BALLAD OF THE THREE SPECTRES BY IVOR GURNEY

Ballad of the Three Spectres

Private Gurney was wounded in April 1917 and gassed in September the same year, and after his release from hospital was initially posted to Seaton Delaval, a mining village in Northumberland. Gurney suffered from bipolar disorder or manic-depressive illness, which showed symptoms during his mid-teens and led to his first major breakdown in the spring of 1918 while he was still in uniform.

He was never shell-shocked nor did he suffer from schizophrenia, the labels often used to describe his illness. By 1922, his condition had deteriorated to the point where his family had him declared insane and he spent the last 15 years of his life in mental hospitals. Gurney died of tuberculosis on 26th December 1937 aged 47.