Medicine on the Western Front

• Ypres Salient


  • Germans had the advantage as they were on higher ground
  • Tunnelling and mines were used by the British at Hill 60
• The Battle of Somme

  • 60,000 casualties on the 1st day of battle
  • 20,000 deaths
  • Over the Battle period, 400,000 allied casualties put pressure on medical services on the Western Front
• The Battle of Arras


  • Allied soldiers dug tunnels below Arras leading to rooms including an underground hospital
  • Over 700 beds, several operation theatres
• The Battle of Cambrai


  • 450 tanks used to advance on the German position
  • The plan did not work due to a lack of infantry to support
• Terrain on the Western Front

  • Difficult for people to move around
  • Night communication was difficult
  • Collecting the wounded from No Man's Land was difficult
  • Stretcher bearers found it difficult to move around corners and transporting the wounded thus was difficult
• Evacuation route on the Western Front

  1. Survival depended on the speed of treatment

  2. Care improved as the war progresses

  3. In 1914, there were 0 motor ambulances but there were 250 by 1915

  4. Ambulance trains were used too and even ambulance barges along the River Somme
• Stretcher bearers


  • 16 in each battalion
  • 4 stretcher bearers would take one man
• Regimental Aid Post


  1. Always close to the front line

  2. Staffed by a medical officer

  3. They selected those who were lightly wounded or would need more attention
• Field Ambulance and Dressing Station

  Had emergency treatment for the wounded
• Casualty Clearing Stations


  • Large, well equipped stations around 10 miles from the trenches
• Base Hospitals


  • Had X-rays, operating theatres and areas to deal with gas poisoning
• Underground Hospital at Arras

  • Had running water, 700 beds and several operating theatres
• RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps)


  • Involved medical officers and learnt about wounds never seen before
• FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry)


  • Volunteer nurses who helped the wounded and drove ambulances
• Treating Trench Fever

  1. Caused by body lice

  2. Included flu-like symptoms such as high temperatures

  3. Treated by passing an electric current through the infected area

  4. Prevented as clothes were disinfected

  5. Half a million people were affected
• Treating Trench Foot


  1. Caused by soldiers standing in muddy and waterlogged trenches

  2. Treated by soldiers being advised to keep clean (but amputation in the very worst cases)

  3. Prevented as soldiers changed their socks and kept feet dry by rubbing whale oil into their feet

  4. 20,000 people were affected in the winter of 1914-15
• Treating Shell-Shock


  1. Caused due to the stressful conditions of the war

  2. Led to tiredness, headaches, nightmares and uncontrollable shaking

  3. Not well understood so lacked proper treatment

  4. Prevented through rest and some received treatment in the UK

  5. 80,000 men were affected with some being shot
• Gangrene is when a body decomposes due to a loss of bloody supply
• Rifles


  • Fired one at a time and loaded from cartridge cases creating rapid fire
• Machine guns


  • Fired 500 rounds in a minute, piercing organs and fracturing bones
• Artillery bombardments


  • Were continuous and almost half of all casualties were caused by artillery fire
• Shrapnel


  • Caused maximum damage and explored mid-air above the enemy who were injured or killed
• Chlorine Gas


  1. Led to suffocation

  2. In 1915, as a prevention, all British soldiers were given gas masks
• Phosgene Gas


  Worked faster than chlorine but had similar effects and could kill in 2 days
• Mustard Gas


  1. Odourless gas that worked in 12 hours

  2. Caused blisters and burnt the skin easily
• Shrapnel


  A hollow shell filled with steel boys or lead and gunpowder on a time fuse
• Thomas Splint


  • Stopped joints moving and increased survival rates from 20% to 82%
  • Reduced infection from compound fractures
• 1. Rays


  • Developed in 1895, were used to diagnose issues before operations
  • Problems as X-rays could not detect all problems, they were fragile and could overheat
• Mobile X-Rays


  1. Operated on the front line and were used to locate shrapnel and bullet wounds

  2. Transported around in a truck and allowed soldiers to be treated more quickly
• Blood transfusions


  1. Occurred as blood loss was a major problem

  2. Used at base hospitals as a syringe and tube transferred blood from patient to donor

  3. Extended to CCS (casualty clearing stations) from 1917
• Blood Bank at Cambria


  • Added sodium citrate to allow blood to be stored for longer
  • Stored in glass bottles and used to treat soldiers
• Brain surgery


  Magnets used to remove metal fragments from the brain followed by local anaesthetic
• Plastic surgery by Harold Gillies


  • Developed new techniques and had skin drafts developed from grafts
• Compound fractures


  Where the bone pierces the skin and increases the risk of infection in the wound
• Debridement


  Cutting away of dead and infected tissue from around the wound
• Gas gangrene


  Infection producing gas in gangrene wounds
• Radiology departments in hospitals


  Where x-rays are carried out
• General anaesthetic


  Puts a patient to sleep during an operation
• Local anaesthetic


  Keeps the patient awake but numbs the area to be operated on