31st October 1914
Britain & France has declared war on Turkey.
Friday, 31 October 2014
Thursday, 30 October 2014
Life AT War - Day By Day
30th October 1914
The Allied offensive at Ypres has begun.
This is also known as Wipers.
The battle of Warsaw has ended with German defeat.
The Allied offensive at Ypres has begun.
This is also known as Wipers.
The battle of Warsaw has ended with German defeat.
Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Tuesday, 28 October 2014
Monday, 27 October 2014
Life AT War - Day By Day
27th October 1914
The British battleship Audacious has been sunk by a mine.
The British battleship Audacious has been sunk by a mine.
Saturday, 18 October 2014
Life AT War - Day by Day
18th October 1914
A movement called The Schoenstatt Movement has been founded in Germany.
The movement was set up by Father Kentenich and believes in a strong devotion to the Virgin Mary. Today the movement is valued in many different countries all over the world.
A movement called The Schoenstatt Movement has been founded in Germany.
The movement was set up by Father Kentenich and believes in a strong devotion to the Virgin Mary. Today the movement is valued in many different countries all over the world.
Friday, 17 October 2014
Medical Advances Of The Great War
Today, the medical field is highly established and the research field is heavily funded so that we can explore new techniques and treatments. However, some of the techniques we use today were established during World War 1. A time when medical research was really just getting started, two treatments, that today are highly used, were just getting started.
The first was plastic surgery. This is not the cosmetic type to fix a imperfection we feel we have but instead a surgery for the correction or restoration of form and function. Sir Harold Gillies from New Zealand started and developed the facial surgeries we still use today. Without Harold's tireless effort and experimenting, over 5,000 men may have died or been left severely disfiguired from their injuries. Because of his research over 5,000 had 11,000 operations conducted at the Cambridge Miliary Hospital.
Previously, facial wounds had been stitched together which left scares, disfiguiring and left it open to future infections or sores. However Gillies found that when scar tissue contracted it left faces twisted and disfiguired. Gillies technique was to use tissue from somewhere else on the body that hadn't been severly damaged. The new tissue in time would then fuse with the old and would fill holes without as much damage.
Whilst these had a good survival rate with small simple injuries, Gillies was to learn that the longer the operation took, the more stress it put on the body and so chances of surviving were less. This was the case with Henry Ralph Lumley, due to war, he had sustained severe facial burns. Gillies operated on Henry but due to the length of the procedure, Henry never recovered from the operation and died in theatre due to the stress put on his body. This then led Gillies to look at the technique he used, which after some consideration, he came to the conclusion that staged skin graphs needed to be carried out instead of one large operation, to create less stress on the body. This is the treatment many burns victims have today. Without the death of Henry, Gillies wouldn't have rethought his technique and many more men may have died. However, at the birth of plastic surgery, anti-biotics hadn't been invented, therefore infection was dangerously high.
Soldiers returning from the war ended up being guinea pigs as this type of surgery had never been researched or explored properly before. If the patient survived, they still risked being mentally traumatised and nearly always saw themselves as freaks because of the surgery that had had. Unfortunately, when speaking to victims today, these thoughts were still very much there and the stigma of having plastic surgery have never really left.
Another highly used medical advance was something that a man called Lawrence Bruce Robinson played an instrumental part in persuading the amry medical corps to use at medical clearing stations. This was blood banks and the use of blood transfusions, that are today used everyday.
Lawrence performed his first transition to a soldier suffering multiple shrapnel wounds in 1915. Previously many soldiers had died due to shrapnel wounds but Lawrence was hoping to change this. The transfusion was a sucess and Lawrence was able to carry out four more sucessful transfusions in the next few months. Lawrence had the idea but he didn't have the correct equipment, that would allow these transfusions to take place along the front line. It was not until spring 1917 that such equipment was invented.
Oswald Robertson was a medical researcher, who extracted blood from punctured veins and stored them in bottles along the front. This was what Lawrence needed - to be able to select the right blood in a matter of minutes. This was the birth of blood banks and blood transfusions that could be done in any environment. More research was carried out after the war, to improve safety and success rates but Lawrence and Oswald had put the idea out there for researchers to build on in future years.
The first was plastic surgery. This is not the cosmetic type to fix a imperfection we feel we have but instead a surgery for the correction or restoration of form and function. Sir Harold Gillies from New Zealand started and developed the facial surgeries we still use today. Without Harold's tireless effort and experimenting, over 5,000 men may have died or been left severely disfiguired from their injuries. Because of his research over 5,000 had 11,000 operations conducted at the Cambridge Miliary Hospital.
Previously, facial wounds had been stitched together which left scares, disfiguiring and left it open to future infections or sores. However Gillies found that when scar tissue contracted it left faces twisted and disfiguired. Gillies technique was to use tissue from somewhere else on the body that hadn't been severly damaged. The new tissue in time would then fuse with the old and would fill holes without as much damage.
Whilst these had a good survival rate with small simple injuries, Gillies was to learn that the longer the operation took, the more stress it put on the body and so chances of surviving were less. This was the case with Henry Ralph Lumley, due to war, he had sustained severe facial burns. Gillies operated on Henry but due to the length of the procedure, Henry never recovered from the operation and died in theatre due to the stress put on his body. This then led Gillies to look at the technique he used, which after some consideration, he came to the conclusion that staged skin graphs needed to be carried out instead of one large operation, to create less stress on the body. This is the treatment many burns victims have today. Without the death of Henry, Gillies wouldn't have rethought his technique and many more men may have died. However, at the birth of plastic surgery, anti-biotics hadn't been invented, therefore infection was dangerously high.
Soldiers returning from the war ended up being guinea pigs as this type of surgery had never been researched or explored properly before. If the patient survived, they still risked being mentally traumatised and nearly always saw themselves as freaks because of the surgery that had had. Unfortunately, when speaking to victims today, these thoughts were still very much there and the stigma of having plastic surgery have never really left.
Another highly used medical advance was something that a man called Lawrence Bruce Robinson played an instrumental part in persuading the amry medical corps to use at medical clearing stations. This was blood banks and the use of blood transfusions, that are today used everyday.
Lawrence performed his first transition to a soldier suffering multiple shrapnel wounds in 1915. Previously many soldiers had died due to shrapnel wounds but Lawrence was hoping to change this. The transfusion was a sucess and Lawrence was able to carry out four more sucessful transfusions in the next few months. Lawrence had the idea but he didn't have the correct equipment, that would allow these transfusions to take place along the front line. It was not until spring 1917 that such equipment was invented.
Oswald Robertson was a medical researcher, who extracted blood from punctured veins and stored them in bottles along the front. This was what Lawrence needed - to be able to select the right blood in a matter of minutes. This was the birth of blood banks and blood transfusions that could be done in any environment. More research was carried out after the war, to improve safety and success rates but Lawrence and Oswald had put the idea out there for researchers to build on in future years.
Wednesday, 15 October 2014
Tuesday, 14 October 2014
Life AT War - Day by Day
13th October 1914
Garrett Morgan has invented and patented a 'Gas Mask', Pro-German Boers have begun an opposition against British authority in South Africa.
Garrett Morgan has invented and patented a 'Gas Mask', Pro-German Boers have begun an opposition against British authority in South Africa.
Sunday, 12 October 2014
Saturday, 11 October 2014
Friday, 10 October 2014
Life AT War - Day by Day
10th October 1914
Antwerp have surrendered, after German troops entered by force.
Antwerp have surrendered, after German troops entered by force.
Thursday, 9 October 2014
Monday, 6 October 2014
Life AT War - Day by Day
6th October 1914
Russian troops have fallen back along the Eastern front in Poland and Galicia.
Russian troops have fallen back along the Eastern front in Poland and Galicia.
Sunday, 5 October 2014
Life AT War - Day to Day
4th October 1914
A fleet of French and English ships have bombed Turkish forts.
A fleet of French and English ships have bombed Turkish forts.
Life AT War - Day to Day
1st October 1914
The first division of Canadian troops, more then 33,000 men have set sail for Britain. Most of these are volunteers said to be anxious to prove their loyalty to the Commonwealth.
The first division of Canadian troops, more then 33,000 men have set sail for Britain. Most of these are volunteers said to be anxious to prove their loyalty to the Commonwealth.
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