Ep4 – Exploring combat motivation with Dr Tom Thorpe

Gary and Spencer speak to the podcast producer and editor Dr Tom Thorpe about his research and interest into combat motivation and resilience. They discuss what is meant by combat motivation and what factors are most dominant in driving soldiers to fight and persevere on military service. A range of drivers are considered from small group cohesion, ideology and coercion. Tom is an independent scholar, tour guide, communications professional and podcaster. Tom holds a PhD from King’s College London that explored the extent, nature and impact of small group cohesion in British infantry units during the First World War. He is also a public historian and being involved in a range of local social and medical history projects such as the Ulster University’s Belfast Epidemic medical history learning resource, the Queen’s University Belfast Living Legacies programme and the Men Behind the Glass Project at Campbell College Belfast. He has been a Honorary Research Associate at both Ulster University and Queen University Belfast (QUB) and a Tutor on the QUB Open Learning programme. He is also a Trustee of the First World War history society The Western Front Association and am Secretary its Antrim and Down branch. Added to this, he is an avid podcaster, hosting and producing three history podcasts. These are the Western Front Association’s weekly Mentioned in Dispatches Podcast, the Epidemic Belfast podcast, and Combat Morale podcast.