PhD overview: After Afghanistan

Here is a long overdue summary of the rationale behind my PhD and how it came into being. 

Soldiers from 5 Riffles on patrol with a Huskey vehicle in Afghanistan. Image credits: https://www.defenceimagery.mod.uk/Home/Search?Query=45153494.jpg&Type=Filename

WHY RESEARCH OPERATION HERRICK? 

I was initially drawn to this PhD because of the oral history aspect. I have always been interested in war, but more so in the human experience of it. When the project came up, I knew I had to apply as it brought together my interests here, but also my interest in museums and heritage. Operation Herrick was not something I had extensive knowledge of, but something I grew up with. It was in every newspaper and constantly on TV, and I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the people who actually lived it. This is why I love oral history so much, as it gives people the chance to talk about their lives and experiences in their own words, contributing to history as it happens. If I can be a small part in facilitating that, I will be very happy.

WHY COLLABORATE WITH THE IWM?

Between 2010 and 2014, the War Story project at Imperial War Museums (IWM) worked with the UK Ministry of Defence and others to document the UK's involvement in the conflict in Afghanistan (Operation Herrick). Thirty-three oral history interviews were recorded with those who were deployed on Operation Herrick (between 2010-12) within weeks of their return. The immediacy of these interviews presented a distinct opportunity to explore how memory and narratives can change over time.

WHY NOW?

While the UK’s combat mission in Afghanistan formally came to an end in October 2014, the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 came as a shock to many. Over the last twenty years, 150,610 British service personnel served in Afghanistan with over 600 suffering life-changing injuries and 457 personnel losing their lives.[1] This does not include the mental health casualties. The original interviews were done when Herrick had considerable momentum, acting as a good point for an ‘in conflict’ interview. Oral histories were most commonly conducted during retirement,[2] however ‘an increasing number of projects have combined an interest in recording major events of the immediate past, broaden the scope of voices in history, and provide a cathartic release for victims’.[3] It also provided a good opportunity to understand how narration can change throughout someone’s life, and I hope to re-interview periodically for as long as I can! 

WHAT IS THE POINT?

As I was so passionate about oral history, I wanted to conduct my own interviews. I developed a plan, together with my supervisors and the IWM, to interview as many of the original thirty-three as possible. This then created interviews at two time points for comparison to understand how memory and narratives can change. I was able to re-interview seven of the original thirty-three, and twenty-six new narrators* matched where possible on gender, age, and which Herrick they served on.  After conducting the interviews and observing some shifts in the narrative, one key question emerged: Why do these changes occur?

*narrators was chosen as a term by me as the title given to those I interviewed. I did not like the commonly accepted term of participants, as to me, it sounds like something taking place in a lab. I was privileged to interview them, and I felt ‘narrator’ was a better fit as they were narrating their experiences to me.

WHAT ARE THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS?

1.     How have the narratives of those who served on Operation Herrick changed since deployment?

2.     To what extent do the below factors influence their narratives:

-       Mental health and wellbeing.

-       The withdrawal from the conflict.

-       External factors of the media, individual identity, and the interviewer.

HOW WILL THESE BE ANSWERED?

I am answering these questions through the oral history interviews, adding in some photo-elicitation to get deeper into their stories. I am analyzing each interview individually, and then grouping themes to see where people narrate similarly, and where they narrate differently. My thesis, which is the final product of my PhD, is split into three main chapters. These are: mental health and wellbeing, the withdrawal from the conflict, and external factors (such as the media etc). I believe these are the main reasons narratives of Operation Herrick have changed - although not everyone’s narratives have changed. Stay tuned for my findings!

Key terms:

• Oral History = What is oral history? scholars have long debated what it is and what it isn’t, but, to avoid lengthy discussion, here is the definition by the Oral History Society: ‘History is all around us, in our own families and communities, in the living memories and the experiences of older people. We have only to ask them and they can tell us enough stories to fill a library of books. This kind of history – that we all gather as we go through life – is called ORAL HISTORY’.[4].

• Operation Herrick = the code name for British Operations in Afghanistan ‘in support of the UN-authorised, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission and as part of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). Between 2003 and the end of 2014 UK operations in Afghanistan were conducted under the name Operation Herrick’.[5].

• photo-elication = using photographs (or other visual media) to stimulate memories in discussion.

———-

References:

[1] UK Parliament, ‘Proposal for an Inquiry into the UK’s Involvement in the NATO-Led Mission to Afghanistan’, Proposal for an Inquiry into the UK’s Involvement in the NATO-Led Mission to Afghanistan, 2021 <https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2021-0174/> [accessed 12 December 2022].

[2] Donald A Ritchie, The Oxford Handbook of Oral History (Oxford University Press, 2012).p.12.

[3] Ritchie, The Oxford Handbook of Oral History.p.14.

[4] ‘What Is Oral History?’, Oral History Society <https://www.ohs.org.uk/for-beginners/#:~:text=History%20is%20all%20around%20us,life%20–%20is%20called%20ORAL%20HISTORY> [accessed 21 November 2024].

[5] GOV.UK, ‘Operations In Afghanistan’, GOV. UK <https://www.gov.uk/government/fields-of-operation/afghanistan>.