“…Thorne, who was based in Edinburgh and would therefore have been in close contact with the project, had much in common with Bion. Both were boarding‐school children, and both had served in the Battle of Cambrai, Thorne in a Guards regiment that had fought alongside the Tank Corps (Mann, ). It is likely that Bion would have found much to respect in Thorne, who was renowned for his effective and inspiring leadership and was even more highly decorated than Bion, having been awarded the DSO three times and been mentioned in despatches seven times (Mann, ); he also seems to have had the skill of inspiring morale in the most demanding circumstances.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Both were boarding‐school children, and both had served in the Battle of Cambrai, Thorne in a Guards regiment that had fought alongside the Tank Corps (Mann, ). It is likely that Bion would have found much to respect in Thorne, who was renowned for his effective and inspiring leadership and was even more highly decorated than Bion, having been awarded the DSO three times and been mentioned in despatches seven times (Mann, ); he also seems to have had the skill of inspiring morale in the most demanding circumstances. As one of his fellow officers recalled: I shall always remember you at Passchendaele on July 31st when we went over to visit a unit on our flank, a very dispirited unit, beat to the world.…”
This paper looks in detail at Wilfred Bion's war writings, specifically at his preoccupation with issues of morale and leadership, and at the intense feelings of isolation and disillusionment that accompany his bleakest moments. This reading of the war writings demonstrates that Bion found resources that enabled him not only to survive this harrowing time but also to work creatively to improve the lives of his fellow soldiers, and it is suggested that Melanie Klein's concept of unconscious reparation may be helpful in considering Bion's life and work during this period. An impulse to repair may also be discerned in Bion's first published paper, ‘The “war of nerves”…’ (), as well as in his work in 1942 for the War Office Selection Board where, with the support of gifted army leaders, Bion was able to draw on his traumatic wartime experiences in order to make influential contributions to the reform of the British Army.
“…Thorne, who was based in Edinburgh and would therefore have been in close contact with the project, had much in common with Bion. Both were boarding‐school children, and both had served in the Battle of Cambrai, Thorne in a Guards regiment that had fought alongside the Tank Corps (Mann, ). It is likely that Bion would have found much to respect in Thorne, who was renowned for his effective and inspiring leadership and was even more highly decorated than Bion, having been awarded the DSO three times and been mentioned in despatches seven times (Mann, ); he also seems to have had the skill of inspiring morale in the most demanding circumstances.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Both were boarding‐school children, and both had served in the Battle of Cambrai, Thorne in a Guards regiment that had fought alongside the Tank Corps (Mann, ). It is likely that Bion would have found much to respect in Thorne, who was renowned for his effective and inspiring leadership and was even more highly decorated than Bion, having been awarded the DSO three times and been mentioned in despatches seven times (Mann, ); he also seems to have had the skill of inspiring morale in the most demanding circumstances. As one of his fellow officers recalled: I shall always remember you at Passchendaele on July 31st when we went over to visit a unit on our flank, a very dispirited unit, beat to the world.…”
This paper looks in detail at Wilfred Bion's war writings, specifically at his preoccupation with issues of morale and leadership, and at the intense feelings of isolation and disillusionment that accompany his bleakest moments. This reading of the war writings demonstrates that Bion found resources that enabled him not only to survive this harrowing time but also to work creatively to improve the lives of his fellow soldiers, and it is suggested that Melanie Klein's concept of unconscious reparation may be helpful in considering Bion's life and work during this period. An impulse to repair may also be discerned in Bion's first published paper, ‘The “war of nerves”…’ (), as well as in his work in 1942 for the War Office Selection Board where, with the support of gifted army leaders, Bion was able to draw on his traumatic wartime experiences in order to make influential contributions to the reform of the British Army.
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