History:

Western Front
 8 mark question: ‘How useful’ +
TRENCH SYSTEM
simple to make and cheap
to build
+ easy to defend with few
Possible Questions: men using barbed wire,
● How useful are Sources A and B for an enquiry into the problems artillery, concrete bunkers
the medical services faced transporting injured soldiers? and machine gun fire
● How useful are Sources A and B for an enquiry into the impact of + provided shelter and
the terrain on the problems involved in performing operations on protection
the Western Front? - hard to attack as had to
cross no mans land which
had been destroyed by
Nature: Type of source CONDITIONS ON THE WESTERN FRONT
➔ shell fire and was a mass of
● constant bombing and shelling left a
(e.g photo, personal mud and craters
landscape of craters, mud and water
accounts, army statistics, ● all roads have been destroyed, making it - very dirty, unhygienic as
hospital records, difficult to cross and transport the wounded there was no running
newspaper reports, ● no man's land was dangerous so wounded
medical articles by could only be collected at night water or flushing toilets
doctors) ● terrain contained water filled craters with - in summer sewage, dead
rotting corpses and unexploded munitions bodies and heat led to
➔ Origin: When was the and chemical waste
source produced and by ● trenches were clogged up with men and horrific smell and disease
who equipment making it hard for stretchers to everywhere
➔ Purpose: Why was the manoeuvre whilst under fire - in winter, bad weather led
source made ● numbers of wounded overwhelmed medical
system
to flooding and frostbite
 Western Front Key Places on Western Front

Ypres
● No Man’s Land: Land between Allied
WHEN
● 1st battle: 19 October - 30 November 1914 and german trenches in WWI
● 2nd battle: 22 April - 25 May 1915 (first time ● Ypres Salient: Area around Ypres
Germans used chlorine gas)
where many battles took place in
● 3rd battle: 31 July - 10 November 1917
WWI
WHY
➔ German forces shock allied soldiers along the ➔ communication was difficult,
western front by firing tons of lethal chlorine
gas against 2 french colonial divisions
collecting wounded from No Man’s
➔ Germans wanted to capture these ports to cut Land was dangerous
off supplies to the British army ➔ stretcher bearers found it difficult to
move around corners and transport of
KEY FEATURES
● Germans had an advantage with being on higher the wounded was difficult because of
ground (Ypres Salient) this
● Tunneling and mines were used by the British at
Hill 60, they blew up the German defences
 Western Front
The Somme
WHEN
● 1 July - 18 November 1916
KEY FEATURES
● first use of tanks - used but not effective
yet
● use of creeping barrage (artillery
bombardment that moved towards the
German trench as the British approached
it
● remembered for its high casualty rate
○ first day: british army suffered
nearly 60,000 casualties and
20,000 dead
● total over 400,000 allied casualties → put
enormous pressure on the medical
services
Key Places on Western Front
HELPING THE WOUNDED
➔ evacuation route: survival depended on speed of treatment,
care improved as war progressed
◆ 1914: no motor ambulances
◆ 1915: 250 ambulances
➔ stretcher bearers: collect wounded
➔ regimental aid post: always close to front line and staffed by a
medical officer selected those who were lightly
wounded/needed more attention
field ambulance and dressing station: emergency treatment for
➔
wounded
➔ casualty clearing station: large, well-equipped station
➔ base hospitals: x-ray, operating theatre, areas to deal with gas
poisoning
➔ underground hospital at arras: running water, 700 beds,
operating theatre
● RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps): organisation that
provided medical care, consisted of all ranks from
doctors to ambulance drivers to stretcher bearers
● FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry): volunteer nurses
who helped the wounded and drove ambulances
 Western Front
Arras
Ill Health
WHEN
● 9 April - 16 May 1917
KEY FEATURES
● before the battle, allied soldiers had dug
a network of tunnels below Arras →
tunnelling was made easy by the chalky
ground
● rooms were created with running water
and electricity + a hospital
● used for safety and to allow troops to
the front in secrecy
Key Places on Western Front
CONDITIONS REQUIRING TREATMENT
➔ trench fever (affected 0.5 million)
◆ caused by body lice, included flu-like symptoms
including high temp
◆ treated by passing electric current through infected
area
◆ prevented by disinfecting clothing
➔ trench foot (affected 20,000)
◆ caused by soldiers standing in mud/waterlogged
trenches
◆ treated by keeping clean, in worse cases, amputation
◆ prevented by changing socks, keeping feet dry
➔ shell-shock (affected 80,000)
◆ caused by stressful conditions of war
◆ symptoms were tiredness, nightmares, headaches,
uncontrolled shaking
◆ not well understood so no treatment
Weapons of War
● chlorine gas led to death by suffocation; in 1915, gas masks were
●
given to all British soldiers
phosgene gas was faster acting than chlorine, similar effects; could
kill within 2 days
● mustard gas was odourless gas and worked in 12 hours; caused
blisters and burnt the skin easily
 Western Front
Cambrai
WHEN
● 20 November - 7 December 1917
KEY FEATURES
● during the battle, over 450 large-scale tanks
were used by the allies to launch a surprise
assault on the german front line
● first large scale attack by British tanks
● no artillery bombardment used which
surprised the Germans
● British succeeded at first but Germans
counter-attacked after the British attack
stopped
● British lost the land they had taken
Key Places on Western Front
IMPACT ON MEDICINE
➔ the thomas splint: stopped joints moving, increased
survival rates, reduced infection from compound fractures
➔ x-rays: developed in 1895, used to diagnose issues before
operations
◆ issues: could not detect all problems, were
fragile and overheat
➔ mobile x-rays: used to locate shrapnel and bullet wounds,
transported around in a truck, enabled soldiers to be
treated more quickly
➔ blood transfusions: used at base hospitals by a syringe
and tube to transfer blood from donor to patient
➔ blood bank at cambrai: adding sodium citrate allowed
blood to be stored for longer. blood was stored in glass
bottles at a blood bank and used to treat wounded
soldiers
➔ brain surgery: magnets used to remove metal fragments
from the brain, local anaesthetic
➔ plastic surgery: Harold Gillies developed new techniques,
skin drafts developed for grafts
 History:

20th Century
Medicine
 12 mark question: Explanation
CAUSES
● scientists realised not all diseases
were caused by microbes
● 1953: discovery of DNA → scientists
now understood how hereditary
diseases were caused like down’s
syndrome
● lifestyle choices → smoking, poor diet,
alcohol, sharing of bodily fluids +
exposure to excessive amounts of sun
PREVENTION & TREATMENT
● magic bullets
● antibiotics
● high-tech medical/surgical
treatment
● changes in care/treatment (NHS:
hospitals, GP’s, dentists, ambulance
services)
● government lifestyle campaigns
(Change4Life + campaigns warning
of dangers of drug/binge drinking)
DNA: carries genetic information about a
living organism
genome: each human being has a unique
DNA
Human Genome Project: scientists worked
to decode and map out the human genome
Hereditary diseases: diseases that are
passed down from one generation to
another
antibiotic: medicine that
destroys the growth of
bacteria inside the body
magic bullet: chemical that
kills specific bacteria in the
body
general practitioner:
community-based doctor who
treats minor illnesses
INDIVIDUALS
● Crick and Watson: discovered DNA
(1953)
+ scientists explore causes of hereditary
diseases
- doctors still unable to treat genetic
conditions
● Paul Ehrlich: created first magic bullet
(1909)
+ discovered Salvarsan 606 to treat
syphilis
- magic bullets can only treat one specific
disease
● Alex Fleming: discovered penicillin
(1928)
+ noticed ‘white mould’ killed bacteria
- penicillin
- unable to fund further research and
went no further
● Florey and Chain: mass produced
penicillin (1944)
+ developed penicillin and mass
produced it
- reliance of USA for funding
CASE STUDY
● diagnosis: difficult to diagnose early on
● treatment: transplants,
radio/chemotherapy
● prevention: smoking banned in public
places, raising age of buying cigarettes
and stop smoking campaigns
Ideas about Causes of Disease
Modern technology meant doctors no longer had to use surgery to diagnose all diseases
Technology
Blood pressure monitors
X-rays
Lifestyle & Health
● people gained a better understanding of how
lifestyle choices affect health
● smoking became more popular (1920s), especially
Diagnosis amongst young people
● doctors now know smoking can cause conditions
such as cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease
and tooth decay
First used Used for ● eating a lot of sugar and fat can lead to diabetes
and heart disease
1880s Diagnosing high and low blood pressure ● too much alcohol can damage the liver
● unprotexted sex & drug taking influence health too
1890s Help to see inside the human body

ECGs 1900s Uses electrical impulses to track heart

activity
Genetics
● scientists realised that microbes did not cause all
diseases, some pass on from parents
Endoscopes 1900s A camera on the end of a thin tube used to
● German scientist, Mendel, theorised that genes come
investigate digestive symptoms
in pairs
● scientists thought a substance in human cells passed
Blood tests 1930s Testing for conditions without the need for on information from parents to children
invasive surgery ● 1953: scientists James Watson and Francis Crick
identified this substance as DNA, shaped as a double
Ultrasound scans 1940s Diagnosing things like gall and kidney stones by helix
using sound waves to create a picture ● their structure was based on x-ray images produced
by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins
Blood sugar monitoring 1960s Allow diabetes sufferers to monitor blood sugar ● scientists could now identify hereditary diseases
levels regularly ● 1900: scientists, led by Watson, launched the Human
Genome Project to identify the complete set of DNA
CT scans 1970s A more advanced form of x-rays, used to diagnose which makes up human beings meaning they could
tumors and growths
look for mistakes or mismatches in the DNA of
people with hereditary diseases
MRI scans 1970s Diagnosing soft tissue injuries by using radio waves and
magnets to create an internal image of the body