The 90th Anniversary of Combat Stress
A Celebration in the Landmarks of Westminster
Care for veterans has been a feature of London life and landscape for centuries. The system set up during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I led, by warrant of King Charles II in 1681, to foundation of the Royal Hospital Chelsea and the venerable body of Chelsea Pensioners. Shortly afterwards the Navy’s oldest charity the Royal Hospital for Seamen (latterly known as Greenwich Hospital) was created for “reliefe and support of seamen serving on board the shipps or vessells belonging to the Navy Royall who by reason of age, wounds or other disabilities shall be uncapable of further service at sea and being unable to maintain themselves”. It is certain that many of those old sailors and soldiers endured experiences in and outside battle, so terrible as to be unimaginable by their contemporary civilians, let alone by us. But their trauma went unrecognised by society.
Even when the First World War exposed a huge proportion of the population to a new scale of horrors, sufferers from mental breakdown received scant sympathy. If they disobeyed orders, the firing squad loomed. The organisation, then ahead of its time and now named Combat Stress, was formed in 1919 to make provision “for cases of acute nervous and mental breakdown as would otherwise be sent to asylums”. It has cared for nearly 100,000 veterans including victims of what was then called Shell Shock, better now recognised as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Today there are over 4,000 active cases, in a nationwide community outreach service and at residential centres providing specialist clinical treatment within a safe, peer-group setting.
Our Parish Church of Saint Peter supports Combat Stress by collection every Remembrance Day. I served (free from undue stress, by God’s blessing) in the Kenya Regiment from 1954 - 1963 and the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service 1990 – 1994, and when the charity celebrated its 90th anniversary on 12 May 2009, I was privileged to be invited to represent our parish.
The occasion was as impressive as can be imagined. A service of commemoration, celebration and rededication was held in Westminster Abbey (the final resting place of the Unknown Warrior as well as many known heroes and heroines) in the presence of HRH the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. There was a capacity congregation including serving and retired admirals, generals and air marshals, veterans, and officers, workers and supporters of the charity. The Queen’s Colours of the Royal Navy, the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and the Royal Air Force were there, which was poignant for me because I carried the Queen’s Colour of my regiment on our final parade. The band of the Welsh Guards played; Kate Adie OBE read from Ezekiel Chapter 34 and the president of Combat Stress from Luke Chapter 11; a veteran and a senior nurse gave testimony of the work being done; the Dean of Windsor and Bishop to the Forces preached (one sermon, same cleric); the choir and organ of the Abbey helped us sing For Those in Peril on the Sea, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind and All my Faith on God is Founded; and we did full justice to two verses of the National Anthem.
As Big Ben struck 1 pm., we crossed the road to the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) and into Westminster Hall which is the oldest part of the Palace. It dates from the time of King William II “Rufus”. He was the red-headed son of William “the Bastard” Duke of Normandy (including Jersey) who became William the Conqueror of England. In more recent centuries the great hall housed such sensational trials as those of King Charles II and Guy Fawkes and the lying-in-state of sovereigns, Sir Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The reception was the opportunity to socialise but few of us knew other invitees. The variety of medals on display helped in striking up conversations. I wore my solitary campaign medal from the Mau Mau emergency as well as a St. Peter Liberation anniversary badge and thus found that I shared old comrades with a Light Infantryman who had served in Borneo and also carried his battalion’s Queen’s Colour.
The gathering ended with Prince Charles’s address, recalling that he had succeeded his “darling grandmother” the Queen Mother as patron of Combat Stress. He praised the charity’s work and said:- “There are too many people who have served in our Armed Forces, or who at present offer service in this way, who are nursing hidden wounds today and who have not yet asked for help. The hidden wounds they suffer are wounds suffered in our name and for our benefit - too easily we can ask too much of them.”
It was all a heart-of-London experience for a lifetime; an essential reminder of how historic are those landmarks, how much good they stand for and how much vital work is being done by and for wonderful people; whilst we are distracted by sensational media tales of less dedicated characters, who use the great institutions for unworthy ends.
Mac Spence, 30th May 2009 (more…)
