British Sector of the Western Front (1914-18)

• when was the war?

  1914 - 1918
• when did karl landteiner discover blood groups?

  1901
• what was BEF ?

  British expeditionry force - the army sent to the western front in belgium
• Frontline trench was where attacks were made from, when was it formed?


  1915
• Support trench is where the soldiers from frontline would retreat, when was this formed?


  1915
• reserve trench was the trench where soldiers waited to counter attack, when was this formed?


  1915
• all 3 trenches were joint by communication trenches, how were these built?


  in zig zags
• how deep were trenches?

  2.5 m
• what were dugouts?


  holes in the trenches for men to take cover
• what was no-mans land?

  land between trenches, had barbed wire to slow down enemy
• joseph lister used the first antiseptic (carboxylic acid), when was this?


  1865
• what aseptic techniques did operations use?

  surgeons wash hands, face, arms

  rubber gloves and gowns

  instruments were steam sterilized

  air was sterilized (by being pumped through heating system)
• wilhem roentgen discovered X rays, when?


  1895
• what were the risks of x rays?

  radiation (had burns or hair loss)

  glass tube was fragile and easily broken

  took 90 minutes of staying still

  large xray machines = difficult to move
• james blundell carried out the first blood tranfusion, when?


  1818
• The first battle of ypres was when germans attacked british in ypres, british lost over 50,000 troops but kept control of english channel ports. when was this?


  1914
• Hill 60 - was a man made hill ear ypres and was captured by germans which gave height advantage, In april 1915 british tunneled under the hill, placed FIVE mines and blew it to recapture, when did the germans capture hill 60?


  1915
• The second battle of ypres, was the first time germans used chlorine gas, when was this?


  1915
• the battle of somme, had 400,000 british troops die, they used tanks (tanks were slow and unreliable) and creeping barrage (artiller launched from trenches), when was this?


  1916
• The battle of arras, 24,000 men his in the tunnels in arras and attacked, this gave 160,000 british and canadian casualties, when was this?


  1917
• the third battle of ypres (Passchendaele) was the british aiming to break out of the ypres salient (salient was being surrounded by enemy on three sides vulnerable )

  but it began to rain and became waterlogged so british regained 7 miles, there was lots of drowning and 245,000 casualties, when was this?

  1917
• The battle of cambrai was when 500 large scale tanks were used and moved easily over barbed wire and had effective machine guns, when was this?


  1917
• Arras tunnels were developed to an underground network with 700 spaces for stretchers, electricity , water, railway system, hospital, mortuary, operating theatres and it could have 25,000 men stationed here, when was the hospital created?

  1916
• the frontline used to be farmland, why is this bad?

  soil was fertilzier so had lots of infected wounds
• what are the four chain of evactuation

  rainbow donkeys cough burgers

  1. regimental aid posts
  2. dressing stations - ads, mds
  3. causalty clearing stations
  4. base hospitals
• sources:


  soldier diary

  army medical recodss

  propaganda posters

  doctor diary
• what medical conditions happened in the western front?

  Trench fever - body lice

  trench foot - cold water/ mud = gangrene (amputation)

  gas gangrene - infection in open wounds make dead tissue

  shellshock - psychological trauma misunderstood for cowardice

  shrapnel injuries - hit by bullets/shrapnel , metal penetrate body (brodie helmets 1915)

  gas attacks - 1915
• gas masks were made in 1915 due to gas attacks, when were they?

  chlorine - 2nd battle of ypres, 1915, death by suffocation

  phogene - 2nd battle, 1915, killed

  mustard - 1917 germans - odourless, blisters, burnt skin
• First stage was RAP ( Regimental aid post)


  located 200 m from frontline

  in communication trenches or buildings

  stretcher bearers

  immediate first aid to return

  move to dressing station next
• seconds chain of evactuation stage was dressing stations - ADS, MDS

  more serious injuries

  400 m from RAP

  Buildings, bunkers, tents - protection from shelling

  ten medical officers, orderlies, stretcher bearers

  unit of RAMC --> field ambulances
• third stage of chain of evacuation was casualty clearing stations 


  critical injuries

  ambulance wagons

  buildings, factories, schools

  TRIAGE system:

  1. walking wounded
  2. needing hospital treatment
  3. no chance of survival

  near to railway for base hospital
• final stage of chain of evacuation was base hospitals

  located near church so wounded could be shipped back to britain

  as war went on CCS did their job as infection of gangrene

  different wards

  1918 germans attacked CCS so base hospitals used more
• FANYs arrived in 1914, but when were they allowed to drive amublances?


  1916
• 1. stretcher bearers
  2. horse drawn wagons- shaky, made injuries worse, death
  3. 512 ambulance wagons in 1914 from public donations but not in muddy terrain
• 240,000 men had lost limbs from amputations to stop spread of injection and death, by...


  1918
• infection was dealt with by cutting dead and damaged, infected tissue from a wound quickly this was...

  wound excision and debridement
• carrel-dankin method - sterilised salt solution in the wound using a tube to beat infection as carbolic acid didnt work on gas gangrene, this was in?

  1917
• The thomas splint was a splint that kept limbs and joints still in surgery as men wit gunshots and shrapnel had 20% survival rate which changed to 82%, after robert jones used his uncles solution in...


  1916
• mobile xrays


  couldnt detect all objects in body : fragments of clothing

  fragile tubes

  overheated so used on rotation - british had 6 units
• william coolige made an advanceent on xray tubes in 1913 but this only came into affect in RAMC when usa joined in 


  1917