A TALK at the National Memorial Arboretum is set to discuss “one of the last great taboos” of the Second World War.
The Year Was 1945 programme will continue on 18th June when Dr Alexander Smith will explore addiction, mental illness and undiagnosed PTSD on veterans.
He will tell the story of his maternal grandfather who flew 36 missions over Nazi-occupied Europe.
A spokesperson for the arboretum said:
“For the three decades after he returned from the war, Flight Lieutenant Harold ‘Hank’ Hancock struggled with alcoholism, depression and undiagnosed PTSD before experiencing a mid-life breakdown and entering rehab.
“In 1975, having achieved sobriety, Hancock undertook his ‘last op’ when, before dying of terminal cancer later that year, he reunited with his crew – three Australians and four Englishmen – and embarked on a weeklong tour of the airfields from which they had operated in 1944 and 1945. “
Tickets are £4.50 and can be booked online.