The Fight for Life

This work looks at the development of the medical services immediately prior to the Great War and its involvement in the failed Gallipoli Campaign of 1915. The medical services were crucial to the whole operation but the planning for their involvement was both late and insufficient and the medical services received considerable criticism both during and after the conflict. This work seeks to explore the actual steps taken in the planning for the campaign and the work carried out by the medical services at each stage of the campaign. The work of the medical officers at each stage of the evacuation of the wounded is considered together with the importance of nursing care in both the Hospital Ships and base hospitals. At the start of the campaign casualties were mainly battle casualties but as it developed the were a large number of sick caused by diseases such as dysentery and enteric fever. Much of this was related to poor sanitation, lack of water and the ever present nuisance of flies. The causes of the diseases are examined and considered in the light of the overall lack of success of the initial landings which prevented the more usual development of sanitation, rest camps and base hospitals. The development of base hospitals is considered in respect of the increasing casualties arriving from the battlefield and the development of such hospitals in Egypt and later in Malta is considered in some detail. Early planning for such hospitals underestimated the casualty figures and this was also a direct result of the lack of success of the first phase of the campaign. The use of hospital ships for transporting the wounded is examined together with the oft criticized use of transports or “Black Ships” for the same purpose. These ships were a vital link in the treatment of the wounded and sick of the peninsula and in many cases they were forced to act as floating casualty clearing stations as their staff treated thousands of casualties, moving some to hospitals at both Lemnos and Imbros before heading for the base hospitals in Alexandria, Cairo or indeed Malta. The importance of nursing care on these ships is considered in some detail as nurses struggled to cope under adverse conditions of shortages of equipment, food and, all too frequently, on the shortage of water. The winter storms are considered from the medical standpoint since these storms added great stress to a system that was working to cope with the day to day casualties arising on the peninsula. The casualties caused by the blizzard almost overwhelmed an overworked service. The role played by the medical services in the evacuation of the peninsula is considered and the organization required for removal of casualties during the preparation for the evacuation cannot be overstated. Finally, a short analysis of the findings of the Dardanelles Commission as it applies to the medical services is given.