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I qualified in Belfast (Queen's University) in 1942. I did not have any interest in psychiatry, having the ambition to become a clinical physiologist. I had worked with Henry Barcroft, who was professor of physiology. I joined the Army and later the Airborne Forces. Fortunately, the casualties expected amongst the medical personnel of the 6th Airborne Division during the Normandy incursion did not occur, leaving myself and other medical colleagues, who had just completed our parachute training, redundant. I was posted to France and in the late summer of 1944 found myself regimental medical officer to the 1st Battalion The Herefordshire Regiment. I must confess that it never occurred to me during the winter and spring of 1944–1945 that the emotional reactions and the physical expressions of anxiety encountered, particularly amongst the young conscripts, had anything to do with the subject of psychiatry.
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An occasional series in which contributors reflect on their careers and interests in psychiatry
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