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Soldiers' Stories of the Falklands War: Recomposing Trauma in Memoir

2011; Routledge; Volume: 25; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13619462.2011.623866

1743-7997

Lucy Robinson,

Military History and Strategy

Abstract This article will analyse the role of soldiers' own accounts in the construction of the Falklands War as disproportionately traumatic. The war was Britain's first following the development of a diagnostic model for post-traumatic stress disorder and this greatly influenced the value given to veterans' experiences. Writing memoirs of war was seen as a therapeutic practice. This article uses two case studies, Ken Lukowiak and Vince Bramley, to re-evaluate the role of catharsis in memoirs of warfare and to turn the historian's attention to what happens next when soldiers tell or sell their stories of war. Keywords: The Falklands WarTraumaMemoirSoldiersMilitary HistoryLife History Acknowledgements My thanks go to Claire Langhamer and the Translate Trauma Team, Fiona Jill Kirby and Sarah King, and to David Eyles and the other students on the masters course option, The Falklands War at the University of Sussex, for the ideas they have shared with me in the preparation of this article. Notes [1] Roper, 'Reviews and Enthusiasms', 181. [2] See, for example, Bilton, 'Land Unfit for Heroes'. The Sunday Times, 10 June 2007; Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, 732; García Quiroga and Seear, Hors de Combat, 66. [3] I would like to thank the Translate Trauma team at Sussex for their sharing their expertise with me, particularly Dr Sarah King and Jill Kirby as well as David Eyles and the students on the Falklands War masters course at the University of Sussex and Claire Langhamer. [4] Robinson, 'Interview with Ken Lukowiak', March 2008. [5] Holland, '"In These Times When Men Walk Tall"', 17–22; Feldman, 'The United States Role in the Malvinas Crisis, 1982', 1–22; Clavert, 'Sovereignty and the Falklands Crisis', 405–13. [6] Vernon, Arms and the Self; Harari, 'Military Memoirs', 289. [7] Hynes, The Soldiers' Tale, 4–5. [8] Woodward, '"Not for Queen and Country or Any of That Shit …"', 363–64. [9] Stewart Kinzer, Mates and Muchachos, 41, 128; See Stewart Kinzer and Vaux, Take that Hill! and Vaux, March to the South Atlantic. [10] See, for example, McGuirk, Falklands-Malvinas, 147–60. [11] See, for example, Guber, 'The Malvinas Executions', 119–32. [12] See, for example, Arthur, Above All, Courage. [13] See, for example, Wigglesworth, Falkland People; Smith, 74 Days. [14] See, for example, Hastings and Jenkins, Battle for the Falklands; Hands and McGowan, Don't Cry for Me Sergeant Major. [15] See, for example, Kitson, Falklands War. [16] See, for example, Tinker and Tinker, Letter from the Falklands. [17] Cox, 'Mount Longdon Remembered', 88–90. [18] Ely, Fighting for Queen and Country, frontispiece. [19] See, for example, Ward, See Harrier over the Falklands; McManners, Forgotten Voices of the Falklands War. [20] Cox, 'Mount Longdon Remembered', 98. [21] It is not my intention in this paper to cover the debates over the specific historic contexts in which PTSD as a diagnostic was constructed; see Summerfield, 'The Invention of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder', 95; Wessley, 'War Stories', 473–75; Iversen and Greenberg, 'Mental Health of Regular and Reserve Military Veterans', 100–6. [22] Vernon, Arms and the Self, 14, 34. [23] Harari, 'Military Memoirs', 294. [24] Bramley, Forward into Hell, 295. [25] Ibid., 301. [26] Hynes, The Soldier's Tale, 49, 209, 212. [27] Bramley, Forward into Hell, ix. [28] Bramley, Two Sides of Hell, x. [29] Sheffield and Crang, 'From San Carlos to Stanley', 370. [30] Thompson, Forward to Nine Battles to Stanley, by Van Der Bijl, i. [31] Weston, Forward to Watching Men Burn, by McNally, vii–viii. [32] Pike, Forward to With 3 Para to the Falklands, by Colbeck, 15–7. [33] McGuirk, Falklands-Malvinas, 8. [34] Lukowiak, A Soldier's Song, 61, 49. [35] Summerfield, 'Culture and Composure', 65–93. [36] See, for example, McNally, Watching Men Burn; Stant, Ooh Ah Stantona, 2008; McNab, Immediate Action. [37] See, for example, McManners, Falklands Commando; Lawrence, Lawrence, and Price, When the Fighting is Over; Tinker and Tinker, Letter from the Falklands. [38] Bramley, Two Sides of Hell, 71–74, 82–86, 96–99, 135–195; Darch, 'Argentine Officers "Brutalised Conscripts"'. The Times, December 30 1994. [39] Bramley, Forward into Hell, 301. [40] Ibid.; FCO, 'TELNO 73: Falklands War: Alleged War Crimes: Gente Interview with Vincent Bramley', 1993. [41] Lukowiak, A Soldier's Song, xvii. [42] Weston, Forward, iii. [43] Weston, Going Back, 57. [44] Weston, Moving On, 13, 213. [45] Thomson, 'Four Paradigm Transformations in Oral History', 59. [46] Summerfield, 'Culture and Composure', 67. [47] Parr, 'Breaking the Silence', 61–9. [48] Burnell, Peter, et al. 'Coping with Traumatic Memories', 57–78; Robbins and Hunt, 'Validation of the IES as a Measure of the Long-Term Impact of War Trauma', 87–9. [49] Westwood and Mclean, 'Traumatic Memories and Life Review', 182. [50] March and Greenberg, 'The Royal Marines approach to Psychological Trauma', 247–60. [51] Lukowiak, 'Smoking Guns', Guardian, 8 February 2001. [52] Palmer, 'War Torn: 'PTSD Ruined Our Relationship', Daily Mail, 23 December 2009. [53] Summerfield, 'Culture and Composure', 66. [54] Ibid.; Thomson, Anzac Memories, 8. [55] Jennings, 'On Mount Longdon', The Independent, 16 May 1993. [56] Crown Prosecution Services, 'Letter of Request to the Judicial Authorities of the Republic of Argentina', in Allegations of criminal offences committed by British Military personnel in the Falkland Islands Conflict, 27 January 1993. [57] Jennings, 'On Mount Longdon'. [58] Shirley, 'War Heroes or Murderers?, The Independent, 23 August 1992. [59] Jennings and Weale, Green-Eyed Boys, 93. [60] Alderson, 'Falklands Para named as POW killer'. Sunday Times, 19 March 1996. [61] F9 Division. 'Falklands War Inquiry'. Visit by Metropolitan Police Officers to Argentina, 23 February 1993. British Embassy. Communicado de Prensa, Buenos Aires, 4 October 1993. Crown Prosecution Services. 'Letter of Request to the Judicial Authorities of the Republic of Argentina'. Allegations of criminal offences committed by British Military personnel in the Falkland Islands Conflict, 27 January 1993. [62] Bramley, Forward into Hell, 200, 301. [63] F9 Division. 'Falklands War Inquiry'. Confidential Background Note, 9 March 1993. 'TELNO 176: Falklands War Inquiry: Visit of Metropolitan Police to Argentina', 29 March 1993. [64] Private Secretary. 'Alleged War Crimes'. Covering Letter, 1993. [65] CPS. 'Press Release: Falkland Islands Investigation: DPP Announces Decision', 14 July 1994. [66] Jennings, 'On Mount Longdon'. [67] See similar textual reconciliations: García Quiroga and Seear, Hors de Combat. [68] Lukowiak, 'Mothers, Brothers, Buenos Aires and Me', The Observer, 26 May 1996. [69] Lukowiak, 'Mothers, Brothers, Buenos Aires and Me'. [70] Lukowiak, A Soldier's Song, 150–1. [71] Lukowiak, 'Mothers, Brothers, Buenos Aires and Me'. [72] 'Falklands Soldier Wins "War Crime" Libel Case', Western Morning News, Plymouth, 15 March 1999. 'Ken Lukowiak', The Scotsman, 15 March 1999. [73] '1982 Falklands Paratrooper's High Court action. Judge rules on newspaper publishing war allegations', Merco Press: South Atlantic News Agency, 25 July 2001. [74] Lukowiak, 'Falklands' Forgotten Men: Reconciliation Service Makes My Blood Boil', The Observer, 1 November 1998. [75] Bramley, Excursion to Hell, 298.