Breaking the Silences of the Archives: Humanizing the Canadian Shell Shock Experience of the Great War

The shell-shocked soldier has been condemned as a madman in the official Great War literature. He was dangerous due to his mental trauma, isolated from his loved ones, and pushed to the fringes of society. Very little has been shared from the perspectives of shell-shocked soldiers. Most soldiers of the Great War did not discuss or write their psychological suffering as they were expected to remain brave and stoic. The few Canadian shell-shocked soldiers who did write about their war experiences break the silence of the archives and reveal new perspectives that have been historically shunned in war literature. There are even fewer stories of shell-shocked veterans after the war. The few stories and perspectives that exist reveal the challenges and issues that Canadian shell-shocked veterans encountered, including access to pensions, suicide rates, therapeutic methods, film, and institutionalization.