The inside of an ambulance train, used to ferry wounded soldiers away from the front Once drafted into the Army, men disobeying orders faced a court martial. Anyone who fled the front could be shot. 'Conchies', as they were known, attracted considerable stigma among peers, says WW1 historian Dr Gerry Oram.
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How were injured soldiers treated in WW1?
May 15, 2014 · Once drafted into the Army, men disobeying orders faced a court martial. Anyone who fled the front could be shot. 'Conchies', as they were known, attracted considerable stigma among peers, says WW1...
What was medicine like in WW1?
Feb 01, 2010 · The history of the white feather really began almost a decade before the start of World War I with the publishing of The Four Feathers by A.E.W. Mason. The novel tells the tale of a young British officer, Harry Feversham, who resigns from the British armed forces and attempts to return home from the war in the Sudan.
What did men do on the front line in WW1?
In the first part of this article, we describe the surgical procedures and medical therapies carried out by Italian physicians during the First World War, with the aim of treating wounded soldiers in this pre-antibiotic era. Antibacterial solutions, such as those of Dakin-Carrel and sodium hypochlorite and boric acid, the tincture of iodine as ...
How did the First World War affect the medical field?
Medical advances. Left: an X-ray showing a bullet in the body. Right: blood transfusion apparatus, 1914-1918. X-ray technology helped surgeons to detect where a bullet had penetrated. Many ...
What was the White Feather Campaign?
The White Feather Campaign was an obvious attack on masculinity and a blatant manipulation of gender in the pursuit of national recruitment. There was no subtlety in the actions of these women, their tactics were clear for all to see. The withdrawal of sexual desire and the public shaming of a man were clear signs of a well thought out recruitment operation. The public knowledge of the gender attack behind the White Feather Campaign did not make it any less effective, but it also brought about a building of disgust and hatred towards those women who dared to participate. It was a patriotic movement but it was still an underhanded effort, one that hurt young Englishmen for the benefit of the country.
Why did Harry Feversham get four feathers?
Upon his resignation Feversham receives four white feathers as symbols of cowardice and loss of respect.
What was the purpose of propaganda?
Propaganda was meant to recruit men through the bolstering of their spirits not through the crushing of their confidence. It was the wrong way to send men off to war, with a sense of shame rather than a feeling of patriotic spirit.
What is the Victoria Cross?
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration that could be awarded to a member of the English military.
What was the significance of the First World War?
The First World War was a huge tragedy for mankind, but, paradoxically, it represented a source of significant progress in a broad series of human activities, including medicine, since it forced physicians to improve their knowledge in the treatment of a large number of wounded soldiers. The use of …. The treatment of wounds during World War I ...
What is the best way to remove pus from a wound?
Antibacterial solutions, such as those of Dakin-Carrel and sodium hypochlorite and boric acid, the tincture of iodine as well as the surgical and dressing approaches and techniques used to remove pus from wounds, such as ignipuncture and thermocautery or lamellar drainage are reported in detail.
What were the most common causes of death in the US?
The most frequent causes of death were not mainly related to gunshot wounds, but rather to fractures, tetanus and septic complications of infectious diseases.
What did women do on the front line?
Women on the front line. Female volunteers worked as nurses and drove ambulances. Most worked 14-hour days and sometimes even longer when there were lots of injured soldiers. Red Cross nurses by Fabien Fabiano for French magazine 'La Baionette', 1915.
What is the Royal Army Medical Corps?
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was set up to care for British troops. It used a special system called 'triage' where sick soldiers were put into one of three possible groups: Slightly injured. Soldiers who did not need much care.
Order of the White Feather: My 'coward' grandfather
After reading, in quick succession, four books about the men who fought the war, I took out a box of flimsy, yellowing letters, and tried yet again to imagine what my grandfather went through.
The plight of objectors: letters from the time
"Jack FG. If you are not in khaki by the 20th I shall cut you dead. Ethel M."#N#Personal column of the Times, July 8 1915
What did men do in the Army?
Most soldiers in the Army were in the infantry. They were foot soldiers, trained to march and carry all their equipment.
What did men do in the Air Force?
Using aircraft in war was a new idea. Pilots first belonged to the Army's Royal Flying Corps or the Royal Naval Air Service.
How did life change for men?
Despite the many volunteers who joined the armed forces, there was still a shortage by 1916.
World War One
Find out more about the start of the war, how it is remembered today and how it changed people's lives for ever.