cigarette

William G. White speaking and Irving J. Symons seated to his right in the image.

Charles Kingsford Smith (1897–1935), affectionately known as 'Smithy', was an aviator who pioneered more long-distance routes than any other pilot. A decorated fighter pilot in World War I, Smithy was passionate about flying and his record-breaking flights captured the public imagination. However, aviation was often hazardous and in 1935 Smithy and his co-pilot, JT Pethybridge, disappeared while on a flight from England to Australia. Source: www.naa.gov.au/learn/learning-resources/learning-resource...

Soldiers in World War II had difficulty resisting the urge to smoke; many found it was almost impossible because it was so embedded in the lifestyle around them. As this analysis of soldiers’ correspondence and oral histories reveals they decided to smoke for a variety of reasons: the habit had positive social consequences, it helped them cope with stress, it was hard to escape the promotion of cigarette smoking by tobacco companies, and the military itself promoted it. Among the many disadvantages of smoking there seemed to be quite a few positive benefits for a soldier. In camp, smoking was a way to combat boredom throughout the long hours of waiting for troop movements or other war related efforts. It was just like cards; it gave the soldier something to do to pass the time. Smoking was also a way that soldiers bonded. Cigarettes were used to make conversation between soldiers. If they both smoked, they already had something in common, so it allowed soldiers in a new place to become social. War caused a lot of stress in many soldiers, and they looked to tobacco and cigarettes as a potential cure. Stress is one of the main reasons a soldier started to smoke. The amount of stress and the amount of smoking is also linked; a stressed soldier tended to smoke more.(3) Smoking allowed a soldier to remove himself from the realities of war and to finally relax and not think about bombs and explosions as illustrated in Figure 1. It often gave a soldier the strength and courage to face another day of extreme discomfort and fatigue.(4) In some pictures of injured soldiers, they are seen with a cigarette. It is possible soldiers are seen like this because the stress calming effects of cigarettes seemed to be medicinal. During many parts of the war, morphine supplies were low, so soldiers relied on cigarettes as pain management.(5) The cigarettes lowered the patient’s blood pressure and pulse to help the soldier deal with pain. Source: concordiamemoryproject.concordiacollegearchives.org/exhib...