This week was the anniversary of the start of the Battle of Britain, when the Luftwaffe attacked ships, ports, and coastal radar stations in the English Channel and along the South Coast. So it seemed fitting yesterday to visit the old Headquarters of Fighter Command, Bentley Priory, to hear talks as part of their Dowding System Day. Not only were there myth-busting talks by Dr Dan Ellin, Dr Victoria Taylor, and Gp Capt (Rtd) Tim Willbond OBE, but we were treated to a flypast by a BBMF Mk V Spitfire! This was my first visit to the museum and I intend to return as there’s a surprising amount to see.
Dr Dan Ellin opened the day with a talk on Flying Stress and Lack of Moral Fibre (LMF), a much overused and misunderstood term.
Dr Dan Ellin talking at the Dowding System Day, 2026
He traced the usage of LMF since the war and showed how it spiked after 2000 with the increased focus on Bomber Command stories. LMF has always been associated with the RAF, but it does pop up now and again in Army records. For instance, Sparrow describes the involuntary deserters who wander off because they suffered shell-shock or were bomb-happy as ‘lacking moral fibre’.[1] It was interesting to hear therefore how the term came about in 1940 not only as an effort to avoid using the word “shell-shock”, but to direct responsibility away from the authorities and back onto the sufferer. If we blame the airmen, we won’t have to pay compensation! Dr Ellin emphasized the fact that LMF was not a medical condition but for some it may have been caused by one. This is definitely not my area of research, and it was enlightening to learn that:
More men in bomber command than fighter command were labelled as LMF.
Men were submitted as having LMF more often in training rather than in combat.
Rumours of men disappearing and being humiliated after being labelled as LMF, likely kept many more men flying than fearing the consequences of refusal
LMF and medical cases are often conflated incorrectly, leading to problematic conclusions.
The RAF’s stigmatising treatment of these poor men seems draconian compared to the Luftwaffe’s approach to psychological health, at least on the surface. Dr Victoria Taylor’s excellent talk, ‘Taken Off’: Psychological Health in the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, was eye-opening.
The Italian Garden at Bentley Priory Museum
The Nazis refused to believe that Germans, especially the cream of the crop aces, could suffer from mental weakness and so they reclassified stress as a physical ailment brought about by flying. Taylor explained how the Germans used a term that was equivalent to ‘had flying done to him’ to explain the stressed condition where airmen refused to go on operational duties. Ironically, this approach, defined by misguided Nazi eugenics, resulted in a much more sophisticated treatment for the sufferers than their English counterparts. Psychologists were heavily involved in the selection and training of Luftwaffe airmen, as well as in their rehabilitation.
The map room at Bentley Priory Museum
It seems obvious when explained, but both Ellin and Taylor talked about the fear pilots experienced when flying over water: there was nowhere to put the plane down in an emergency. For some Germans, therefore, the Battle of Britain over the English Channel was one of the most stressful operations of the war. Kanalkrankheit (Channel sickness) was prevalent, with symptoms ranging from weight loss to vomiting and fatigue. Whilst many airmen ‘diagnosed’ with this condition were sent to recuperate in very pleasant Alpine rest centres, there was a darker side to the treatment that seemed to be used by both sides during the war: electric shock therapy. Taylor went on to describe how Goering’s influence after 1942 reversed many of the good practices the Luftwaffe had introduced regarding psychological selection and treatment. It was fascinating to hear the comparison with the RAF.
Spitfire during the fly-past, 11 July 2026.
Whilst people talk about large organisations, such as the Luftwaffe and the RAF, it all ultimately comes down to the personalities and characters of a few individuals. This was the topic of the Gp Capt (Rtd) Tim Willbond OBE’s talk on The Big Wing Controversy. Anyone who has seen the 1969 movie, Battle of Britain, will have heard about Mallory’s Big Wing at Duxford and how long it took to assemble in the air. Willbond dissected the political dynamics in the background between Dowding at Fighter Command, Park at 11 Group in Uxbridge, Mallory and Badar at 12 Group, and senior parliamentarians. I knew little about the role Douglas Bader played in the Big Wing approach and AVM Mallory’s encouragement of tactics that went directly against Dowding’s orders. Fascinating to hear and I’m reminded that I have so much to learn!
All in all a good day.
[1] ‘WO 277/16: The Second World War 1939-1945 Army Morale Report by Sparrow, J.H.A, January 1949’, TNA [The National Archives], n.d., p. 6, WO 277/16: The Second World War 1939-1945 Army Morale Report by Sparrow, J.H.A, January 1949.