From: Richard Tetley <richard.tetley@virgin.net> > Although I enjoyed the programme, I found myself criticising them > for jumping to conclusions. > > From a newspaper report saying that he was suffering from shell > shock in 1940, they seemed to conclude that the reason he was a > wife-beater was all down to that. > > However, he went on to have much further involvement in the war, > indeed he volunteered for the paras and was promoted to RSM. That doesn'tsound > like a man who was suffering from shell shock, post traumatic stress > or whatever you like to call it these days. > > I think it is entirely possible that he was in a marriage that he > didn't really want to be in (he initially joined the army to try to escape > his responsibilities), and that he was happier in the army than out of > it. I think it's true that many men who fought in WW2 just couldn't adapt > to civilian life after all the excitement of wartime service. (Some of them > actually got a buzz out of fighting, and the camaraderie of being > amongst men). A man who had risen to the rank of RSM would be > accustomed to men jumping at his every command. Maybe he couldn't cope with a > wife and kids who didn't blindly obey him. > > I don't think that the programme actually drilled down enough to > find the character of his father (which is really what it was about).> I partly agree with you, Richard. To be fair, the programme did point out that Patrick Stewart's father joined the army very shortly after he learned that his then girl friend (Patrick's mother) was pregnant with Patrick's illegitimate older brother. That does indeed suggest he may have been trying to escape his responsibilities. Though I escaped serving in the armed forces myself, what I have read about the experiences of those who did has certainly taught me that often they find it difficult to readjust to civilian life afterwards. This seems to be still happening today, since we hear stories of some who served in Iraq and Afghanistan being unable to cope when they leave the forces and falling into crime and drug use, etc. The whole topic is very complicated and would probably need an army of psychiatrists to explain it! I also agree that perhaps a bit more digging might have been useful, but within the parameters of a 1-hour programme it is not always possible to show everything. I happen to know from personal experience, having taken part in a programme to be shown later in the series, that they spend weeks filming just to get an hour's television! -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Famous family trees blog: http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/tag/roy-stockdill/ "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE