ELEVEN MILLIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 215, 11 September 1931, Page 5

ELEVEN MILLIONS.

BRITISH WAR CASUALTIES,

WOUNDS AND DISEASE

MEDICAL SERVICES' ACHIEVEMENT

The vital importance of the medical services in war is brought out in a hundred ways in the latest volume of the "Official Historv of the War."

Major T. J. Mitchell, D.5.0., of the Royal Army Medical Corps, with Miss G. "M. Smith, has prepared in this volume on "Medical Services" a statistical analysis of casualties on a vast scale. It "is, indeed, the most complete work of its kind ever attempted. It shows how the problem of conservation of man-power can be acutely affected by the success or failure of the efforts made behind the lines to return the sick and wounded to the effective forces. In the case of the British Forces, it is calculated that 82 per cent of the wounded and 93 per cent of the sick or injured were ultimately returned to some form of duty. Of the wounded who returned, 64 per cent went again to the front lines of communication, garrison duty or the like. The value of this achievement in a prolonged war, where vast forces have to be kept up to strength, is emphasised. Lower Percentage of Deaths. The approximate total casualties in the British Expeditionary Force are returned at 11,096,338, For every casualty inflicted by the visible enemy (in battle), the invisible enemy (disease) claimed two. Both the percentage of deaths from disease and the percentage of deaths from wounds are lower than that recorded in the South African War. Another vast improvement is noted with pride—the prevention of the enteric group of fevers. In .the South African War the number of admissions was 103.S per 1000 of strength, and the deaths 14.45 per 1000. In France the respective figures for 1915 were only S.SG and .26, and they had fallen by 191S to .20 and .01. Only in the Dardanelles, with 80.49 per 1000 admissions and 2.82 deaths, were the figures comparable. Infantry Bear the Brunt. According to official Tecords, 86.07 per cent of the total casualties to the fighting arms were suffered by the infantry, 7.58 per cent by the Royal Artillery, 2.57 by the Royal Engineers, 2.46 by the Machine Gun Corps, 1.08 by the cavalry, and 0.24 per cent by the Tank Corps. According to large-scale analyses 58.S per cent of wounds were caused by shells, 39 by bullets, 2.1 by bombs, and .32 by bayonets. Exclusive of the Dominion Forces, 2.414.000 individuals, or 40 per cent of those who served, suffered death or disablement for which State compensation was given.