The Western Front 1914-1918

• What was the Western Front? line of fighting between the Germans and the allies
• when was the first battle of ypres: 1914, over 50,000 troops were lost but the British managed to keep Ypres.
• when was the second battle of ypres: 1915, this is the first time the Germans used chlorine gas
• what did British troops use against gas attacks: they urine soaked clothes as gas masks
• when was the battle of the somme

  1916
• key facts of the battle of the somme: on the first day there were over 57,000 casualties and 20,000 men

  
  

  by the end of the battle the British had suffered an around 400,000 casualties
• when was the battle of Arras: 1917

  
  

  British troops dug a network of underground caves
• when was the third battle of ypres: 1917

  
  

  the ground was waterlogged due to bad weather, many men drowned in the mud
• when was the battle of cambrai: 1917

  
  

  1st successful large scale use of tanks (500)
• what did shelling cause

  destroyed roads
• what did the battlefield used to be: farmland, so bacteria from fertiliser remained
• ambulance wagons: drawn by horses but shaky so worsened injury

  
  

  motorised - less shaky and faster but could not deal with the rocky terrain
• base hospitals: on the coast to transport casualties quickly, had operating theatres
• Chain of evacuation: Stretcher Bearers - collected wounded from frontline

  
  

  Regimental Aid Posts - gave immediate first aid, aimed to get soldiers back to combat

  
  

  Main Dressing Stations - deals with more serious injuries in bunkers and tents

  
  

  Casualty Clearing Stations - dealt with more critical injuries, set up in old factories or schools as they had running water

  
  

  Base hospitals - near the coast so the wounded could travel back to Britain, doctors specialised in specific injuries
• Features of a trench system: duckboards - wooden planks - prevented soldiers feet getting muddy and wet therefore preventing trenchfoot

  
  

  sandbags - blocked incoming bullets and protected the soldiers

  
  

  dugout - complex hole in the wall - provided cover when needed, allowed the men to rest
• trench fever - cause , symptom and attempted solution: contact with lice

  
  

  high temperature, aching muscles, severe headache

  
  

  amputation, delousing stations
• When were gas masks introduced?

  1915
• when were oxygen tanks introduced

  1917
• what did poison gas cause: temporary blindness, coughing and choking if treated
• what was the brodie helmet and what did it do: steel helmet with a strap, reduced wounds by 80%
• What was the RAMC? Royal Army Medical Corps, responsible for all medical care

  
  

  - included doctors, ambulance drivers and stretcher bearers
• how did the RAMC expand: 1914 - 3000 medical officers

  1918 - 13000 medical officers
• What was the FANY? sent women volunteers to work as nurses on the western front
• what was at Arras: Underground hospital - soldiers could rest and be treated.

  It had running water and electricity

  
  

  over 700 beds and had an operating theatres

  
  

  tunnels ran for around 800m
• 3 ways of dealing with infection: Debridement - removing dead or infected tissue (if any infected tissue was was not removed infection could spread again)

  
  

  Carrel-Dakin method - killed infection using sterilised salt solution (lasted 6hrs so it was made as it was needed)

  
  

  Amputation - removing infected limbs
• what was the thomas split: kept limbs and joints still during surgery -

  
  

  wounded solders often died from wounds in the legs if not kept still. this is because they lost blood and were susceptible to infections

  
  

  improved survival rates from leg injuries from 20% to 82%
• what was used to detect shrapnel: mobile xrays built by marie curie
• Lawrence Robertson 


  carried out first blood transfusion
• Geoffry Keynes: designed portable blood transfusion kit - stopped blood clotting
• Lewisham and Weil: stopped blood clotting by adding sodium citrate - blood could be stored in a fridge for 2 days

  
  

  adding citrate glucose meant it could be stored for 4 weeks
• oswald robertson: first use of a blood bank - stored 22 units of blood
• harvey cushing: - used a magnet to remove metal fragments from the brain

  - used local anaesthetic as general anaesthetic lead to brain swelling
• harvey gilles 


  "father of plastic surgery "