What can the contemporary uniformed public services learn from listening to the echoes of the past?

As an interdisciplinary researcher, I had been longing to spend more time in the company of historians as I developed my work exploring the relationship between cultures/behaviours in the contemporary Armed Forces and post-1945 women’s military history. Courtesy of Dr Beth Rebisz and Prof Huw Bennett, the Society for the History of War conference came highly recommended.

Two days, two venues – both impressive!

Having co-authored an article with Beth on ‘Hidden violence and silenced voices: Why have lessons about women in counterinsurgency not endured?’ in the Journal of Strategic Studies, it was refreshing to be presenting an article that we’d already written. So, as I headed off for three nights in Potsdam, just outside Berlin, I was excitedly anticipating a programme of panels from across the ages to stimulate my writing and research plans.

Connecting the dots

Nonetheless, working in CEEUPS, my colleagues and I are interacting regularly with those in uniform and I have, at times, been met with slight bafflement when I advocate for a historical perspective. Consequently, I did feel that this conference, whilst well placed for helping me situate my work and connect with other history scholars, might, to others, appear a little tangential to the aims of the Centre.

Reflecting on what I learnt over the two days in Potsdam, I had the realisation that in almost every presentation I noted something which had direct application to the work of the Centre, and I have written this blog post to share these observations. It serves as a call for both research communities of the past and present to make the time to reach across the divide and learn from each other about application and lessons respectively.

Across the conference, I noted themes with relevance for the uniformed public services today, from the shaping of contemporary cultures by British imperial legacies to the reflection of the critiques of current warfare in end of empire counterinsurgencies. It was fascinating to observe how questions of identity – which are ever present in conversations with colleagues about uniformed personnel today – came up time and again in presentations, whether about gendered understandings of veteran status or the intersection of bravery, courage, heroism and valour.

The graphics that follow capture not a summary of their talks, but the points which particularly resonated with me across the panels I attended.

Cultures of War and the British Empire 1850-1960

The conference opened strongly with a panel on Cultures of War and the British Empire 1850-1960, which was so popular there was not a spare seat and more than a few standing! Here I heard how widows of British soldiers killed in the Kenya Emergency became a cause celebre for post war support (over veterans) and how narratives of bravery and heroism masked recklessness and self-aggrandisement.

Dr Mathilda Greig giving her presentation

Hannah's notes from the Cultures of War and the British Empire 1850-1960 session

Cultures of Military Education

Having written about Professional Military Education, and in particular, critical thinking in this setting, I enjoyed joining a panel on the Cultures of Military Education.

As a former cadet at Britannia Royal Naval College, I was particularly struck by Anna Brinkman and Helene Olsen’s paper as current and former members of the academic staff there. Their pedagogical approach of applying current doctrine to historical case studies as a means of developing critical analysis and creative thinking skills was really interesting, especially for the discomfort it engendered in students and some of the resistance to case study choices.

Hannah's notes from the Cultures of Military Education session

War, Violence and the Everyday in Inter-War Ireland

With servicewomen’s experiences of Operation Banner in Northern Ireland being central to my own work, I couldn’t miss the panel on War, Violence and the Everyday in Inter-War Ireland. It made a change to hear three very much connected papers associated with the same study, witnessingwar.com, which centres observations of the everyday through micro-history, and I'd like to thank the speakers for sharing a fascinating insight through individual stories.

What I took from this panel was how the markers of the everyday – the sights, sounds and objects – can shed new light on how we understand lived experiences of violence: the ordinary amidst the horror.

Hannah's notes from the War, Violence and the Everyday in Inter-War Ireland session

Cultures of Counterinsurgency

First up on day two, it was a delight to be up on stage in the most impressive lecture hall on site to present alongside Beth Rebisz in the panel on Cultures of Counterinsurgency. Thank you to our fellow speakers – Ed Burke, Michiel de Jong and Konstantina Karathanou – and to everyone who joined us for this panel.

I really enjoyed the Q&A that followed and drawing connections between the papers which respectively covered ‘The Special Air Service, 1956-1966: Culture, Function and Command’, ‘The Raid on Bidart and other operations: How the French and Spanish security forces co-operated internationally and began to strike back on ETA 1981-1992’, and ‘Ritual Practise and Claim of Land leading to Acts of Terrorism’. What a collection!

Hannah and Beth presenting on Cultures of Counterinsurgency

Catholic Integration and Loyalty in the British Military, 1750-1945

Possibly my favourite panel was the one you take a punt on because it seems pretty far from your own work and time period but hey, if you can’t expand your mind at a conference, when can you! And of course, at the panel on Catholic Integration and Loyalty in the British Military, 1750-1945, I found more that resonated with my work and that of the Centre than I could have dreamed of.

Firstly, I observed that you could replace the word Catholic with a number of words associated with minorities that I am more accustomed to working with, namely women, and so much of what was being said applied both to the historical campaigns I have studied as well as for military women today. Quiet avoidance of discomfort, don’t ask don’t tell, toleration-accommodation-integration, belonging and trust, martial identities, liminal spaces and material culture – so much mapped to contemporary challenges and would not have been out of place in our own Centre’s conference.

Thanks, speakers for opening my eyes, and to Rory for starting his presentation with the question, ‘Who were the Fencibles?’ – I was very grateful as maybe one of the only people in the room who had never heard of them!

 

Hannah's notes from the Catholic Integration and Loyalty in the British Military, 1750-1945 session

Gender and Identity

I had been really looking forward to the panel on Gender and Identity and it did not disappoint, and the speakers deserve a special mention for battling through some IT challenges to deliver their talks.

Hayley Brabazon opened with a paper about hidden veterans and visible mothers, exploring the afterlives of women who served in the Irish Revolution. Her questions about how we understand veteran status and eligibility resonated so much with contemporary debates that they would find their match in the recently launched Female Veterans Toolkit.

Iryna Halasa shared a very moving and personal talk through her study into women educators in Ukraine, how they navigate their work and the impact it has on fostering resilience and resistance.

I was thrilled to hear an update on Sophy Higgins’ PhD, having heard her speak before about it. It was fascinating to hear about the identities of military wives and officers of the women’s services in the inter-war years and how intersections of gender, class and militarisation played out for these women.

Finally, Hannah Cogan shared her research looking at the denazification of widows seeking to access their husbands' posthumous pensions in British-occupied Germany.

Hannah's notes from the Gender and Identity session

Closing thoughts

This was an absolutely super couple of days with such a friendly and welcoming group of scholars. And what better way to end this excursion than hurtling down an outdoor tobogganing run in Berlin before hopping on the flight back?

As you've seen, I have come away with more to think about how the navigating of service identities endures across the centuries and can inform our work with the contemporary uniformed public services. My thanks goes to the committee of the Society for the History of War for all the effort that went in to hosting such a marvellous and friendly conference – I’m already looking forward to the next one!

Dr Hannah West, Senior Research Fellow, CEEUPS