Medical Treatment During The Second Boer War - Surgical Developments and Treatment

Surgical Developments and Treatment

Of the 22,000 that were treated for wounds during the Second Boer War, the majority survived, largely due to the efficiency of the medical teams which cared for the affected. The Royal Army Medical Corps, which had formed after the redunduncies of the Crimean War, played a key role in the treatment of the wounded in the Boer War. The salaries of medical corps soldiers had gradually increased and training improved, improving the system and quality of the medical services. Surgery had made considerable advancement in the late nineteenth century, and the army surgery facilities were considered state of the art at the time. In 1899 the RAMC had recruited a number of specialist surgeons in its ranks to treat the wounded, including many of notable prestige, including Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet, Sir William Cheyne, 1st Baronet, Sir William MacCormac, 1st Baronet, William Stokes, Kendal Franks and G.L. Cheatle. George Henry Makins, a prominent surgeon during the Boer War published a textbook of military surgery in 1901.

Casualties during the Boer War were generally recovered in stages. Battalion doctors located on the battlefields would take the wounded by stretcher to a dressing station for initial treatment. This included the widespread use of field dressings consisting of a sterile gauze pad stitched to the bandage and covered with waterproofing. Each pack contained two dressings and numerous safety pins. Later they would be taken to ambulances or stationary hospitals where the complex recovery by the surgeons could be carried out. However, given the number of casualties in relation to staff, it was often days before a wounded soldier could see a doctor for full treatment, increasing the extent of the infection of the wounds. As a result primary surgical care was often conducted in ambulances. Many wounds were open fractures and often involved damage to bones. In such cases, the wounds were treated by debridement and the wound packed. The limb would then be immobilised with a splint made of canvas with strips of bamboo sewn in to support it.Plaster of Paris was also used during the Boer War after the bone had been set. The treatment of wounds was greatly enhanced by the invention of X-rays and some 9 machines were taken to South Africa during the campaign.

There was also some success with the treatment of head injuries. However, the medical operations in the Boer War were considerably less successful in treating wounds inflicted in the chest. Conducting abdominal surgery at the side of the battefields was often ineffective given the seriousness of the location of the bullet wound and the limited facilities in the temporary tents for treating such advanced complications. Deaths from chest wounds were of a far greater number than other wounds.

Some atrocities towards wounded Boer soldiers which fell into British hands have been reported. Extracts from British soldiers and generals private letters and documents have revealed some evidence of inhumane activity by the British in encountering the wounded enemy.