Historic Environment Study

Question 1

When did WW1 break out?

Answer 1

August 1914

Question 2

When did WW1 end?

Answer 2

November 1918

Question 3

When was the First Battle of Ypres?

Answer 3

Oct - Nov 1914

Question 4

When was the Battle on Hill 60?

Answer 4

April 1915

Question 5

When was the Second Battle of Ypres?

Answer 5

May 1915

Question 6

When was the Third Battle of Ypres?

Answer 6

July - November 1917

Question 7

When was the Battle of the Somme?

Answer 7

July - November 1916

Question 8

When was the Battle of Arras?

Answer 8

April-May 1917

Question 9

When was the Battle of Cambrai?

Answer 9

November - December 1917

Question 10

When was the first use of the Creeping Barrage?

Answer 10

The Battle of the Somme

Question 11

When were tanks first used successfully on a large scale?

Answer 11

The Battle of Cambrai

Question 12

When was the first bank of stored blood used?

Answer 12

The Battle of Cambrai

Question 13

When did Karl Landsteiner discover blood groups?

Answer 13

1901

Question 14

When were X Rays first used?

Answer 14

1895

Question 15

What were the problems of early X Rays?

Answer 15

They were very slow (90 mins to make an image) and the glass tubes were very fragile in the smaller machines

Question 16

What type of surgery was common by the outbreak of the First World War?

Answer 16

Aseptic

Question 17

When was the first use of Chlorine gas in WW1?

Answer 17

July 1915

Question 18

When was the Brodie helmet introduced to soldiers in WW1?

Answer 18

Late 1915

Question 19

Identify three common illnesses soldiers would get in the trenches of WW1.

Answer 19

• Trench fever (caused by lice)
• Trench foot (caused by wet conditions)
• Shell shock (now called PTSD)

Question 20

What injuries were particularly common in WW1?

Answer 20

• Bullet wounds
• Shrapnel wounds
• Infection
• Head injuries

Question 21

What does RAMC stand for, and what is it?

Answer 21

Royal Army Medical Corps. The group of soldiers in the army who provided medical care. Would include trained doctors.

Question 22

What does FANY stand for, and what is it?

Answer 22

First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. Group of volunteer nurses who were used for driving ambulances and cooking.

Question 23

What was Thompson’s Cave in WW1?

Answer 23

The underground hospital in Arras. Included space for 700 beds. Built in tunnels underneath the town and so very close to the front line.

Question 24

What was the impact of the terrain on ambulances?

Answer 24

It made it very difficult for motor ambulances to transport patients, so there was a reliance on horse drawn ambulances when the terrain was particularly bad.

Question 25

After the decision was initially taken to send no motor ambulances to the front, how many were funded and sent to France following a public appeal in Britain?

Answer 25

512

Question 26

What are the four stages in the chain of evacuation (in order!)?

Answer 26

1) Regimental Aid Posts
2) Dressing Stations
3) Casualty Clearing Stations
4) Base hospitals

Question 27

What was a Regimental Aid Post?

Answer 27

A first aid station, close to the front line. A Regimental Medical Officer would be helped to administer aid by stretcher bearers.

Question 28

What was a Field Ambulance?

Answer 28

A mobile unit of the RAMC. They would set up dressing stations.

Question 29

What was a dressing station?

Answer 29

They were positioned about a mile back from the front line, in derelict buildings, dugouts or tents. Staffed by medical officers, stretcher bearers and orderlies. From 1915 also nurses. They could look after soldiers for about a week. More serious cases sent straight to CCS.

Question 30

What was a Casualty Clearing Station?

Answer 30

Larger and better equipped medical aid posts. Situated in buildings several miles from the front line. Staffed by doctors and nurses who prioritised treating life-threatening injuries to men who had the chance of survival.

Question 31

What was a base hospital?

Answer 31

Situated near ports on the coast. Many medical staff, who specialised in particular areas were present. Patent could stay here for some time before either returning to the front or being sent home by ship for further treatment.

Question 32

What was the Thomas Splint?

Answer 32

A splint designed to keep broken legs still, and therefore reduce the death rate from blood loss and infection. Before the use of the splint, 80% of soldiers with a leg wound died.

Question 33

When was the Thomas Splint introduced?

Answer 33

December 1915

Question 34

How did surgery develop and improve in WW1?

Answer 34

Plastic surgery improved to reconstruct facial wounds. Harvey Cushing began to use local rather than general anaesthetic during brain surgery in 1917 and this increased the survival rate from 50% to 71%.

Question 35

What is meant by the ‘Carrel-Dakin Method’?

Answer 35

A system to deal with infection (including gas gangrene) in which a sterelised salt solution was moved through the wound using tubes. Introduced in 1917.

Question 36

How many mobile X-Ray units operated on the Western Front?

Answer 36

6

Question 37

What advances were made in terms of blood transfusions during WW1?

Answer 37

1915 - Adding sodium citrate to blood stopped it clotting
1916 - Adding citrate glucose delayed clotting even more
1917 - First ‘blood depot’ set up at Battle of Cambrai by Oswald Hope Robinson