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Canadian Army Morale, Discipline and Surveillance in the Second World War, 1939-1945

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Canadian Army Morale, Discipline and Surveillance in the Second World War, 1939-1945 University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2015-09-29 Medicine and Obedience: Canadian Army Morale, Discipline and Surveillance in the Second World War, 1939-1945. Pratt, William Pratt, W. (2015). Medicine and Obedience: Canadian Army Morale, Discipline and Surveillance in the Second World War, 1939-1945. (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26871 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/2540 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca Medicine and Obedience: Canadian Army Morale, Discipline, and Surveillance in the Second World War, 1939-1945. by William John Pratt A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORY CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2015 © William John Pratt 2015 Abstract In the Second World War Canadian Army, medicine and discipline were inherently linked in a system of morale surveillance. The Army used a wide range of tools to monitor morale on medical lines. A basic function of Canadian medical officers was to keep units and formations up to strength, not only by attending to their basic health, but also by scrutinizing ailments under suspicion of malingering. Mental health was a broad category linked to morale surveillance where experts of psychiatry and psychology consulted in aid of the Canadian Army in its disciplinary regime. Mental ability and stability became key ways to classify and categorize men in relation to their utility to the Army. Psychiatrists participated to various degrees in the screening process during the war, and treated those who were suffering from combat stress reaction, or as it was known during the war, “battle exhaustion”, considered a medical indicator of poor morale interrelated with discipline. Venereal disease was another medical factor monitored out of concern for its detrimental effect on manpower, morale and motivation. Treatment could take men out of the line for weeks, and contracting sexually transmitted infections proved disobedience of Army regulations which extended to the most intimate moments of a soldier’s leave. Provost and venereal disease control officers alike extended venereal disease surveillance from Canadian soldiers to their sexual contacts in Europe. The study of the morale monitoring system exposes a great deal about the Army and how it interacted with the medical profession and soldiers’ health. Using ii bureaucratic means to codify and quantify soldiers and their behaviour, the Army used a wide range of surveillance techniques to gather data on personnel. It is clear that as the Canadian Army was professionalized, enhancing its powers of observation, that the medicalization of morale was a key aspect of this process. iii Acknowledgements Much gratitude is due to David Bercuson for supervising this dissertation. His deep knowledge of Canadian military history greatly improved my own understanding of the topic, and I am thankful for his words of encouragement and direction. John Ferris and Holger Herwig were excellent supervisory committee members and their comments on an early prospectus were helpful in narrowing down an expansive proposal. David Marshall kindly replaced Dr. Herwig upon his retirement, and has been supportive throughout my term as a PhD student. Frank Stahnisch graciously included me in a number of projects surrounding the history of medicine. Thanks to the above mentioned University of Calgary professors and Mark Humphries, of Laurier University, for their time and commentary on this work. The Social Sciences and Humanities and Research Council and the University of Calgary provided scholarships which made this work possible. The University of Calgary’s history department provided teaching assistantships and research support for which I am very grateful. My doctoral cohort of Andrew McEwen and Stuart Barnard provided collegial encouragement throughout the process. Shannon Murray, Mikkel Dack and other history graduate students at the University of Calgary likewise offered advice, support, and friendship. My wife Meg, and my mother Pat, provided encouragement, interest, and support. iv Dedication To Canadian soldiers who served in the Second World War. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iv Dedication ........................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: An Introduction to Canadian Army Morale in the Second World War ............ 1 1.1 Defining Morale ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2 The Canadian Army and Modern Morale Surveillance ............................................ 8 Chapter 2: Away Without Leave, the Directorate of Special Services and the Disciplinary Cycle in Canada ................................................................................................................ 35 2.1 The Disciplinary Context of Morale ....................................................................... 35 2.2 Discipline and Morale in Canada ............................................................................ 42 Chapter 3: Crime and Punishment Overseas .................................................................... 62 3.1 Crime in Britain ...................................................................................................... 62 3.2 Crime on Campaign ................................................................................................ 69 Chapter 4: Swinging the Lead on Sick Parade: Medicine and Morale ............................. 98 4.1 Morale and Sickness ............................................................................................... 98 4.2 Illness Types as Morale Indicators ....................................................................... 109 Chapter 5: Mental Morale Experts: Psychiatry, Psychology and Morale ....................... 135 5.1 Mental Categorization and Morale ....................................................................... 135 5.2 Psychiatrists as Morale Experts ............................................................................ 152 5.3 Theories of Coping ............................................................................................... 159 Chapter 6: Medicalizing Mental Collapse: Battle Exhaustion as Morale Indicator ....... 167 6.1 Combat Stress and Battle Exhaustion ................................................................... 167 6.2 Manpower, Psychiatric Triage, and Morale .......................................................... 185 Chapter 7: The Will to Obey and War Weariness: Manpower, Psychiatry and Perseverance ................................................................................................................... 195 7.1 Psychiatric Collapse and Preventive Measures ..................................................... 195 7.2 Battle Exhaustion and Morale on the Battlefield .................................................. 209 Chapter 8: Venereal Disease, Medicalized Morale, and Manpower .............................. 240 vi 8.1 Venereal Disease Diagnosis and Treatment ......................................................... 240 8.2 Preventive Measures and Venereal Disease Surveillance .................................... 254 Chapter 9: Sex and the Will to Obey: Discipline, Sexuality, and Prostitution ............... 275 9.1 Sexuality and Morale ............................................................................................ 275 9.2 Discipline and Sexuality ....................................................................................... 287 Chapter 10: Conclusion................................................................................................... 315 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 321 vii List of Figures Figure 1.1: “Field Censors Reports on General Morale of Canadians in the United Kingdom. March 1942 – February 1944.” ....................................................... 24 Figure 1.2 “Canadian Relations with British, February 1942- February1944 From Canadian Army Overseas Postal Censorship Reports.” . ................................ 25 Figure 2.1 “Away Without Leave Rates, Canadian Army at Home, August 1942-January 1944.” .............................................................................................................. 53 Figure 3.1 “First Canadian Army, Canadian Deserters 16 December
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