Probus Hears About Military Medicine

Posted on by Paul Flint
President Stephen Thair with David Wiggins

The impact of weapons technology on combat injuries forced the evolution of military medicine technology.

Such changes occurred over the centuries, but it was during the English Civil War when Oliver Cromwell with the Model Army repurposed a building to create the Savoy Hospital in 1642. He had realised that the previous system of camp followers tending to the wounded no longer suited with firearms causing different wounds.

Good teeth needed to load muskets

David Wiggins, the curator of the Museum of Military Medicine, currently in the process of transferring from the Keogh Barracks in Ash Vale near Aldershot to be near the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, outlined the medical advances and health care since the time of Cromwell to the Probus Club of Basingstoke.

The real improvements emerged with the recognition that many combatants survived their initial surgery but died due to general conditions and disease. Regiments had their own small medical teams, but it was in the Peninsular Wars of 1808 –14 that the medical services of the army were organised on a more formal basis.

Records show that during the Crimean War 1853-56 there were 4,600 combat injuries yet 20,000 died through typhus/typhoid. Enter Florence Nightingale with her disciplined approach to medical care that started a reversal of such statistics so that during the Boer War 1899-1902 with 22,000 wounded that a reduced percentage of 7,400 died from dysentery or typhoid fever.

The industrial scale of WW1 1914-18 brought in new wounds due to advances in military equipment. There was an equalisation between combat deaths and disease and a recognition that it was imperative to remove casualties from the battlefield to proper recovery settings.

Basingstoke made Thornycroft J type lorry converted as ambulance

Tented casualty clearing stations then led to casualty evacuation by various methods. Motorised ambulance, some made by Thornycroft in Basingstoke converted from the order for 5,000 of their J type 3-ton vehicle, inland canal barges, hospital ships and trains.

Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley

The Royal Victoria Hospital was built at Netley with its own jetty on the Solent and on a branch line ambulance trains brought casualties directly to Park Prewett hospital in Basingstoke used for Canadian troop casualties.

Canadian patients at Park Prewett Hospital in Basingstoke

Blood transfusions, X-rays, gas masks for men, horses and dogs, improved designs of splints and the introduction of the Brodie steel helmet in 1916 all helped reduce deaths by 80%.

Major Harold Gillies RAMC

A medical officer, Harold Gillies introduced skin grafts to maxillo-facial reconstruction that became known as plastic surgery with patients at Rooksdown part of Park Prewett hospital in Basingstoke. Today a general medical practice surgery in the town is named after this famous surgeon.

WW2 1939-45 saw further use of field surgical and transfusion units positioned as close as possible to the point of injury. But it was another medical officer, Alexander Fleming, who in 1943 developed the wonder drug, Penicillin, that became a game changer in recovery outcomes.

Post 1945 the helicopter became crucial to the recovery of battlefield casualties with the popular later TV programme, MASH, demonstrating the joined-up thinking with the connection of emergency evacuation with a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean war 1950-53.

Medical evacuation by helicopter in the Falklands

Helicopter use was necessary during the Falklands conflict of 1982 transferring casualties to hospital ships while the Afghan campaign 2001-2021, saw significant use of various helicopters in both the deployment of troops and casualty evacuation. Many casualties received medical support at Headley Court near Birmingham that become famous for the increasing use of prosthetics.

Peacetime also sees military services in demand under ‘hearts and minds’ policies both for medical and dentistry work in foreign countries. The Ebola outbreak in parts of Africa needed their intervention and at home the Covid-19 pandemic saw the construction of temporary hospitals.

Peacetime medical aid under “Hearts & Minds”

2024 saw the amalgamation of three historical medical sections into one cohesive unit called the Royal Army Medical Service (RAMS). These were the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) founded in 1898, the Royal Army Dental Corps (RADC) founded 1921 and the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC) founded 1902. The aim is to provide full medical and dentistry services to our military for use in peacetime and during conflict to a level matching that of the NHS.

Probus Hears About HMS Broadsword in the Falklands War 1982

Posted on by Paul Flint
President Stephen Thair with speaker Charlie Threlfall

For speaker Charlie Threlfall, as a short-term Royal Navy officer, the prospect of a goodwill tour of ten countries had great appeal.

Aged 19 in early April 1982 he was on HMS Broadsword at anchor in Gibraltar. They were readying for a series of social events and cocktail parties across the world as they planned to show off their three years old warship. Launched in 1979 as a Type 22 Guided Missile Frigate with a displacement of 4,500 tons and a crew of 235, HMS Broadsword was the epitome of the latest thinking in naval warfare. It had no traditional gun batteries but an assortment of guided missiles that could lock on a target without fail.

HMS Broadsword

That very week, on 2nd April 1982, Sub Lieutenant Charlie Threlfall’s life changed forever. The Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic were invaded by Argentinian forces. On 5th April HMS Broadsword left Gibraltar heading for Ascension Island, about halfway to the Malvinas, as the Argentinians called this British protectorate.

There, a group of twenty war ships and supply vessels was assembled, painting out any identification marks to confuse any attacking forces. Southbound, they sailed in close convoy using no radar and no lights at night so that they could not be located by the enemy. The crew went on Defence Watches of six hours on, six hours off. They were lucky to get four hours sleep each day for ten weeks.

The British submarine Conqueror sank the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano on 2 May. Questions were asked in Britain if it was a legitimate target as it was purported to be sailing away from the conflict zone, a situation denied years later by the ship’s captain. All Argentinian naval ships were ordered back to port and then only aerial attacks continued at the extreme limits of their range.

Action stations came on 4h May when HMS Sheffield was hit by an air launched anti-ship Exocet missile. 170 sailors from the Sheffield were rescued by Broadsword.

HMS Broadsword, along with HMS Coventry were positioned in San Carlos Water, and were unable to spot enemy aircraft approaching over land, and were strafed and bombed, being unable to offer much resistance. Crew were instructed not to shoot at helicopters only fast jets.

Broadsword and Coventry were then positioned at sea to the west of the Falklands to draw aircraft fire from the troops. With two approaching enemy jets HMS Coventry was hit by three 500lb bombs, caught fire and eventually sank. But as it came across the bow of Broadsword it prevented them from firing their missiles.

It was then discovered that at sea it was impossible to reload the four Exocet launchers on Broadsword once the initial four missiles had been fired. One of many lessons learnt during this conflict and that were eventually incorporated into naval practice. Having the correct missiles and numerous life-threatening experiences ultimately enhanced sailors’ safety.

HMS Broadsword had a narrow escape from following the fate of HMS Coventry as a 1000lb bomb travelling at 450 mph hit the ship towards the stern, 10 feet above water level, travelled through two decks and emerged upwards through the flight deck, where it took off the nose of a Lynx helicopter, and bounced overboard, failing to explode.

Lynx Helicopter Missing its Nose
Charlie Threlfall promoted to Lieutenant

Six British war ships were lost and sixteen damaged during this conflict. 649 Argentinian military personnel, 255 British and three civilian islanders lost their lives. Charlie Threlfall knows the name of the Argentinian pilot who sent the 1000lb bomb into the side of HMS Broadsword. He says he would never shake his hand as two of his fellow schoolboys from his street on the Isle of Wight were in this conflict. One was a cook and was killed in this action while another, like himself, survived, thereby becoming a member of the ‘Bomb Alley Survivors Club’