Wounded: Conflict, casualties and care

Fascinating exhibition at the Science Museum looking at how the wounded were treated in the First World War and the innovations that were driven by the lessons learnt.

I thought I had a good knowledge of the First World War but I learned so much from this exhibition. The first section looked at the chain of evacuation of the injured from the battlefield with displays on each stage from treatment on the front line, though dressing and clearing stations to hospitals and the journey home. There was a wonderful model of a hospital train and I found the front line stretcher moving.

I also loved the Red Cross dogs collar. I hadn’t realised the dogs went out onto the battle field and sniffed  to find men who were still alive. They then pulled a piece of clothing off the wounded and took it back as a sign of life.

The next section looked at the technological breakthroughs including Marie Curie bringing  x-rays to the front line, a new splint which was developed as they realised that 80% of soldiers with fractured thigh bones died due to poor splint design leading to infection and blood transfusions being developed.

I had never realised before that the infection rates were so high on the Western Front because they were fighting on well manured farmland or that the football rattles of the 1920s were often gas rattles from the front line.

The last section looked at what happened to soldiers when they got back to Britain both their immediate and long term care. It was great to see the Tonks pictures of the facial surgery done by Harold Gilles again. It was interesting to see how a lot of the work was done by soldiers with similar problems joining together and addressing their specific issue. Many of these organisations such as St Dunstans, now called Blind Veterans UK, are still around today. It also looked at the developments in mental health as people began to understand Post-Traumatic stress.

Showing a video about current front line medical practice and treatment and support for returning soldiers at the end of the show was a nice touch and it was fascinating to see many of the lessons learned 100 years ago still being used.

Closes January 2018.

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Guardian
Evening Standard

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