The social integration of ex-servicemen with military-induced hearing loss, post-1914

This research explores the experiences of the returning soldier from the First World War (FWW) with hearing loss or deafness. It investigates the responses of the British government, the policies and schemes introduced and their effectiveness in providing a care and support system. The attitudes of medical professionals and how these were influenced by the eugenics movement and social Darwinism are considered. The importance of philanthropy and voluntarism, and the importance of Veterans’ associations for providing deaf ex-servicemen with adequate representation are examined. This will be the first comprehensive study of its kind, filling the omission in the historiography and improving contemporary understandings and representations of deaf and disabled ex-servicemen.

This research is the first to focus on the experiences of ex-servicemen from the First World War who lost their hearing during active Service. Previous histories of the returning soldier in this period have predominantly concentrated on physical disabilities or Post-traumatic stress disorder. Research has yet to be conducted on the experiences of ex-servicemen with military induced heairng loss despite 2.4% of the British Army sustaining hearing loss to a disabling level. This research fills this gap in the historiography, providing clarity on how deafness was received in the post-war and interwar periods. It will improve contemporary understandings and representations of disabled ex-servicemen and provide a new insight into post-war ideas about disability. It will make important contributions to the fields of Veteran studies, war and conflict, disability, and the medical humanities. This work reflects the increasing interest in the study of the returning soldier seen in the increase in contemporary discourse. The thesis provides an important bridge between the history of the returning soldier and disability studies, by incorporating research by Deaf activists as well as history academics and scholars. Essentially, this work will put the voice of the deaf soldier into the historical narrative for the first time. 

Primary data will be used, located in archives and regional depositories to critically examine the history of deaf ex-servicemen, as well as a literature review on the topic.

• Why were ex-servicemen who became deaf faced with disregard and scepticism from the government, medical professionals, and the general British public upon their return from the First World War?
• Was hearing loss a unique and unusual experience of post war disability, and if so, why?
• How did government legislation affect ex-servicemen with hearing loss differently to those with visible disabilities?
• How did the responses of medical professionals towards deaf ex-servicemen affect their rehabilitation and reintegration post-war, and how far were these reponses the result of misinformation and misrepresentation of deafness as a disability?
• Did misconceptions of deafness prior to 1914 affect the perception of ex-servicemen with hearing loss and deafness?