british sector of the western front

attrition warfare

one side wears down the opponent to force their physical collapse through continuous losses of personnel, supplies and morale

defensive warfare

protecting territory and resources against attacker

terrain

area of land on which trenches were built

impact of the terrain

• muddy and uneven making movement difficult

• narrow channels meant traffic + lots of people trying to get through

types of trenches

• front line

• communication

• support

• resistance

1^st Battle of Ypres

1914

2^nd Battle of Ypres

1915

used Chlorine gas

British captured Hill 60 - German position - meaning they could fire down on German troops

Battle of the Somme

1916

1^st use of tanks (unsuccessful)

60,000 casualties on day 1; 400,000 casualties over 4 months

German army was never the same

3^rd Battle of Ypres

1917

rain made battle difficult

245,000 casualties

Battle of Arras

1917

New Zealand engineers built Wellington quarries; 700 bed hospital

Battle of Cambrai

1917

450 tanks used; initially successful but in the end not enough support to keep up with them

topography

men were rotated through the line to give them rest, be cleaned and maintain morale

trench foot

treatment - change socks, feet inspection, whale oil

impact - 500,000 suffered

trench fever

treatment - caused by lice (discovered in 1918) so delousing station, boiled uniforms

impact - loss of men as they were out of action because of lack of able-bodied men

shell shock (Not Yet Diagnosed, Nervous)

treatment - condition not understood: some soldiers shot for cowardice

impact - 800,000 experienced

gas: chlorine, phosgene, mustard

solution - gas mask

injuries - blindness, lung blisters, collapsed lungs

shrapnel / artillery (pieces of shell scattered when bomb explodes)

solution - none

injuries - facial injuries

machine guns / bullets (Vickers or Lewis)

solution - helmet; Brodie, 1915

injuries - drag soil and clothing into wounds

39% of injuries

triage

process of sorting patients based on the urgency of their condition and resource availability, to determine the order in which they receive medical attention

1. stretcher bearers

carried dead and wounded

carried basic medical supplies e.g. bandages

2. Regimental Aid Post (RAP)

200m behind front line

bandaged light wounds

one medical officer carrying out triage system

3. Advanced Dressing Station (ADS)

¼ of a mile → a mile away from front line

field ambulances = mobile medical unit with staff

had nurses from 1915

4. Casualty Clearing Station (CCS)

7-12 miles away from front line

first large, well-equipped medical facility - could deal with 1,000 casualties at a time; set up in tents + abandoned buildings

by 1917: operating theatres, mobile x-ray machines, beds for 50 men

around 7 doctors + nurses and other staff

5. Base Hospitals

near railways

more advanced CCS

could take up to 2,500 patients

Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC)

organisation which all medical officers and men belonged to - provided medical care

responsible for chain of evacuation

9,000 in 1914 → 113,000 in 1918

Queen Alexandra’s Nurses (QAIMNS)

professional and well-trained nurses linked back to Florence Nightingale

300 in 1914 → 10,000 in 1918

Volunteer Aid Department (VAD)

middle + upper class women - volunteers

scurbbed floors, changed bandages, cooked, washed clothes

weren’t wanted at first but attitudes changed after France and Belgium accepted them

by 1917 they were doing basic first aid

First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY)

*yeomanry = related to horses, donkeys etc.

volunteers - had been around since 1907

drove ambulances, administered first aid, carried supplies to front line, drove motorised kitchens

British Army accepted them when Belgium had 500 working for them in 1916

mobile x-ray machines

most CCSs had these by 1916

Thomas Splint

for compound fractured limbs

in 1916 death rate 80% → 20%

blood transfusions

Oswald Hope Robinson developed packing blood on ice and sawdust in an ammunition box in 1917

prosthetic limbs

St. Mary’s Roehampton Hospital

they were wooden, uncomfortable

isolated the injured

facial reconstruction

Harold Gillies used waltzing pedicules to fix shrapnel wounds in 1915