Key WW1 Battles

Question 1

When was the battle of the Somme?

Answer 1

July 1916

Question 2

When was the 3rd battle of Ypres? (Passchendaele)

Answer 2

July 1917

Question 3

What were the key features of the battle of the Somme?

Answer 3

A big push by the British army to break through German trenches and relieve pressure on the French who were also fighting Germans further down on the Western Front

• A huge offensive across no man’s land followed by a
  bombardment of heavy artillery
• 420,000 casualties overall with 57,000 on day 1
• Overwhelmed medical staff/services
• Delayed evacuation route
• Shortage of medical equipment
• first time gas was used by the Germans

Question 4

What were the key features of the Battle of the Somme?

Answer 4

A big push by the British army to break through German trenches and relieve pressure on the French who were also fighting Germans further down on the Western Front

• A huge offensive across no man’s land followed by a
  bombardment of heavy artillery
• 420,000 casualties overall with 57,000 on day 1
• Overwhelmed medical staff/services
• Delayed evacuation route
• Shortage of medical equipment
• uneven ground due to shrapnel, harder for stretcher bearers

Question 5

How many British casualties were there overall during the battle of the Somme?

(ext: how many on the first day)

Answer 5

420,000 Overall

57,000 on the first day

Question 6

When was the Battle of Arras fought?

Answer 6

April 1917 to May

Question 7

What were key features of the Battle of Arras?

Answer 7

-It was fought on chalky soil which made tunnelling
very effective
- Rooms created from tunnels had running water and
electricity + accommodation for soldiers
- Some tunnels had up to 700 beds and many
operating theatres
- Tunnels provided shelter against artillery fire
- CCS could be built underground

• Soldiers and miners could be buried alive

Question 8

Why was the Ypres Salient a vulnerable part on the Allied line?

Answer 8

The Town of Ypres stood on the most direct route to channel ports such as Calais and Dunkirk. So if Germany captured the ports they could cut off most supplies to the British army, meaning that the British had to defend the surrounding area of Ypres also.

Question 9

What were key features of the 3rd Battle of Ypres?

Answer 9

• Heavy rain
• Soldiers fought over agricultural land which had a lot
  of fertiliser (e.g. manure)
• Stretcher bearers faced difficulty retrieving the injured
• Infected wounds were common due to the filthy and
  waterlogged soil (e.g. gas gangrene)

Question 10

When was the Battle of Cambrai fought?

Answer 10

November 1917

Question 11

When was the Battle of Ypres fought?

Answer 11

July 1917

Question 12

What were key features of the Battle of Cambrai?

Answer 12

• It was another British offensive; an attempt to break
  through the German front lines
• First large scale attack by tanks
• Over 450 tanks were used against the Germans
• Advances in surgery, X-rays and transfusions were
  utilised in this battle
• Had the first blood bank prepared in advance for the
  battle
  The Battle of Cambrai began in November, 1917.
• Royal Flying Corps aircraft dropped bombs on German anti-tank guns and strongpoints to clear a path
  for the Allied tanks and ground troops.
• It is an early example of the ‘Blitzkrieg’ tactics destined to be used by the Germans so effectively in World War Two
• However tanks didn’t have much infantry support so
  British eventually lost

Question 13

How many stretcher bearers were there per 1000 men ?(a battalion)

Answer 13

16

Question 14

What were the problems facing Regimental Aid Posts?

Answer 14

• There was only one medical officer per battalion

- It was often poorly lit and under fire

Question 15

After what year were nurses available at dressing stations/ field ambulances?

Answer 15

1915

Question 16

In what year were Casualty Clearing Stations performing more operations than Base Hospitals?

Answer 16

1917

Question 17

What facilities did Casualty Clearing Stations have?

Answer 17

• Mobile X-ray machines
• Operating theatres
• Wards with beds for up to 50 men
• Kitchens and toilets

Question 18

What problem was faced by Casualty Clearing Stations?

Answer 18

They often had over 1000 casualties at a time during the first 2 years of the war

Question 19

Who invented the X-ray machine and when was it invented?

Answer 19

William Roentgen in 1895

Question 20

How many X-ray units did the British have

EXT: How many were mobile

Answer 20

528, (14 were mobile. Mobile units were developed by Marie Curie)

Allowed surgeons to identify the location of bullets/shrapnel on the front lines without making an incision

Question 21

What was the difference between direct and syringe cannula blood transfusions?

Answer 21

Direct transfusions involved directly hooking a person to a patient and transfusing their blood, while the syringe cannula technique involved taking blood from a donor in a syringe so it could be transferred to the wounded (A setback was that blood could clot in the syringe)

Question 22

When did Karl Landsteiner discover blood types?

Answer 22

1901

Question 23

What benefits did the Thomas Splint bring?

Answer 23

• Helped fractured bones heal by holding them in place
• Reduced death rate from femur wounds from 80% to 20%
• All RAP officers taught how to use
• Previously, doctors used simple splints to fix wounded legs, and
  broken ends of bone would grind on each other, and cause blood
  loss

Question 24

Describe how blood was made to be stored for longer periods

Answer 24

In 1914, Albert Hustin discovered that using sodium citrate allowed blood to be stored for longer periods. However the blood deteriorated quickly and had to be used soon after being donated. Later scientists discovered that adding a CITRATE GLUCOSE SOLUTION allowed blood to be stored for several days after being collected. Geoffrey Keynes developed a portable machine for blood storage which could take blood to the front lines.

In 1917, US army doctor Captain OSWALD ROBERTSON argued that it would be better to collect blood prior to when it was needed, the first blood bank was set up before the battle of Cambrai in 1917

Question 25

Describe the steps of the Evacuation Route

Answer 25

• Stretcher bearers - recovered the dead and wounded and were often under fire, there were 16 stretcher bearers per battalion, which often wasn’t enough as it took 4-6 stretcher bearers to carry a stretcher. They had to wade through thick mud, and carried basic medical supplies
• Regimental aid post - close to the front line, sometimes in the firing trench, and was moved forward when casualties were expected. The Battalion medical officer was in the RAP, and it was their job to triage soldiers. Fit soldiers were bandaged and sent back unfit were sent to dressing stations for treatment. There was one medical officer and up to 30 orderlies and stretcher bearers per battalion
• Field Ambulance and Dressing Stations - Field ambulance was a large mobile unit with medical officers, and some nurses (from 1915). Staff of the field ambulances set up dressing stations in tents or around buildings, to receive the wounded sent by the RAP and triage. Serious cases were sent to CCS.
• Casualty Clearing Stations - Large scale and well equipped facility, usually in a series of large tents/huts. Had around 7 doctors with nurses and other staff. By 1917, they were performing more operations than hospitals. They contained operating theatres, mobile X-ray machines, and wards with beds for around 50 men. They often had over 1000 casualties at a time during the first two years of the war

Base Hospitals - Usually civilian hospitals or converted buildings. They were near railways so that patients could be transported quickly. By 1918, some hospitals could accommodate as many as 2500 patients. They had operating theatres, labs for infection identification, X-Ray departments and some specialised centres for treatments (e.g. victims of gas poisoning)

Question 26

Describe what happened during the battle of Messines

Answer 26

• June 1917, on the Ypres Salient
• 19 mines were blown up under the German line
• Around 10,000 German soldiers died instantly
• Two mines used to destroy heavy defences on Hill 60 and the Caterpillar
  (These would’ve been hard to attack head on without heavy losses)

Question 27

WHY MIGHT TRENCH PICTURES NOT ALWAYS GIVE THE FULL PICTURE?

AND WHY MIGHT THEY DO

Answer 27

• Machine gun placements were often deliberately hidden and could be missed by planes

However they were more accurate than maps

Question 28

When did the Thomas splint come to use on the western front?

Answer 28

1916

Question 29

features of field ambulances

Answer 29

included
- teams of stretcher bearers who carried casualties through a series of relay posts
- motor ambulances which began to be used in 1915