Preparing and resisting the war body : training in the British Army

Newlands, Emma; McSorely, Kevin, ed. (2012) Preparing and resisting the war body : training in the British Army. In: War and the Body. War, Politics and Experience . Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 35-50. ISBN 9780415692151

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Abstract

Focusing on the British conscript army of the Second World War, this paper explores the physiological processes by which civilians were turned into soldiers, and the extent to which military values were inculcated in the recruit’s body, during the period of training. Drawing on a range of official sources and soldiers’ personal testimonies, it suggests that training was not simply a context of discipline and regulation. Even within the confines of the military camp or barracks men found considerable space to pursue their own agendas, often disrupting the army’s efforts to shape and control their bodies.

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