The British sector of the Western Front

Question 1

Ypres

Answer 1

POISONOUS GAS
first battle of Ypres - 1914
germans launched an attack, 50,000 British troops lost, but held on to the town.

hill 60 - 1915
British tunnelled into the hill, planted mines, gaining it back.

second battle - 1915
first use of chlorine gas, used by the Germans

third battle - 1917
Ypres Salient, awful weather left the ground water logged and many drowned.

Question 2

the Somme

Answer 2

HUGE CASUALTIES
July-november 1916
400,000 allied casualties
450,000 German
first use of tanks in warfare
artillery launched from trenches to germans as they advanced

Question 3

Arras

Answer 3

TUNNELLING
1917
British dug tunnels (electric lights,runningwater,railway system)
easy ground to dig, joined with quarries
created accomodation in the tunnels
hospitals, 700 beds
used as shelters
24000 men attacked germans from the tunnels
160,000 casualties

Question 4

Cambrai

Answer 4

TANKS - easy to move over barbed wire, effective machine guns
late 1917
over 450 tanks used
effective, germans lost ground, but we couldn’t hold on to the ground captured, losing a lot

Question 5

the trench system

Answer 5

3 rows of trenches
frontline trench, attacks launched
support trench, troops retreated from the frontline
reserve trench, troops stationed for counter attack

artillery replacements
dugouts were holes in the side of the trench for troops to take cover
trenches formed a zigzag pattern

Question 6

trench construction

Answer 6

hurriedly dug by troops, often used existing ditches - easier
constantly maintained and improved, e.g. with drains added

Question 7

terrain and transport in and around trenches

Answer 7

terrain varied
different places/weather conditions
difficult to move with deep mud/water logging, craters, holes from explosions
muddy and overcrowded in the trenches too

Question 8

gas attacks

Answer 8

greatly feared 
BUT NOT a major cause of death
temporary blindness, coughing,burns
gas masks in July 1915 given out
previously, cotton pads with urine were placed on their faces

Question 9

head injuries

Answer 9

common
mostly by shrapnel
by 1915 soft caps replaced with Brodie helmets
reduced head wounds

Question 10

shell shock

Answer 10

wide range of symptoms
including total mental breakdowns
some accused of cowardice
many treated close to front, others at base hospitals

Question 11

trench fever

Answer 11

flu-like symptoms 
could last for months
reoccurring
caused by lice
1918, troops deloused, reducing cases

Question 12

trench foot

Answer 12

caused by standing in waterlogged trenches
led to gangrene
treated with amuputation
given whale oil and spare socks, trenches drained using pumps, duckboards added, all to try and prevent it

Question 13

bullets/shrapnel

Answer 13

bullets from rifles and machine guns could penetrate organs and fracture bones

shrapnel were responsible for most deaths and injuries, removing limbs and causing major internal injuries

Question 14

specific Injury problems

Answer 14

some injuries rarely seen before
or on this scale

all weapons and explosions caused major blood loss
bullets/shrapnel located and removed
extensive head or face foods require facial recontruction or brain surgery

Question 15

wound infection

Answer 15

major problem
the soil on the Western front had tetanus and gas gangrene bacteria
these could enter wounds during attack or before being collected
from late 1914, tetanus injections given
no prevention for gas gangrene though

Question 16

RAMC

Answer 16

royal army medical corps
organised and provided medical care
rapidly increased to cope with scale of the war
1914 - 9000 men
1918 - 115,000 men
responsible for keeping men healthy
good sanitation
treating wounded/sick

Question 17

FANY

Answer 17

first aid nursing yeomanry
founded in 1907 by a soldier, hoping to be a nursing cavalry
500 women helped as ambulance drivers and nurses, not on horseback
they replaced Red Cross male ambulance drivers

Question 18

transport problems

Answer 18

difficult terrain - only stretcher-bearers and horse wagons could be used
many roads/railways destroyed
constant shelling/artillery, recovery of injured difficult
initially, no motor ambulances, not enough horses to cope
public appeal in Britain raised money for 512 motor ambulances

Question 19

chain of evacuation

Answer 19

(stretcher bearers)
regimental aid post
field ambulance
casualty clearing stations
base hospitals

Question 20

regimental aid post - 1

Answer 20

close to front line
moved forward when casualties were expected
regimental medical officer helped by stretcher bearers for first aid
sent more serious injuries to the next stage

Question 21

field ambulance - 2

Answer 21

mobile medical unit
staff set up dressing stations
a mile back from the front line, in derelict buildings, dugouts or tents
staffed by medical officers, orderlies and stretcher bearers, nurses from 1915
could look after men for a week
serious cases sent straight to the CCS

Question 22

casualty clearing stations - 3

Answer 22

larger/better equipped 
buildings, several miles from front line
staffed by doctors/nurses
prioritised life threatening injuries, with a chance of survival 
most important place to reduce infection
by 1918:
hospitals had as many as 2500 patients
operating theatres , laboratories, X-ray departments

Question 23

base hospitals - 4

Answer 23

situated near ports on the coast
many medical staff
doctors who specialised in certain treatments
patients could stay for some time
them return to front line, or shipped home for further treatment

Question 24

x rays

and their problems

Answer 24

1895 - discovered by Wilhelm Roentgen
tiny bits of shrapnel/bullets were located using X-rays, for quicker surgery
problems:
early stage, had to keep still for a long time
high doses of radiation, burnt/hair loss
large machines couldn’t be moved around quickly

Question 25

blood transfusions

Answer 25

17th century, blood transfusions from animals to people but rarely survived
Blundell performed the first human to human between 1818 and 1829
developed useful techniques, still problems, had to be directly transferred, couldn’t be stored

1901 Landsteiner discovered blood groups
discovered transfusions only work between people with the same blood group

Question 26

aseptic surgery

Answer 26

thanks to the work of Lister, aseptic conditions began to be used
operating theatres/wards thoroughly cleaned
surgeons/nurses wore sterilised clothing
sterilised cloths covered surfaces
masks worn, prevent breathing infection into a wound
steam steriliser used for instruments, developed by Koch in 1978
1890, rubber gloves

Question 27

carrel-dakin method

Answer 27

1917
stopped open wounds getting infected
sterilised salt solution moved through wounds using tubes was effective
soldiers could recover quicker, decreased death rates and surgery was safer

Question 28

the Thomas splint

Answer 28

from December 1915 it was widely used
reduced death rate from broken limbs to less than 20%
splint kept the leg rigid, in the right place
reduced blood loss
previously 80% died

Question 29

brain surgery

Answer 29

new techniques allowed safer surgeries
Harvey Cushing, new techniques, use of a magnet to remove metal
local anaesthetic used to prevent swelling

Question 30

extensive surgery

Answer 30

deeper surgery
yet caused bacteria to grow deep in the body
made sure all shall fragments were removed
reduced chances of gas gangrene/tetanus, the major caused of amputation

Question 31

blood storage

Answer 31

1915
Rishard Lewisohn
added sodium citrate, stopped clotting, could be stored a short time
1916
Rous and Turner
added citrate glucose, could be stored even longer
preparing for the battle of Cambrai, 22 units of blood was stored, treated Canadian soldiers.

Question 32

plastic surgery/skin grafting

Answer 32

helped replace and restore parts of the face that had been destroyed by bullets/shrapnel
tube medical - safe way of skin grafting, little risk of infection and could be left for weeks at a time
facial reconstruction, previously viewed with supsicion, yet became an integral part of post war healing process
decreased death rates

HAROLD GILLIES, first surgeon who took into account the patients face, dealt with 2,000 cases after the battle of somme

Question 33

mobile x-ray units

Answer 33

static machines used in base hospitals
mobile units used closer to the front
numbers of units increased as the war went on
images not as clear as the static machines but still prevented many deaths.