About Us

History of Combat Stress

We were founded in May 1919, just after the First World War. Our original name was the Ex-Servicemen's Welfare Society and we opened our first recuperative home in 1920 on Putney Hill in South West London.

When the charity formed, it was ahead of its time. The prevailing attitude to mental welfare was, by today's standards, primitive, even barbaric.

Those who suffered from mental breakdown during their Service life received little or no sympathy. Indeed, during the First World War, if it led to failure to obey orders, death by firing squad was always a possibility.

At the end of the War there were thousands of men returning from the front and from sea suffering from shell-shock. Many were confined in Mental War Hospitals under Martial Law – with the risk of being sent on, without appeal, to asylums.

But the founding mothers of Combat Stress (they were mainly women) believed that these men could be helped to cope with their condition through a rehabilitation programme.

Work was seen as essential to masculine identity; it provided men with financial security and many doctors believed it to be an excellent form of therapy. So, for many years, Combat Stress ran employment schemes that created real work opportunities for Veterans.

Combat Stress today

Much has changed since then. With a current caseload of more than 4,400 Veterans, we have never been busier. To help these men and women rebuild their lives, we now offer two integrated services:

Short-stay clinical treatment at one of our specialist centres in Ayrshire, Shropshire and Surrey.
Community outreach: to bring clinical care and welfare support to Veterans in their local areas.

Key Milestones in the history of Combat Stress