Western Front - Injuries and Illness

Question 1

Gas Attacks

Answer 1

These were greatly feared and would cause a slow and painful death. They caused mostly temporary blindness and coughing and also burns to the skin.

In July 1915 gas masks were given to all British troops. Before this, they protected their faces with cotton pads soaked with urine.

Question 2

The three types of gas used in gas attacks? Names and symptoms

Answer 2

1. Chlorine Gas
   Caused suffocation; sometimes fatal
2. Phosphene Gas
   First used at Ypres; Caused suffocation and led to very quick death
3. Mustard Gas
   First used in 1917 and did not cause a smell and was transparent so harder to realise; burned the skin and caused internal and external blisters; caused suffocation

Question 3

Head injuries

Answer 3

These were unexpectedly common and were mostly caused by shrapnel. By late 1915, the soldiers’ soft caps were replaced by Brodie helmets made out of steel which reduced head wounds.

Question 4

Trench Fever - symptoms and cause

Answer 4

This caused flu-like symptoms which could last for months and kept reoccurring.

Caused by lice so in 1918, troops were regularly deloused and this reduced cases.

Question 5

How did they attempt to reduce trench fever?

Answer 5

• clothing and bedding were disinfected
• bathhouses were built
• louse-repellent gel was given to some soldiers to put on their clothes and bodies
• soldiers picked lice out of their clothing by hand or ran a lit match down their seams

Question 6

Trench foot
Causes and symptoms

Answer 6

Caused by standing in the waterlogged trenched.

Could in extreme cases lead to gangrene, treated with amputation.

Question 7

How was trench foot treated?

Answer 7

To try and protect the troops, they were given whale oil and spare socks.

If they did retract gas gangrene, they were amputated to prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of the body and causing fatality.

Question 8

Shell shock

Answer 8

Caused a wide-range of symptoms including total mental breakdowns and schizophrenia. Some sufferers were accused of cowardice. Many were treated close to the Front by some were evacuated to British hospitals. Not many treatments as people were not as informed about psychology.

Soldiers suffering with shell shock were given rest and food. Those who suffered following an explosion were treated in specialist centres. Altogether, there were 80,000 recorded cases of shell shock within the British army.

Today “shell shock” is recognised by medics as PTSD.

Question 9

Dysentry

Answer 9

Overcrowding and poor hygiene in the trenches led to soldiers suffering from an infection that affected their bowels. This led to some soldiers suffering from stomach pains and diarrhoea to the point of dehydration.

Question 10

Wound infection

Answer 10

This was a major problem as soil on the Western Front contained tetanus and gas gangrene bacteria. These would enter wounds either during attack or when victims were lying on the ground, wounded, waiting for a stretcher bearer.

There was a tetanus vaccine but there was no cure for gas gangrene. Only amputation could be employed as treatment.

Question 11

Specific injury problems

Answer 11

Some injuries had rarely been seen before, while others had never been seen on this scale. Though this was disasterous it did lead to the invention of many new technological developments in the medical field such as facial reconstruction, brain surgery. blood transfusions and x-rays.