ABSTRACT
It is estimated that around 1.7 million men returned from military service in the First World War with some form of disability. Meeting their needs was to place unprecedented pressure on the British government and, as the result of its response, even more on the philanthropists and voluntarists who had traditionally taken responsibility for the welfare of such vulnerable individuals. Many of the nation’s leading philanthropists initially supported schemes of varying size and ambition for the construction of bespoke, subsidised communities for disabled ex-servicemen and their families. However, despite the prevalence of these projects, very little has been written about them. This chapter uses the Westfield War Memorial Village in Lancaster as a case study to explore the complexities of the relationships that existed between the philanthropists and those under their care, including themes of need, motivation, control and identity. In so doing, it argues that academia needs to take a far more open and nuanced approach to the oft-criticised process of paternalistic philanthropy.
