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This article critically interrogates the nature of facial wounds themselves, their visceral, dehumanising quality, visibility, and social meaning. Little attention has been paid to the cultural ramifications and difficult questions concerning the futures of facially injured soldiers that Britain had to address in the post-war era. Focusing on photograph albums as socially salient objects, this article challenges medical photographic archives. Building on unexplored family archives, it revises understandings of the difficulties of veterans' homecoming, and how they achieved a level of emotional recovery as they tried to find a place in the post-war social fabric. The article argues that family photographic collections show the less obvious way that the war lived on for veterans and families, its damage and how it was passed on. These private collections offer new revelations on the success or failure of the surgical interventions in their aesthetic aims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reexamines the history of the 1918–19 influenza pandemic to better place it in its war-time context. Using Britain as a case study, the essay examines how British military medicine took a leading role in studying and developing a (still largely ineffective) public health response to the epidemic, whereas domestic public health leaders did almost nothing to stem the spread of the pandemic due to the impact measures such as quarantine would have had on the war effort. The article ends by briefly considering how the pandemic affected efforts to restore Britain to 'normalcy' during the immediate post-war recovery. In so doing, this essay further argues how it is essential to consider the deep connections between the Great War and the influenza pandemic not simply as concurrent or consecutive crises, but more deeply intertwined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on neurologist Michael Kremer who was one of the pioneers in neurology and an influential figure after the Second World War. Topics mentioned include the work as lieutenant colonel at the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) in Great Britain, the research work with physiologist Samson Wright and neurologist Ludwig Guttmann, and the discovery on prostigmine intrathecal injections for paralysed patients.

This article assesses the contributions of Wilfred Bion and John Rickman to military psychiatry in World War II in the light of their lives and careers before the war. While Bion entered World War II with a distinguished record as a tank commander in World War I and an analysis with Rickman that was incomplete, the Quaker and ex-conscientious objector Rickman was surprised to find himself made a Major in the British Army. The creative partnership which Bion's letters to Rickman document, and which resulted in substantial developments in the understanding of groups, stemmed in part from the ways in which each was able to draw on their earlier experiences and reputations, one as a founding figure in the British psychoanalytic community, the other as a decorated veteran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a collection of 29 letters, 27 from Wilfred Bion to John Rickman, one addressed to Mrs Rickman and one from Rickman to Bion. These letters have been fully transcribed, annotated and published for the first time and offer a rare glimpse into the blossoming relationship between the two men and the gradual emergence of Bion's intellect through his work in War Office Selection Boards (WOSBs), the Northfield Military hospital and the exploratory groups at the Tavistock Clinic.Through this material it becomes evident that Bion's fascination with the work undertaken at WOSBs had more to do with the social ramifications of the principles and ideology applied there rather than with particular techniques per se, such as 'leaderless groups'. Furthermore, the reader becomes witness to Rickman's profound influence on Bion's analytic work and in cultivating his interest in therapeutic institutions, ultimately leading to their groundbreaking work at Northfield Military hospital. While Bion's descriptions of his post-war group work at the Tavistock Clinic offer the first signs of his unique theory and technique on the exploration of group dynamics. The continuation of their correspondence until Rickman's untimely death is a testament to their strong collegial and personal relationship which transcended analytical work and other professional engagements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article profiles Frederick Treves, a civilian surgeon in the British Royal Army Medical Corps during the South African war of 1899-1902. The events which had led to the South African war are detailed. A background on the career of Treves is also presented. Given, as well, is an overview of Treves' testimony to the Royal Commissions of 1900 and 1903.

The article recalls the studies conducted by the author on the use of sulphonamides in bacillary dysentery during his service in Great Britain's Royal Army Medical Corps in Egypt from 1943 to 1944. He was required to produce reports of the activities of his medical division. He cites the standard treatment for bacillary dysentery when he arrived in Egypt. He observed the effect of the most elementary sulphonamide on a series of bacillary dysentery cases.

The article focuses on the life and works of physician William Henry Battle who practiced in England 100 years ago. He served as major and later lieutenant colonel with the Great Britain Royal Army Medical Corps. Battle investigated head injury specifically, cranial nerve injury, associated optic neuritis, and associated cutaneous stigmata.

The article profiles ophthalmologist Norman McAlister Gregg. After qualifying for medicine, he joined the British Expeditionary Force in France as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He became senior ophthalmic surgeon in both Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children. Gregg published his paper on the effects of rubella on the developing fetus in early pregnancy. Furthermore, he was awarded the Australian Shorney Prize for ophthalmology.

Presents the author's reflections on the role of medical workers in cases of prisoner abuse. Details of the author's work as a physician with the British Royal Army Medical Corps in Cyprus in 1958; Details of an incident involving suspected prisoner abuse by Cyprus police; Views on the potential for medical personnel to intervene in cases of prisoner abuse.

Reprints an excerpt from the 'British Medical Journal' from 1902. Announcement that there are thirty commissions in the British Royal Army Medical Corps offered for competition to men possessing the necessary qualifications; Unpopularity of the service among the rising generation of the medical professions; Alienation of the medical profession from the War Office.