Afghanistan: Voices of Service : Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust

Afghanistan: Voices of Service

King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR at King’s College London) and Imperial War Museums (IWM) were awarded £280,731 in 2022 to interview approximately 100 UK Armed Forces personnel and family members who deployed to Afghanistan during the 2001-2021 conflict and the subsequent withdrawal, to record and recognise their experiences, increase public awareness of their Service and make recommendations for support needs.

A soldier of 5 RIFLES kneels near the end of a patrol in Helmand, Afghanistan as the sun begins to set casting long shadows across the road. Only a matter of hours later the troops will be starting before dawn to begin their next patrol. In August 2014, 5 RIFLES and the Queen's Royal Hussars (QRH) completed the final operation to be carried out by the Warthog Group before Op Herrick ends later in the year. The operation, which concentrated on the Lashkar Gar area, was carried out to maintain security in the area surrounding Camp Bastion. The 5 RIFLES dismount were transported and offered strength in depth from the Warthog armoured vehicles by the QRH.

Afghanistan: Voices of Service began in August 2022. During the first six months, IWM have set up a designated recording space at IWM London to record the oral history interviews for this project.

IWM and KCMHR collaborated to develop a structure for the oral history interviews and identified suitable prompts to ask interviewees to draw out their experiences for the recordings. They also worked together to produce an information sheet to give to interviewees prior to their interview, which provides further details about the project in addition to the potential research outcomes.

IWM has used their existing network and links to recruit potential participants as well as setting up a webpage allowing visitors to find out more about the project and get involved. Around 100 individuals have been contacted about the project in addition to various organisations such as regimental associations.

Recording important oral histories

IWM has started to arrange interviews with interviewees and in November 2022 began the first phase of interviews. In the period of November 2022-January 2023, IWM staff have recorded nine oral history interviews with Service personnel (currently serving and ex-Service personnel), with further interviews arranged.

Participants have valued the experience of visiting IWM London and recording their experiences for the museum’s collection, with many individuals taking time off work to get involved. Whilst anecdotal, participants have told IWM staff that they have enjoyed talking about their experiences in Afghanistan, with some individuals stating that they have not discussed their experiences in detail with their family or civilian friends.

Participants have been particularly keen to not only visit IWM to record their oral history but also to have their recording used as part of KCL’s wider research on the impact of deploying to Afghanistan and the subsequent withdrawal.

Shaping future support

Professor Nicola Fear, Co-Director of KCMHR said: “One of the best ways to learn more about the support needs of those who have fought in conflicts is to speak directly to them and their families. This project, which we are proud to conduct alongside IWM, will collect a series of testimonies which will be hugely valuable in helping to shape the future support provided to those who have been deployed.”

Find out more

For more information about the project, or to sign up, visit: www.iwm.org.uk/voices