British Sector of the Western Front 1914-1918

The Ypres Salient

The Germans wanted to capture the ports of Calais and Dunkirk to cut off supplies to the British army.

The Ypres Salient was vunerable because the Germans had the advantage of being on higher ground.

Tunnelling and mines were used by the British at Hill 60.

First Battle: 1914

Second Battle: 1915, Germans used Chlorine Gas for the first time

Third Battle: 1917

The Somme

Lasted July to November 1916

Remembered for its high casualty rate. 1st day, 60,000 casualties and 20,000 dead.

In Total there was 400,000 Allied Casualties.

Arras

April 1917. Before the battle, the soldiers built underground tunnels. Rooms were created with water and electricity and there was also a hospital. These tunnels were used for safety and allow troops to the front in secrecy.

Cambrai

October 1917. 450 Tanks were used by the allies to launch a surprise assault on the German Front Line. However, they didn't have enough infantry surpport. The British lost the ground they had taken.

• The Front Line - The trench nearest the enemy where the soldiers could shoot from.
• The command trench - 10-20 metres behind the firing line
• The support trench - 200-500 metres behind the front line
• The reserve trench - 100 metres behind the support trench. Reserve troops would be ready here to mount a counterattack if enemy entered front line
• The communication trench - Linked to the front line with the command, support and reserve trenches

Trench fever - passed by body lice, impacted nearly half a million men on the Western Front. TREATMENT: drugs such as aspirin - not successful. Passing an electric current through the affected area was used effectively, PREVENTION: clothes were disinfected with repellant gel, delousing stations set up.

Trench Foot - caused by soldiers being in mud and waterlogged trenches, which caused painful swelling, over 20,000 men affected during winter of 1914. TREATMENT: clean and dry feet and in worst cases amputation PREVENTION: changing socks, and rubbing whale oil into feet to protect them.

Shell-Shock: caused by the stress of war, 80,000 men were affected. TREATMENTS: rest and treatment back in Britain. 

Rifles - Created automatic fire, rather than one bullet at a time. Bullets were pointed so drove deeper into the body.

Machine Guns - more speed than rifles and could fire 500 rounds a minute. Bullets would pierce organs and fracture bones. 

Artillery - Grew bigger and powerful, 900kg shells. Bombardments were continuous and in some cases lasted months. caused half of all casualties

Shrapnel - causes max. damage as it exploded mid-air above the enemy. could immediately kill or injure a soldier. Responsible for 58% of the wounds.

Gases

Chlorine - First used by Germans in 1915, led to death by suffocation. In July 1915, gas masks were given to soldiers. Before they had to hold handkerchiefs to their face

Mustard - First used by Germans in 1917, an oderless gas which lasted for 12 hours and caused blisters and burns to the skin through clothing. 

1 - Stretcher bearers - would advance into No Man's Land at night to collect dead and wounded. Each battalion had 16 bearers and have 4 to a stretcher.

2 - RAP - always close to the front line. Identified who was lightly wounded and those who needed more medical attention.

3 - Dressing Station - Emergency treatment was given and about a mile away from the front line. Triage was set up to split the seriously wounded from the less seriously wounded

4 - CCS - first large well-equipped medical unit. Contained x-rays and wards with beds. 10 miles away from fighting

5 - Base hospitals - Soldiers would arrive by train or motor ambulance. Had operating theatres, X-rays and specialist areas for gas poisoning. From here they could be sent back home.

Underground Hospital - 700 beds and operating theatres during battle of Arras

FANY - Volunteers of nurses in operating theatres to cleaning. Helped by ambulance drivers and supply food.

Wound incision - done quickly and wound closed to prevent the spread of infection.

Amputation - if this didn't work, the only option was to remove the wounded limp. by 1918 240,000 men had lost limbs

Thomas Splint - wounds created a compound fracture and could cause major bleeding to the thigh. The split was used in transport to stop two joints moving and increased the survival rate to 82%

X-rays - 1895 they were invented and enabled for the surgeon to carry out diagnosis before an operation took place. Used to locate bullets and to prevent infection. Was a success but did have problems: X-rays could not detect all objects in the body. The tubes used in X-ray were fragile and overheated quickly, so they could only be used for an hour and have to be left to cool down.

Brain Surgery - Using magnet to remove metal fragments from the brain.

Plastic surgery - Skin grafts were developed (Taken from other parts of the body) and restored parts of the body and face after it had been destroyed.

Blood loss was a major problem as blood couldn't be stored and transfusions had to be carried out by the donor being directly connected to the recipient.

• Blood Clots as soon as it leaves the body, so it would block up the tube
• The blood of the donor was sometimes rejected by the recipient if it wasn't the same.
• Danger of infection by unsterilized equipment

1915 - Discovered the by adding sodium citrate, the need for donor-recipient was removed as blood could be stored and clotting prevented.

Stored blood was used at the battle of Cambrai in 1917.