Mustard Gas & TB

[Matlock1418]

16 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

Yet CWGC take a view which is virtually the opposite for commemoration purposes. The link between death and cause of discharge has to be proven, despite the fact that we all know that  most servicemen's records were destroyed in 1940.

  You've again lit the blue touch paper with me!!!

 CWGC are guaranteed to currently wind me up c/w the past notoriously fiscally-prudent/tight and audited MoP's approach to TB [A MoP who would not pay out unless they really had to - and them having full contemporary access to service records and medical records, the WW2 loss of which does not invalidate their historic decisions imo].

Yes I'm afraid the at present CWGC seem very reluctant to accept past MoP decisions alone and with the loss of so many records it's a real problem for us to now get many potential non-comms properly commemorated - TB commonly featuring in their deaths, post-discharge up to 31 Aug 1921, in the UK.   This questionable approach needs better publicity .... Here's hoping for a future change at CWGC [imo it currently seems so unfair on those dead men and does not properly reflect their loss due to the attribution to, or aggravation from, their service]

 I'll stop on this for now, here anyway.

Returning to the topic's original intent - I too think, as also demonstrated above, it is really unproven that there was a causal link betweeen gassing and TB [since without drugs to treat it the disease was already so endemic, both actively-presenting and latently / non-presenting, within the general and military populations, before, during and after the war] ... but that medical stuff is all so much more Dai's subject than mine.

M

[stevenbecker]

Yes, I reach the same, while many men were gassed, not all had TB, and the same, many had TB, but were not gassed.

As stated TB was common for many in the General Public at the time and with soldier being in close contact the same can be said here.

Near the end of the war, and even during, many men suffered respetory illness or all types, for all types of reasons

But I am not telling to suck eggs here 

Its interesting area and one that needs  more on the causal links, but it maybe to late now?

Cheers

Edited 14 March by stevenbecker