responses, from the Fourth Army’s commander, General Sir Henry Rawlinson, down to individual battalion commanders, were far less arbitrary than might be expected. In addition, a large number of transfers reflect not only a pragmatic acknowledgement on the part of the authorities that some of these men were not suitable for front line service, but also a surge in the requirements for military labour in the latter years of the war and trends as to how men were routed to it. This dissertation also contributes to the wider discussion on morale in the British army by examining it at a key juncture in the chronology of the First World War, and towards investigating the concept of psychological resilience.