Forewarned

We have been chatting to Diane Allen about her book Forewarned, reflecting on her time in the British Army. Read on to learn more about why she wrote it and what happened as a result.

What led to you writing this book? 

I wrote the book as a means of processing a traumatic end to an otherwise enjoyable military career. I was one of the first women to train at Sandhurst, in the 1980s, and went on to serve as regular and reserve, until 2019. Over 35 years, I saw career options progress from compulsory departure on childbirth, to the opening of all military roles to women, at least on paper. Yet the bigotry and open hostility I experienced in my last two years did not feel like progress. Nor did it resemble the military I thought I knew and loved. I resolved my confusion by writing about my journey. But my reason for publishing was different. Through research and networking, I had discovered that my negative experience wasn’t unique - the military was treating all those who dared to challenge or who fell victim to abuse with contempt. The system was actually designed to obstruct justice. It was this ‘second wound’, that of gas-lighting victims to keep quiet that was causing so many of us deep pain. So, I published the book as a call to arms – to encourage other serving and veteran women to speak up.

What response have you had to the book? 

I was surprised but very pleased by the volume of response. Within 48 hours of publishing, I had received over 150 stories, ranging from the 1970s, to current service. The messages were heart-rending, full of hurt. The common threads spoke of gas-lighting, deliberate delays to investigations, incompetence and coercion to keep quiet. I heard mostly from women but men spoke of abuse too. Over the next months, the stories kept coming and my personal experiences now made sense. This was a systemic and wilful attempt, by the British military, to silence victims. With evidence of deliberate abuse of victims, I took the results to parliament, where I was lucky enough to meet Sarah Atherton MP. Sarah, and the Defence Select Committee went on to conduct a full review of the treatment of military women (over 4,000 women spoke up). In 2020, her findings confirmed predatory misogyny, sexual abuse, bullying, career blocking, inequalities and many failings of military leadership. She forced the MoD to start making changes and I am proud to have been part of that.

What are you working on now?

I work as a defence consultant, but in my spare time, I am co-founder of the Independent Defence Authority (IDA), a group of veterans, who monitor the  MoD and provide evidence to parliament. We collect and collate information, sharing details of abuses. We also support journalists. Most recently we worked with Sky to expose the systemic grooming of women by Red Arrows pilots. Our next investigation is likely to be the inaction by the RN over allegations of submariners writing rape lists. As part of the IDA, we are also working with Anglia Ruskin University to investigate how to give academia access to the database we hold on the abuse of women by the armed forces. This requires careful consent and ethical considerations before we proceed.

Normally, I meet with parliament fairly regularly. With a new government and defence select committee, I am hopeful that the new team will continue to support the work we are doing.

You can learn more about Diane’s work via her website and can purchase the book here.