Wounded on The Western Front - A Death Sentence? (WW1 Documentary)

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By late 1914, the effects of industrial warfare had become all too apparent on the battlefields of the Western Front – A potent mix of heavy artillery, high explosives, machine guns, barbed wire, colossal mines and gas all contributed significantly to extraordinarily high casualty rates, but what is often forgotten is the plight of the wounded – over two and a half million British servicemen alone were wounded between August 1914 and November 1918 in France and Flanders, but ‘only’ around 150,000 died in the medical evacuation chain - so how did so many survive?

In this video we’ll explore the experience, evacuation and treatment of the wounded, with a focus on one of the most challenging days of the war - 1st July 1916; the opening day of the Battle of the Somme.

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Written Sources:
● S. Cohen, Medical Services in the First World War (2014)
● G.R.N. Collins, Military Organization and Administration (1918)
● J.E. Edmunds, Official History of the Great War - Military Operations France and Belgium, (Various Editions)
● C.E. Hallet, Nurse Writers of the Great War (2016)
● P. Hart, The Somme (2006)
● J. Higgins, Casualty Evacuation for the Somme – British Ambulance Train Provision 1914-16, (2020)
● Charles H. Horton (edit. Dale Le Vack), Stretcher Bearer! Fighting for Life in the Trenches (2013)
● R.A. Kirkcaldie, In Gray and Scarlet (1922).
● H.B. Low, Diary - Life with a Field Ambulance on the Western Front, (1915-1918)
● C.G. Macpherson, History of the Great War – Medical Services General History, Volume I to III (1921 -1923)
● L. Macdonald, The Roses of No Man’s Land (1984)
● E. Mayhew, Wounded, The Long Journey Home from the Great War (2014)
● Mitchell, T.J. and Smith, G.M. - Medical Services, Casualties and Medical Statistics of the Great War (1931)

General Sources:

● War Diaries of the Battalions (NMP)
● Imperial War Museum Sound Archive (IWMSA)
● National Library of Scotland Image Collection (NLS)
● Veterans Affairs Canada
● Wellcome Collection Gallery (WCG)
● Australian War Memorial Image Archive (AWM)
● British Newspaper Archive (BNA)
● http://www.scarletfinders.co.uk/
● The National Archives, Kew (TNA)
● Google Earth Pro & Web Versions
● Memory Maps, Trench Maps of the First World War
● Maptiler Pro (Desktop Version)

Credits:
● Research: Michael Salmon
● Script: Michael Salmon & Dan Hill
● Narration: Dan Hill
● Editing: Shane Greer
● Thumbnail Design: Linus Klassen