I came across this .... and although I'm not shocked ... it came as a surprise to me !! I know the comfort in World War One was Dr Collis Brown's cough medicine it contained Codeine Morphine and Cocaine ..... that cough medicine got them through the horrors ....... but I guess I thought the pilots would be more likely to be drunk than drugged ! One of the books I bought yesterday was "The Eighth Passenger" !! Amazon.com: The Eighth Passenger: A Flight of Recollection and Discovery (Wordsworth Military Library): Miles Tripp: Books
I recall reading that Benzedrine was quite widely used in the RAF. Known in the R.A.F. as "Wakey Wakey Pills."
Well how dumb am I ? .... it never occured to me that that's what Wakey Wakey pills were !! :doh: Wakey-wakey pills use in armed forces were in the news a few years ago as having help cause these aircraft friendly-fire incidents - with the pilots allegedly being "not with it" due to using them on long tours of duty ! ( now I remember ! ) Look what else I found ......
They were an early type of amphetamine. Few people in those times would have had a moral issue about using them; it was after the war that they became the drug of abuse that we know today.
