'A Blind Man's Homecoming': Masculinity, Disability, and Male Caregiving in First World War Britain

This chapter draws upon the personal narratives of noncommissioned rankers serving with the British Royal Army Medical Corps during World War I to explore how these men responded to encounters with bodily strength and weakness in their roles as male caregivers. In particular, it examines how they constructed the disablement of combatant troops by warfare in light of their own role as noncombatant service men. It locates this analysis in the context of a cultural historiography that has examined the gendering of the disabled male body in war primarily in relation to female caregivers. By examining the impact of disability on relationships between men in wartime, this chapter explores the role of the male gaze in constructing war disability and the gendering of caregiving.