Medical assistance in the Great War and the everyday life of french soldiers
A casualty being given first aid on the battlefield at Les Éparges. Mémorial de Verdun collection.
August 1914: The war was proving to be different to the conflict for which the troops had been trained and equipped. As far as medical assistance was concerned, the beginning of the war was a catastrophe. The system required immediate changes and reorganisation to provide casualties with surgical treatment as soon as possible. In addition to the countless casualties, the war of position led to an increase in disease as a result of the extreme living conditions suffered by the soldiers for whom low temperatures, mud, flies, lice and rats were everyday companions, along with fear and death.
In his introduction to the concert In the Medical Corps: The Pianist Conscript, by Amaury Breyne, Médecin Général Inspecteur (2s) Raymond Wey describes the everyday life of the combatants and the men conscripted into the medical corps.
In French only.
Médecin Général Inspecteur (2s) Raymond Wey. All rights reserved.
Médecin Général Inspecteur (2s), Raymond Wey is President of the Comité d’Histoire du Service de santé des armées and Vice-President of the Association des amis du musée du Service de santé des armées. He is an EMS graduate (Enseignement militaire supérieur) and an Army Medical Corps expert with special knowledge of organisational techniques and military logistics. He worked as a health adviser to the Army Chief of Staff and, during his career, has also been Inspecteur des réserves with the French Army’s medical corps, Secretary General to the Conseil Supérieur de la réserve militaire and Adviser to the French Secretary of State for Defence and Veterans Affairs. He was a member of the committee responsible for the exhibition entitled Assistance for Casualties and Victims from the Great War to the Present Day with museographer Anne Bourdais and Médecin Général Inspecteur (2s) Olivier Farret.
Price
Free. Numbers are limited.
Booking recommended.
Linked to this event
11am: Guided tour of the exhibition, Assistance for Casualties and Victims from the Great War to the present day, by Médecin Général Inspecteur (2s) Raymond Wey, joint curator of the exhibition.
Free on presentation of a museum ticket. Numbers are limited.
5pm: Concert under the title, In the Medical Corps: The Pianist Conscript, with pianist Amaury Breyne.
