Melksham website reveals WW1 battle medical records

A MILITARY history website based in Melksham has revealed medical and hospital records of 30,000 men who fought during World War One. 

Forces War Records have marked this month’s   centenary of the devastating WW1 battle of Ypres by releasing newly transcribed medical records of thousands of soldiers who fought along the Western Front.

The rare accounts, from the 51st Field Ambulance, comprise just the first part of the 1.5 million the company has recently discovered – and is now transcribing.    Apart from documenting the men’s names, service and medical details and movements, whether returned to the Front, sent back to Blighty, or ending in death, they also shed light on a grisly line-up of the top 20 most common injuries and ailments suffered by the men, from expected conditions such as trench foot and mustard gas poisoning, through to more surprising ones, including lice (97 per cent of men were infested), scabies and sexually transmitted diseases.

Besides the ‘top 20’ list, additional common hazards of war included deafness from artillery fire,  bayonet wounds, tonsillitis, haemorrhoids, in-growing toenails, even broken dentures and glasses.  Many self-inflicted wounds (some imparted in a bid to escape front line duty, a punishable offence) were also recorded – and the Forces War Records team noted a number where ‘injury with pick-axe’ was cited.

The Melksham team found the records to be quite inconsistent.  For instance 300 men could be affected by mustard gas on one day, but then there were quiet days where non-emergencies such as tooth decay were treated. One entry that stood out was a soldier who contracted gastroenteritis after drinking fetid water from a shell crater, such was his desperation to slake his thirst.

But there were lighter moments, such as muscles sprained from football matches and an unfortunate Private Crack who had been shot in the buttocks. The transcripts also  describe some of the incredible and pioneering inventions dreamt up during the conflict.  For instance, it describes how blood transfusions became commonplace, mobile X-ray units were created and how, prior to the war, 80 per cent of patients with a femoral (thigh bone) fracture would have died, but following the development of the Thomas splint, fatalities were reduced to just seven per cent.

The records, the originals of which are stored at the National Archives in Kew, have not been transcribed before now since they are handwritten, many in faint pencil or with lots of abbreviations, and therefore very difficult to read and interpret.  Methods of recording and fluctuating levels of accuracy between the 100-year-old books also made the records challenging to decipher, even for Forces War Records’ specialist data entry staff.

In some cases the field ambulance record may be the only existing proof that an ancestor fought in the war, as it can be difficult to find information on men who were injured in the war but survived.

The records run from 17th July 1915 to 13th August 1918.

Visit www.forces-war-records.co.uk for more details.