Shrapnel rained from the sky, mines exploded into the air and charred remains of bodies seeped into the brown mud.
On July 1 1916 – the first day of the Battle of the Somme – the British forces endured 57,000 casualties. By the end of the war 700,000 men had died.
For every soldier killed during the war, a further two were wounded; left disabled, disfigured or traumatised by their experiences.
Now, a new exhibition at the Science Museum looks at the little-known medical story of those who lived, and the medical devices and innovations that helped ensure their survival.
Opening on June 29 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of this battle, it features stretchers adapted for use in narrow trenches, made-to-measure artificial arms and the hundreds of glass eyes given to blinded soldiers.
Also on show are examples of the then new medical equipment, including a contraption called Haldane’s oxygen apparatus which was used to blow air into poisoned lungs, iron splints that saved thousands from death and blood transfusion equipment that could be used on the front line.
By the end of 1918, over 30,000 war pensions had been awarded for shell shock, a figure that rose dramatically in the years to come as the authorities began to recognise the huge psychological cost of the war.
Visitors will discover the new medical and welfare institutes and organisations that were created to care for veterans as well as improvements in specialist forms of care and rehabilitation.
Stewart Emmens, the exhibition’s curator, said: ‘The Science Museum’s First World War medical collections provide a fascinating insight into the way medical practices and technologies were adapted and developed to cope with the unprecedented scale and severity of wounding between 1914 and 1918.
‘Visitors to Wounded will also have a rare opportunity to see important art works from the period that help us understand the experience of the soldiers, including famous pastel drawings of facial injuries by Henry Tonks, from the Royal College of Surgeons, and a painting by John Lavery in 1914 that captures the arrival of the first British wounded soldiers at the London Hospital.’
Glass eyes (c. 1920s): Artificial eyes were much in demand by those whose wounds involved sight loss. Unfortunately, glass eyes became in short supply during the war as most were produced in Germany
All existing stock of glass eyes in Britain was put under the control of the Army Spectacle Depot. Between December 1916 and August 1919, it supplied over 22,000 eyes to medical centres across the country. Pictured is a set of 50 glass eyes
The ‘officer’s arm’ (1915): A century ago, both limb-makers and orthopaedic surgeons experimented with various ways to replace the lost function of a limb. These Carnes arms were made in the USA then shipped back across the wartime Atlantic, and were highly coveted. However, only officers could generally afford them. Eventually, the matter was raised in parliament so lower-ranked personnel could buy the arm. In practice, wearers found the Carnes arm difficult to master and many ended up in the backs of cupboards
‘Splatter’ mask (1917 – 1918): Tanks were introduced in World War I for the first time. Although tanks were encased in thick armour plate, the impact from high explosives could cause a deadly spray of ricocheting hot metal fragments within the vehicles. Pictured is a protective mask made of leather and chain mail which would have been worn by the crews operating the tanks
Haldane’s oxygen apparatus (1917 – 1918): Poisonous gases such as phosgene and chlorine could take hours to kill as a soldier’s damaged lungs struggled to take in air. The most effective treatment for such casualties was to artificially increase the oxygen concentration of the blood. Scientists John Scott Haldane created an apparatus to administer oxygen to lungs, and this device was modified by medics to be used in the war. Attached to oxygen cylinders, it allowed four people at a time to receive pure oxygen. Life-saving equipment similar to this was supplied to special gas treatment units that became stationed near the front lines
Calming tonic (1915-1925): The market for medicines that claimed to heal shattered nerves found a new market among war veterans. There is little clinical evidence of their effectiveness, but these tonics, sedatives and supplements were popular among shell-shocked men
‘Alclad’ above knee prothesis (1924): Amputee servicemen were entitled to free artificial limbs, but as the war went on existing supplies were soon depleted. In response, a centre for treatment, provision and rehabilitation was established at Queen Mary’s hospital, Roehampton, in southwest London – primarily through the campaigning efforts of Mary Eleanor Gwynne Holford. With the British limb-making industry failing to keep up with escalating demands, American manufacturers were shipped over in 1915 to set up workshops at Queen Mary’s hospital. As a range of manufacturers battled to meet requirements, amputees could find themselves with limbs made to varying standards. The majority of amputees were leg amputees. Most ‘first issue’ legs were wooden; In their efforts to compete for lucrative government contracts in the post-war period, limb-making companies experimented with new designs and new materials. One of the fundamental shifts for amputees came with the move from wood to metal limbs. Having been issued with wooden limbs during the wartime rush, amputees clamoured for the lighter metal designs. Pictured is an ‘Alclad’ leg with a metal shin
Robertson’s blood transfusion apparatus: This apparatus was a major advance in the history of blood transfusion. It was designed so that blood was taken via one needle and pumped out through the adjacent one. The bottle itself was pre-dosed with sodium citrate – which prevents clotting and allows the blood to be stored for several hours – the first ‘blood banks’. This became the preferred method in the final months of the war. Medics were increasingly keen to bring transfusion nearer to the front, and thanks to this invention, they had a means of doing so
Top: Thomas Splint /1850 – 1920): Early in the war, around 80 per cent of British soldiers with fractured thighbones were dying. During the slow evacuations over bumpy terrain, their unstable broken bones caused further, often fatal, bleeding. In such conditions, standard-issue splints or improvised supports such as rifles were of limited value. A simple Victorian medical device – the Thomas splint – was re-discovered and used widely. This dramatically reduced the death rate and the degree of long-term disability. Bottom: A British soldier wearing artificial legs, c.1915-1918
A stretcher designed for narrow trenches (1916): British surgeon George Herbert Colt designed this bendable stretcher as a way to move wounded men through the twists and turns of narrow, muddy trenches. Carried on the bearers’ shoulders, the wounded soldier lay semi-upright in the canvas sling suspended underneath
Top: Folding operating table (1914 – 1918): These tables would have been used at a casualty clearing stations which were several miles from the front line. Bottom: British field surgical pannier (1914 – 1916): Resembling like a wickerwork picnic basket, surgical panniers like this one were supplied to various British medical units near to the front lines. They contained an extensive array of surgical instruments and equipment for wound care, anaesthetising and sterilising. The ‘1905 pattern’ label indicates the contents were based on what was needed in earlier wars. As the scale and severity of wounding on the Western Front became clear, what was inside the basket was modified
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3664225/Glass-eyes-clunky-metal-arms-oxygen-pumps-poisoned-lungs-Fascinating-exhibition-mark-Battle-Somme-reveals-crude-medical-devices-used-World-War-I.html#ixzz4CtoEuihS
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