Sorry Mr Pritchard

Hearing loss in war

After writing about the ex-marine I worked with, I realised he wasn’t the first deafened person I had close contact with, or even the first ex-serviceman I met who’d lost hearing during active service.

The first was my primary school teacher, Mr Pritchard. Mr P had the internals of one ear removed whilst a WWII POW – watch ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ for background. He had understandable prejudices, but I never once witnessed Mr Pritchard complain about his lost hearing and, to be fair, he didn’t try to put his thoughts about what happened to him into our impressionable minds. We knew how to avoid lessons though, ask him about the war.

Hearing was, and (probably) still is, ruined in armed conflict and I doubt hearing damage was (things are different and more caring nowadays) ever treated with the care it deserved. When it’s a matter of surviving a conflict, not hearing as well or having a persistent ringing in the head must have seemed less important. Think of all those who came home from both world wars and impaired hearing (or as it would have been lumped together – deafness) must have been a common and accepted problem. How many ex-service personnel must have been told “well, at least you’re alive”?

Mr Pritchard just got on with his life, as millions must have done. Today science, medicine and care have improved to a level that would have seemed like science fiction before the seventies. I’m not suggesting people with impaired hearing should feel lucky by comparison, far from it as hearing loss has 100% impact on someone’s life – no matter how small the loss. But deafness must be less common now, which has to be good, but I suppose my thought is that things can only get better. Wasn’t that used as a slogan? Oh yes, some political party tried it – perhaps I’d better not build up my hopes too soon.