Combat Morale Podcast: Recent Episodes
Dr Tom Thorpe
Dr Tom Thorpe interviews experts, academics and veterans to explore the morale and motivation of combatants to fight (or not) in armed conflicts.
British Army officer Sean Scullion talks about his forthcoming book Churchill’s Spaniards. This book examines the service of former Spanish Republican soldiers who served in the Spanish Civil War and their subsequent experience in British and French forces during the Second World War. The interview explores what motivated these individuals to enlist in foreign armies and fight for the allies during the conflict. Sean’s book is published by Helion.
In today’s podcast, I talk to historian, lecturer, and author Dr. Richard Baxell about his research into motivation and morale of British volunteers who served in the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. During the Spanish Civil War, around 2, 500British volunteers joined the International Brigades to fight alongside the Spanish Republicans against General Franco’s Nationalist forces. Motivated by ideological convictions, solidarity with the Spanish people, and opposition to fascism, these volunteers saw the conflict as a crucial battle between democracy and totalitarianism. Despite the British government’s non-intervention policy,…
Canon Professor Michael Snape, the Michael Ramsey Professor of Anglican Studies at Durham University, talks about religion, God and the British soldier in the Great War. Drawing from a treasure trove of newly unearthed materials from military, ecclesiastical, and civilian archives, Michael paints a vivid portrait of the experiences of Britain’s citizen armies and the vital role played by the various religious organisations that ministered to them. Michael reveals the often-underestimated significance of religion in British society during the war years. This enlightening conversation underscores how faith held a prominent…
Dr. David Stahel from the University of New South Wales, Canberra, discusses his latest book, “German Panzer Generals,” and explores the motivations and morale of these soldiers who played pivotal roles in Germany’s military effort on the Eastern Front. While the significance of figures like Heinz Guderian is widely acknowledged, this discussion focuses on the lesser-known panzer commanders serving on the Eastern Front, offering a perspective derived from their unpublished wartime letters to their wives. The discussion delves into their private fears, public pressures, and the complex moral dilemmas that…
Prof Ed Coss talks about the motivation of the British soldier fighting in the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars, 1808-1815. Ed is Emeritus Professor of History at the U. S. Army Command and General Staff College. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and was named the Army’s Civilian Educator of the Year in 2010. He is also the author of All for the King’s Shilling: The British Soldier under Wellington, 1808-1814.
Tobias Kelly, Professor of Political and Legal Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh, talks about the motivations of British conscientious objectors (COs) in the Second World War (SWW). He explores their reasons for not fighting and is based on his recent book Battles of Conscience: British Pacifists in the Second World War.
Author and historian Jane Gulliford Lowes talks about her interest and research into ‘lack of moral fibre’ in RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War.
Scholar, soldier, anthropologist, author and academic Eyal Ben-Ari, talks about morale and motivation in mission formations. Mission formations may be defined as ad hoc groups of individuals drawn from different occupational and skill backgrounds drawn together for a bespoke task focused mission. Mission formations may function in military organisations, business environments and international humanitarian relief missions. Eyal discusses the nature of motivation in these groups and how they function.
Prof. Peter Stanley outlines the military ‘crime’ that members of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) committed as part of their war service in the Middle East, Britain and Flanders during the Great War.
Historian, author and academic Professor Tim Lockley, talks about the morale and motivation of enslaved African men who became British soldiers when they were conscripted into the British West India Regiment in the Caribbean between the 1790s and 1815. Tim is a scholar in the School of Comparative American Studies at the University of Warwick.
Historian and podcaster Dr Zack White talks about his research into the role of discipline and court martials in the British Army during the period of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
Psychologist, historian, soldier, author and academic Professor Reuven Gal talks about his pioneering book the Portrait of The Israeli Soldier that was published in the 1980s. This examined the influences on the Israeli soldier, such as motivation and camaraderie, leadership and heroism, and their impact on the IDF’s military performance.
Dr Ben Connable talks about his work on the RAND Will to Fight series of policy papers. Ben is a non-resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, the director of research at DT Institute, and adjunct professor of security studies at Georgetown University. The Will to Fight will to fight and describes its importance to the outcomes of wars. It gives the U.S. and allied militaries a way to better integrate will to fight into doctrine, planning, training, education, intelligence analysis, and military adviser assessments. It provides…
Dr. Luke Hughes, a UK-based designer and developer, is the creative mind behind the upcoming computer game called Burden of Command. He talks about the game and how it aims to provide an emotionally authentic tactical leadership experience. Set in the final year of World War II, players assume the role of a captain leading a company of American infantrymen in France and Germany. Beyond the intense combat scenarios, the game places great importance on understanding the psychological dynamics of the soldiers under the player’s command. Building respect and trust…
Psychologist, author and operational researcher Dermot Rooney talks about his work on tactical psychology, morale and war. Tactical psychology is the study and application of psychological principles and techniques to enhance the performance, decision-making, and resilience of individuals and teams in high-stress and high-stakes situations, such as law enforcement, military operations, emergency response, and other tactical contexts. The goal of tactical psychology is to help individuals and teams optimize their cognitive, emotional, and behavioural functioning under pressure, and to improve their ability to adapt and respond effectively to complex and…
Author, soldier and scholar, Colonel John Spencer talks about his recent book Connected Soldiers and morale in urban combat. John currently serves as the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at Westpoint, the US Military Academy, is the co-director of the Urban Warfare Project, and also host of the Urban Warfare Project Podcast.
Dr David Harrisville, an independent scholar with an interest in the Third Reich, Holocaust and Second World War, talks about his recent book Virtuous Wehrmacht. He discusses what it tells us about the relationship between German combatants’ morality and ethical world view and their motivation, morale and behaviour on the battlefield of the Eastern Front during the Second World War. This book is published by Cornell University Press.
Author, historian and battlefield guide Tim Lynch talks British about his research into conscript morale during the final year of the Great War. He challenges perceptions about the motivation of conscripts and argues they were not shirkers, slackers or draught dodgers but fought as well as those men who had volunteered in 1914-1916. This interview is based on his recent thesis from his recent MA at University of Wolverhampton and his topical book ‘They Did Not Grow Old : Teenage Conscripts on the Western Front 1918’.
Dr Spencer Jones, Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, talks about the combat motivation of the various sides fighting in the latter parts of the 1899-1902 Boer War. This conflict was fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South African Republic and the Orange Free State) over the Empire’s influence in Southern Africa. Spencer focuses on the guerrilla phase that came after the conventional phase and saw an insurgency that was bitterly contested.
Jake Gasson, a doctoral candidate at Pembroke College, University of Oxford, talks about his research into how British soldiers experienced and endured boredom as part of British forces deployed to Salonika. Soldiers endured long periods of little activity and suffered from non-combat hardships notably the harsh climate and endemic disease. Rather than fight, men spent much of their time labouring or holding an uneventful front. Boredom was a major problem and Jake talks about the impact it had and how the army sought to counter the problem.
Katherine Quinlan-Flatter talks about her research into the political activation of the Wehrmacht in the closing years of the Great War. In the winter of 1943, several members of the Reich Propaganda Ministry and the military in Germany still believed that the war could be won if the ultimate secret weapon – the fanatical belief in the ideology of the Third Reich – were deployed. In a last desperate attempt to implement a new type of political activism, a secret plan was thus put into practice from the end of…
Dr Alex Mayhew, a historian of the cultural, military, and social history of war and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, talks about his research into the morale of the British soldier in the final 18 months of the Great War. He and the host, talk about their respective perspectives on morale and motivation of the British soldier in the last two years of the war. They consider the respective importance of hope, small group cohesion, social norms, junior leadership and ideology.
Dr. Adam Prime, an independent scholar, has conducted extensive research into the issue of dissent and indiscipline within the Indian Army during the Great War. He talks about his research that sheds light on a topic that has often been overlooked in the historiography of the First World War. Adam’s research highlights the fact that there were a significant number of incidents of dissent, ill-discipline, and mutiny by Indian Army units during the war. These incidents occurred for a variety of reasons, including poor living and working conditions, low pay,…
Military sociologist Dr Marek N. Posard, talks about the morale of Russian military forces currently fighting in Ukraine and what problems they appear to be suffering from. Marek is the Professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School in California. This was recorded earlier this year.
Dr Waitman Beorn, Senior Lecturer in History at Northumbria University, talks about the Wehrmacht and motivation to participate in the Holocaust on the Eastern Front in WW2. In the interview, he talks about the extent and nature of Wehrmacht involvement in the Holocaust on the Eastern Front. He points out that while Nazi death squads routinely carried out mass executions on the Eastern Front, many units of the regular German army conducted and participated in such actions. Waitman explains what motivated them to carry out such actions which they frequently…
Dr Emanuele Sica, Assistant Professor at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, talks about the morale and motivation of the Italian soldier during the Second World War. Italy declared war on 10 June 1940 and initially the Italian Royal Army fought against France in the closing stages of the Battle of France. From 1941 to 1943, Italian forces battled British, Dominion, US and other nations in North Africa. After the defeat of Italian and axis forces in Tunisia in mid-1943, Italy was invaded by allied forces.…
Dr Jiri Hutečka, Associate Professor at the Institute of History, University of Hradec Králové, talks about the motivation and morale of Czech soldiers fighting in the Austro-Hungarian Army in the Great War. In July 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Army had 36,000 officers and 414,000 NCOs spread across regular and territorial defence force, the landwehr. During the conflict, the army expanded to around 7.8million in 1917. Like the Austro-Hungarian empire, the army was composed of many ethnic, religious and national groupings. Czech soldiers made up around 10% of the total force, the…
Dr Grant Harward, a historian at the US Army Medical Department, US Army, talks about his recent book ‘Holy War’ on the motivation of Romanian combatants to fight and participate in the Holocaust on the Eastern Front in WW2. He corrects the widespread myth that Romania was a reluctant member of the Axis during World War II and that in Romanian-occupied Ukraine more than 64,000 Jews were killed by Romanian soldiers. Moreover, the Romanian Army conducted a brutal campaign in German-occupied Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Soviet…
Dr Damian Shiels, archaeologist, historian & writer, talks about the morale and motivation of Irish immigrants fighting in the Union Army during the US Civil War. Damian discusses why Irish immigrants, who came from Ireland and Britain were so enthusiastic to serve in Union blue in the conflict. He also discusses what kept them motivated to endure the rigours of campaign and the intensity of combat. More information on Damian’s work can be found at https://bit.ly/37gPAZy
Dr Spencer Jones, Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, talks about the combat motivation of the various sides fighting in the 1899-1902 Boer War. This conflict was fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South African Republic and the Orange Free State) over the Empire’s influence in Southern Africa. The conflict lasted for three years and started off as a conventional conflict and morphed into an insurgency. It was bitterly contested with brutality on both sides that killed around 50k people. Spencer…
Dr Matthew Ford, Senior Lecturer at the University of Sussex, talks about his research into soldiers, guns and morale. He explores the relationship between soldiers, their personal weapons and their will to fight. Central to the discussion is what he calls the socio-technical relationship between a combatant and their weapon. He considers the implications of the work of S.L.A. Marshall, who wrote after the Second World War wrote that only one quarter of infantry soldiers in combat actually fired their weapon at the enemy, and the challenges this research posed…
Historian and author Prof. Ken Noe talks about his recent book on what motivated ‘late’ enlisting men to the Confederates Army during the 1861-65 US Civil War. In the interview, Prof Noe discusses those Confederate volunteers who were so-called ‘late enlisters’, those who joined the southern army after the initial surge of volunteers in 1861. He defined this group as enlisting from 1862 to the end of the war and estimated they numbered around 180,000 men. He aims to correct the stereotype that these men were hesitant non-slave owning farmers.…
Dr Linsey Robb, Associate Professor in Modern British History at the University of Northumbria, talks about the motivation of the British civilian worker in WW2. During the Second World War, The British government mobilised civilians more effectively than any other combatant nation. By 1944, a third of the civilian population were engaged in war work, including over 7,000,000 women. Linsey talks about what motivated these workers to contribute to the war effort and how this changed over the course of the war. She is a social and cultural historian of…
Recent doctoral graduate Dr Drew Ryder talks about the motivation and morale of the British Army combatant fighting in in Korea, 1950-53. In 1950, communist North Korea attacked its southern neighbour sparking a three year war that lasted until 1953 when an armistice was declared. Britain committed troops as part of a United Nations force and nearly 60,000 British combat troops saw action. They were both professional regular soldiers and conscript national servicemen of which 1,078 killed in action, 2,674 wounded and 1,060 missing or taken prisoner. Drew talks about what motivated soldiers…
Historian, lawyer and author Andrea Hetherington talks about her recent book on British Army deserters on the British home front during WW1. During that war, more than 80,000 cases of desertion were tried at a courts martial on the home front. Andrea talks about the many motivations for absence or desertion from camps or barracks in Britain. Some soldiers couldn’t cope with what was thought as poor camp facilities, others had a problem with drink and a number were immature. No deserters were executed for desertion on the Home Front…
Dr Morris Brodie, Digital Intern at Aberystwyth University working with the IWM on the Holocaust and co-presenter of the @Historians_Cut podcast, talks about his doctoral research and the combat motivation of anarchist volunteers during the Spanish Civil War.
Historian and author Alex Clifford talks about the motivation and morale of International Brigade volunteers fighting in the Spanish Civil War.
Dr Joseph Ryan, a historian at the United States Army talks about his work on sociologist Samuel Stouffer the GI survey during the Second World War. Samuel Stouffer was a little-known sociologist from Sac City, Iowa. In his role of the Army Information and Education Division’s Research Branch, he spearheaded an effort to understand the American citizen-soldier, his reasons for fighting, and his overall Army experience during the Second World War. Using surveys and interviews, he transformed general assumptions about leadership and soldiering into a sociological understanding of a draftee…
Historian and author Dr Jeff Rutherford talks about the combat motivation of Wehrmacht soldiers fighting on the Eastern Front during WW2. The interview is based on Jeff’s recent book ‘Combat and Genocide on the Eastern Front: The German Infantry’s War, 1941–1944’ (Cambridge: CUP, 2014) that explores the combat experience and the occupation policies of three frontline infantry divisions. The interview covers the role of Nazi racial ideology and how this provided a legitimizing context in which violence was not only accepted but encouraged and it was the Wehrmacht’s adherence to…
Prof. Kelly Mezurek, Professor of History at Walsh University, Ohio, USA, talks about her research into the motivations and morale of African-American soldiers during the US Civil War. The interviewed is based on Kelly’s on her book ‘For Their Own Cause: The 27th United States Colored Troops’ that explores the contribution black soldiers from Ohio made to the Union war effort during the American Civil War (1861-1865). The interview explores why black soldiers enlisted in the Union army and what factors motivated them to serve and endure on active service. Kelly’s…
Dr Robert Engen, Assistant professor at the Canadian Forces College and the official historian for Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, talks about the endurance and motivation of Canadian soldiers serving in northwest Europe during in the Second World War. Robert talks about the role of small group cohesion, junior regimental leadership and patriotism/ideology in motivating the Canadian infantryman to fight in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany in 1944-45. His conversation with Tom Thorpe is based on his recently published book. ‘Strangers in Arms’ (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press,…
The first episode of the Combat Morale Podcast features an interview with Dr Edward Burke, Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham. Edward talks about his book, ‘An Army of Tribes’, that explores the motivation, cohesion, efficiency, ethics and morale of the British soldier during the early stages of Operation Banner, the deployment of the British Army to Northern Ireland in the early 1970s. Published by Liverpool University Press.
Historian and author Dr George Lepre talks about the ‘fragging’ phenomenon that occurred in US forces during the latter stages of the 1965-72 Vietnam War. You can listen here: https://bit.ly/3vjhJZL ‘Fragging’is the deliberate killing or attempted killing by a soldier of a fellow soldier, usually an officer or NCO. The word was coined by U.S. military personnel during the Vietnam War, when such killings were most often attempted with a fragmentation grenade. From 1965 to 1968, incidents of fragging were virtually unknown. However, in 1969, 96 instances were recorded, in…