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Frame grab of a veteran of the AGC being interviewed

A veteran interview with

Hannah Campbell

Corporal Hannah Campbell was in the Adjutant General’s Corps. In 2007, whilst serving in Iraq, the building she was in was caught in mortar fire…

Frame grab of a veteran of the AGC being interviewed
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About Hannah Campbell

Corporal Hannah Campbell joined the armed forces in May 2002, working first with Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps before discovering a strong preference for soldiering and transferring to the Adjutant General’s Corps.

In 2007, Hannah and her partner received separate postings: hers to Iraq and his to Afghanistan. As they had a daughter together, they deemed Iraq the safer of the two options so Hannah left for Basra, but quickly realised it wasn’t going to be an easy environment to survive.

Hannah talks about her work on base amidst the constant mortar fire, recalling a number of near misses before sharing a vivid and horrifying account of the day she suffered a direct hit. She goes on to talk candidly about her return to England and her struggles with PTSD, as well as the long and difficult road to accepting the need for her leg to be amputated; after which she was finally able to move on with her life thanks to the intensive and remarkable rehab she received at Headley Court.

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Caroline Barratt

Copyright:
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Home | Veterans | Hannah Campbell

A veteran interview with

Hannah Campbell

Frame grab of a veteran of the AGC being interviewed

Corporal Hannah Campbell was in the Adjutant General’s Corps. In 2007, whilst serving in Iraq, the building she was in was caught in mortar fire…

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Campbell, Hannah. A Veteran Interview with Hannah Campbell. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, 9 Mar. 2016 https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/hannah-campbell/. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
APA Style:
Campbell, H. (2016, March 9). A Veteran Interview with Hannah Campbell [Interview by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Retrieved May 25, 2025, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/hannah-campbell/
Chicago Style:
Campbell, Hannah. 2016. A Veteran Interview with Hannah Campbell. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, March 9. Accessed May 25, 2025. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/hannah-campbell/
Harvard Style:
Campbell, H. (2016). A Veteran Interview with Hannah Campbell. [Interviewed by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee, 9 March. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/hannah-campbell/ (Accessed: 25 May 2025)
Vancouver Style:
Campbell, H. A Veteran Interview with Hannah Campbell [Internet]. Interview by M. Bisiker. Legasee; 2016 Mar 9 [cited 2025 May 25]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/hannah-campbell/
An interview with

Ishbel Thomson

Joining the OTC at university while training as a pharmacist set Ishbel Thomson on an army career that saw her serve in many global conflicts.

Ishbel had experience with the University Officers Training Corps (OTC) and the Territorial Army (TA) before she joined the WRAC in 1985. She had trained as a pharmacist at university and it was only after graduating she considered joining the army. She recalls Crusade Eight as the first major operation she worked on alongside the local infantry unit. Ishbel describes how in this role, aside from escorting VIPS, most of the women would take on administrative work. She was then posted to C Company in Grangemouth as a Platoon Commander and comments on the changing atmosphere surrounding women's treatment in the early 1980s. Ishbel also describes how in the OTC and the TA women were afforded more opportunities, such as weapons and armed combat training, whereas the WRAC were only just introducing weapons training. From this point Ishbel underwent a series of role changes within the army; she traveled to Sandhurst, Catterick, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, and London where she completed her Masters in Administration. At Porton Down, she revisited her pharmacist experience and worked with scientists to develop pharmaceutical and technological military defences. Ishbel went on to become an Adjutant General in Bosnia, the Balkans, then a Lieutenant Colonel in Cyprus and a medic in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Reflecting on the WRAC, Ishbel feels that it gave her the grounding to begin her wider military career. An inspiring interview, we thank Ishbel for her incredible stories and for being a trailblazing woman.
Service:
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Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
An interview with

Wildern School

Inspiring historical enquiry: Wildern School’s exploration of the Women’s Royal Army Corps

This film captures Year 10 students from Wildern School, Hedge End engaging in a unique oral history project, exploring the Women’s Royal Army Corps (WRAC). The project was run by Legasee with support from the WRAC Association and Adjutant General's Corps (AGC) Museum in Winchester. The workshops fostered critical thinking, curiosity, and enquiry as students developed their knowledge of some of the challenges faced by Britain and the wider world in the 20th century - one of the content requirements of the English National Curriculum for History at Key Stage 3. Through their research about the WRAC, and perceptive questioning of Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Sue Westlake, MBE, the students examined the complexities of life during the Cold War and the evolving role of women in the military. By connecting with lived experiences, students practised essential skills like communication, confidence, and evidence-based reasoning. With thanks to the staff at Wildern School for welcoming Legasee in, and encouraging their young historians to develop new perspectives on societal change, gender equality, and British military conflicts in the second half of the 20th century.
Service:
Interviewed by:
Lucy Smith
An interview with

Geoffrey Steer

In a bid to avoid the coal mines, a WW2 soldier endures the unimaginable on the European frontline.

Born in Alsager, Cheshire, Geoffrey joined the Army to avoid working down the coal mines. He recalls moments of hope while fighting on the Europe frontline, such as the sight of a crucifix on the door of a French school in Cristot, miraculously unharmed despite heavy shelling. He also describes the difficult position of having to shoot his first soldier, when a group of three German troops feigned surrender and threw a hand grenade. Like with the deaths of his own regiment and friends, Geoff kept himself positive with one simple mantra: “I'm glad it’s not me”. After being shot in the leg in Belgium, Geoff was captured and transported in a cattle truck to Stalag IV-B, one of Germany’s largest POW camps. He describes the harsh conditions and overcrowding, as well as witnessing the camp’s justice system at work, after guards caught and shot a fellow prisoner accused of stealing rations.  In a cruel twist of fate, he also found himself forced to work somewhere he wanted to avoid at all cost - a coal mine. After surviving Stalag IV-B and the notorious ‘Death March’, Geoff returned safely home to Barnsley, weighing only 6 stone and 2 pounds.  Geoff’s optimism shines throughout this interview, despite his harrowing ordeal. He fondly remembers much of the camaraderie during his time in service, and still to this day expresses no regrets of his experience in Europe. He maintains respect for the Germans, for always keeping to their word.
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Service:
Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker