Alice Wandesford (better known by her married name of Thornton) was seventeen years old when, in the summer of 1643, she was living with cousins in the city of Chester. At the time the city was under siege from local Parliamentarian forces, and Alice wrote an account of her experiences under sporadic gunfire and of the occasion when she narrowly missed being hit by a cannon shot:
Jan Vermeer, 'Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window', c.1659 (detail) [Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden]
. . . standing in a tirritt of my mother's house, having bin at praier in the first morning, we weare besett in the towne; and not hearing of it before, as I looked out at the window towards St. Marie's church, a cannon bullett flew soe nigh the place where I stood that the window sudainly shutt with such a force the whole tirritt shook; and it pleased God that I escaped without more harme, save that the wafte took my breath from me for that present, and caused a great feare and trembling, not knowing from whence it came. I blesse and praise the Lord our God for this my perticuler preservation at this time.
What Alice described as "feare and trembling" is now termed 'autonomic arousal', an acute and involuntary reaction to extreme stress. It is a common symptom of combat stress reaction - 'CSR'. Alice's experience as a civilian under fire was enough to traumatise her, effecting her in much the same way as it can a soldier in the field.
From 370 years' distance, Alice also provides us with a clear explanation of the effects of air pressure caused by the close passing of the shot, slamming the window shutters in its passage and forcing the air out of her as 'the wafte took my breath'. She also witnessed the effect of the speed of sound, the cannon shot having passed her window before she had heard the report of the gun: 'not hearing of it before'.
It is thanks to Alice Wandesford that a modern understanding of combat stress can be applied to the fighting experience of the English Civil War – not of a fighting soldier, but of a civilian bystander.
Rob Hodkinson, March 2016
From 370 years' distance, Alice also provides us with a clear explanation of the effects of air pressure caused by the close passing of the shot, slamming the window shutters in its passage and forcing the air out of her as 'the wafte took my breath'. She also witnessed the effect of the speed of sound, the cannon shot having passed her window before she had heard the report of the gun: 'not hearing of it before'.
It is thanks to Alice Wandesford that a modern understanding of combat stress can be applied to the fighting experience of the English Civil War – not of a fighting soldier, but of a civilian bystander.
Rob Hodkinson, March 2016
Sources:
Hughes, Ann. “Thornton [née Wandsford], Alice (1626-1707)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: University Press (1993).
Kennedy, C. “Combat Stress Versus Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”, (2013) Brainlinemilitary [online]. Available: http://www.brainlinemilitary.org/content/2013/10/combat-stress-versus-post-traumatic-stress-disorder.html (accessed 05.03.2016).
Thornton, A. The Autobiography of Mrs Alice Thornton. The Surtees Society, vol. 62. London: Quaritch (1875).
“Combat Stress Reaction”, Wikipedia.org [online] Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_stress_reaction (accessed 05.03.2016).
Hughes, Ann. “Thornton [née Wandsford], Alice (1626-1707)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: University Press (1993).
Kennedy, C. “Combat Stress Versus Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”, (2013) Brainlinemilitary [online]. Available: http://www.brainlinemilitary.org/content/2013/10/combat-stress-versus-post-traumatic-stress-disorder.html (accessed 05.03.2016).
Thornton, A. The Autobiography of Mrs Alice Thornton. The Surtees Society, vol. 62. London: Quaritch (1875).
“Combat Stress Reaction”, Wikipedia.org [online] Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_stress_reaction (accessed 05.03.2016).
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