Remembering the Great War: figures of the First World War

In June 2019, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the treaty that ended one of the most brutal conflicts ever to face humanity. The First World War, fought from 1914-1918 between the Central Powers and the Entente Cordiale, was arguably the conflict that marked the start of the modern era. In Ireland, over 100,000 men volunteered to serve in the British Army, Navy, and Royal Air Force, and over 60 million people served in armed forces worldwide. The war was fought from the banks of the river Seine to the far reaches of Tsingtao on the other side of the world. The ‘War to End All Wars’ saw many advances, from the Schlieffen-Moltke plan to the Hundred Days Offensive. However, born from the grit, mud, blood, and suffering of this struggle, advances were also made on another great front: medicine (Figure 1). Outlined is a panorama of the lives of certain legendary figures who came to prominence during the Great War, who were integral to the practice of modern medicine in the fields of plastic surgery, anaesthesia, wound care, and psychiatric nursing.