Wounds from Injuries on the Western Front (Edexcel GCSE History): Revision Note
Exam code: 1HI0
The nature of wounds in the First World War - Summary
The First World War introduced new weapons designed to:
Kill and injure large numbers of soldiers
Reduce morale
Physical and psychological injuries in the First World War were caused by:
Bullets
Artillery shells
Shrapnel
Gas attacks
Medical staff faced huge challenges due to:
Infection
Lack of equipment
High casualty numbers
Developments caused by wartime injuries included:
The gas mask
The Brodie helmet
Wounds from rifles & explosives
Bullets
Bullets caused 39% of wounds
Bullets pierced organs and fractured bones due to their pointed tips
Magazine-fed rifles were accurate up to 500 metres and standard issue for all soldiers
Machine guns were highly effective in no-man's-land, firing up to 450 rounds per minute
Bullets carried dirty fabric into wounds, causing infection
Explosions
Artillery shells and shrapnel caused 58% of wounds
Explosions tore limbs apart and sent metal shrapnel into the body
Shrapnel, wound infection & head injuries
Shrapnel
Explosions from shells scattered out smaller pieces of metal called shrapnel
Shells often included steel balls or lead to cause maximum injury
Over 41,000 soldiers had limbs amputated due to explosive injuries
Shellfire was especially deadly in no-man’s-land, where soldiers could not take cover
Wound infection
Soil on the Western Front contained bacteria from fertiliser, causing infections like:
Tetanus
Anti-tetanus injections reduced the impact of the disease
Gas gangrene
There was no cure for gas gangrene
One British surgeon commented:
"Every gunshot wound…is more or less infected…at the moment of its infliction"
Head injuries
In 1914, British soldiers wore soft caps
This gave no protection, resulted in a high number of head injuries
From 1915, all British soldiers wore the Brodie helmet
Effects of gas attacks
Gas caused only 6,000 British deaths (less than 5% of all deaths), but triggered great psychological fear
Symptoms included:
Coughing
Choking
Blindness
Blisters
At first, soldiers initially used cloths soaked in urine to place around their mouths
From July 1915, all soldiers were issued gas masks
Worked Example
How could you follow up Source A to find out more about the effects of a gas attack?
In your answer, you must give the question you would ask and the type of source you could use.
4 marks
Source A: From a diary account by Dr. Harvey Cushing, 25 April 1915. Cushing worked as a surgeon on the Western Front.
When we got to the ambulances, we heard about a recent gas attack. A huge, greenish cloud of smoke with a yellowish top had rolled down from the German trenches. Only sixty men out of a thousand survived the attack. Later, I saw some of those who had been affected. Two of them were still conscious but gasping for breath, their faces discoloured, and they were about to die. I hoped they didn't have long to wait, poor chaps. Then we saw many of the severely gassed men who had arrived at the hospital this morning. It was a terrible business. One man's face was dark blue and with every cough, he coughed up a thick stream of discoloured phlegm. He was too busy struggling to breathe to bother much about anything else - a most horrible form of death. |
Answers:
Detail in Source A that I would follow up: ‘Two of them were still conscious but gasping for breath, their faces discoloured, and they were about to die.’ (1)
Question I would ask: What could be done to help a soldier affected by a gas attack? (1)
What type of source I would look for: RAMC medical record from 1915 after a gas attack (1)
How this might help answer my question: The records would detail when the soldiers were gassed, their main symptoms, and what treatments were given to help them. (1)
Examiner Tips and Tricks
You should be as precise as possible when suggesting a source to help you carry out the enquiry.
The above refers to medical records for a group of soldiers, which is a specific source. However, medical records from an Advanced Dressing Station would be even more precise.
Remember that this must be a source. Suggestions of using textbooks, historians, the internet or any other interpretation will not receive a mark.
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