Playwright Coward's WWI record published

LONDON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- British military records published online revealed playwright Noel Coward was discharged during World War I with "neuroasthenia."

Coward, who was 18 when he was discharged in August 1918 with what the papers refer to as a "30 percent degree of disablement," never saw active service and was discharged with the condition only weeks after he was drafted, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.

"At 9 years old he was knocked down by a bicycle and concussed," reads a handwritten medical note accompanying the papers, which were published online by genealogical service ancestry.co.uk.

"Since then he has been suffering from headaches and vertigo and general nervous debility. He was called up to join the army in June but soon after he reported sick with neuroasthenia. Admitted to GMH Colchester" on June 25, 1918, the note reads.

Neuroasthenia was a common diagnosis in Edwardian Britain with symptoms including fatigue and headaches. The condition fell out of favor with the medical community after World War I.

Coward went on to write several popular plays, including "Hay Fever," "Private Lives" and "Design for a Living." He died in 1973.