First World War casualty Frank Dent (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Saturday, April 05, 2014, 23:48 (3884 days ago) @ dent

Thanks for clarifying things Chris, no harm done of course. I was also in error, despite reading Mike's post saying the Medal Card "records nothing more.." - sorry Mike, I mis-interpreted that as "nothing more(to what the thread had already given, eg K.I.A and Died of Wounds)", such errors are easily made and even repeated, I'm sure I've seen such cases within the published WW1 records hence my question to Harry Brook.

I've tried finding specific statistics & explanations for the various illnesses suffered on the Western Front but found nothing definitive yet. As you say it's easy to imagine that men spending weeks outside exposed to all weathers, damp if not horrifically muddy conditions underfoot, clothing and badly-shod feet almost continually damp, very basic rations and minimal personal hygiene (barely enough water to drink nevermind wash) and so on... physical illness particularly bronchial conditions such as pneumonia would be easy to contract. Tiredness to the point of physical and mental exhaustion were common, add a probable lack of vitamin C, so shaking-off such an illness would be even more difficult.
However, largely due to improved medicinal care, this was still a great improvement on previous Wars such as the Crimea where over 2/3 of British casualties were due to illness & disease rather than enemy action !

While looking into this I've found these web accounts that make interesting reading. I'm glad the War Diary was worth downloading, as you say they all help gain some insight into the terrible things these brave men endured for King and Country.

The shocking conditions and poor diet at Ypres
http://www.essentialsomme.com/articles/casualties.htm

A casualty of pneumonia at Messines
http://aboriginalww1veteransofsouthaustralia.blogspot.co.uk/2011_11_01_archive.html

John McCrae, author of the classic poem "In Flanders Fields", was a Canadian Army doctor who wrote it while in the front line at Ypres. Here he experienced the first gas attacks in Spring 1915; all the various gases affected the bronchial passages to some extent, but even mild exposure to "mustard" gas was apparently often misdiagnosed as pneumonia. [I'm not suggesting this is related to Frank's illness when he was in the area in 1917]. McCrae spent the rest of his War treating casualties while commanding No. 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) at Boulogne. Sadly on January 28th 1918, after prolonged illness exasperated by lifelong asthma and the earlier gas attacks, John McCrae died of "pneumonia with meningitis". He is buried at Wimereux communal Cemetery near Boulogne.
www.webmatters.net/belgium/ww1_mccrae.htm