Oliver Winder

My research examines the lived experience of British troopers serving in armoured regiments from 1937 to 1947. It challenges a historiography that is largely technologically deterministic, arguing that such perspectives have marginalised the individual. By centring on the trooper's perspective, it aims to determine whether this service was truly as dehumanising and impersonal. Ultimately, it will argue for a more nuanced reality where the experience of armoured warfare was a constant tension between dehumanisation and moments of profound rehumanisation. 

This thesis traces the lifecycle of an armoured combatant, beginning with the rigorous technical training required to operate military machinery. Posing significant questions about technical instruction and the history of science and technology. It then explores how operational crews were exposed to the machinery and began to domesticate the technology to reclaim personal agency. Offering some discussions on bodily functions and personifying machines. Following this, it examines how the tank served as a unique social crucible, bringing together individuals from diverse regional and class backgrounds. Allowing for a discourse on leadership and interdependence. By investigating the visceral man-machine combat experience, the project will challenge traditional ideas of impersonal killing. Ultimately concluding with an analysis of wartime trauma and the enduring impact on post-war society.  

The project brings together collections of oral history and life-writing, including published and unpublished sources. It also engages with underused visual sources, both personal and official, such as photographic records taken by the Army Film and Photographic Unit. Finally, the project utilises aspects of material culture associated with military service in tanks. The majority of primary sources have been gathered from the National Army Museum and Imperial War Museum, as well as smaller regimental museums across the UK. 

Before conducting my PhD, I studied History at Lancaster University (BA Hons) and completed an MA with distinction in Modern History at the University of York.