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Remembered Today:

Incidence of malaria etc


Doctord84

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Working through men of the East Riding Yeomanry who transferred to other units and then went to Salonika (mostly around 19th September 1916 for those with surviving service records). I have around 62 at present, with 3 fatalities (none in combat). Disregarding relatively trivial ailments, health data where it survives is as follows:-

 

Malaria 35 men

Dysentery 6

Impetigo 1

Influenza 5

Pneumonia 1

Illegible 1

 

Some were suffering from more than one of these conditions, but even so, the figures suggest at least 3/4 of this small group of soldiers were in hospital at one time or another. I know Salonika has a reputation for being an unhealthy theatre, but is this sickness rate typical? Does anyone have any comparable data please?

 

Private Frank Walters (ERY 2185, 3rd East Yorks 27583) is listed as being at the malaria concentration centre, Ripon in February 1919, classed as category A. Do we know if category A was the most (or least) severe grade?

 

Any help gratefully received.

 

David

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Perhaps the following online books may be of assistance. (Click on the coloured text)

Also in this series: Medical Services: Diseases of the War Volume I, Includes Malaria. Archive.org.
 
Memoranda on some medical diseases in the Mediterranean war area, with some sanitary notes HMSO 1916. Archive.org
 
Anti-malaria Work in Macedonia among British Troops by W G Willoughby 1918. Pdf download, Digital Library of India.
 
Salonika Diary 1915-1918. (Harold Arthur) Thomas Fairbank was an Officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps. His unit was moved to Macedonia to serve in Struma valley, and he was appointed consulting surgeon to the British Salonika Force. From the Fairbank Papers, University of Cambridge Digital Library. Typed manuscript, photographs etc.
 
"Casualties in Months, Salonica" page 288 Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire during the Great War, 1914-1920. The War Office HMSO 1922 Archive.org
 
Cheers
Maureen
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I read in the book Under the Devils Eye by Alan Wakefield, that the British Army were even destroying reed beds and other places mosquitos were breeding to try and reduce cases of Malaria. My grandfather in the 6th Btn, Royal Munster Fusiliers seemed to suffer badly from it, he was mainly in the Sturma Valley. So I would think that amount of sickness would be pretty typical.

Paul

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1 hour ago, Doctord84 said:

I know Salonika has a reputation for being an unhealthy theatre

 

Indeed.

Greece was only declared free from endemic malaria in 1974.

Italy in 1962.

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An observation, your figures, i.e. around 50%. may be skewed a little because where the records survive they may represent a pension claim for the disease.

 

This 2014 article from the Malaria Journal gives an incidence of 369 per thousand men, or about a third of British troops deployed (i.e.162,517cases) succumbed to the disease; the Salonica Campaign Society cite a total of  505,024 non battle casualties.   Most of the data is from the references cited above at post 2.

 

It's also worth noting the incidence of the disease was seasonal, therefore where and when a unit was deployed could increase the incidence of the disease.   Nevertheless in Salonica a soldier was ten times more likely to become a casualty to disease rather than enemy action.  

 

Until the mechanised warfare of the Western Front casualties from disease were always more prevalent in campaigning than those caused by enemy action so in that regard the campaign in Salonica was the historical norm.  In 1918 troops returning home from theatre are believed to have triggered an outbreak in South East England from where it had been eradicated, 500 new cases were reported.  

 

Ken

Edited by kenf48
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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks all

 

Been trying to sort out a kitchen fit over past few days and have had little time for anything else. Some interesting points which I'll try to follow up.

 

David

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If the men were transferred to the Surrey or Derbyshire Yeomanry then these units primary role was patrolling the villages of the Struma valley, where the highest incidence of Malaria occurred.

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Here's an extract from 'The Derbyshire Yeomanry War History' Page 137 July 1916 whilst at Kopriva and Butkova in the Struma valley:

 

'On July 19th a few cases of fever are mentioned for the first time.... On the following day there is another entry "Fever increasing at Kopriva," and on the 23rd, "Great increase in fever," On the 24th, "thirty six cases to Hospital"; 25th, "thirty six cases to hospital"; 27th, "twenty three cases to hospital"; whilst on the next four days the average was eighteen per diem. So that within the first week of it's appearance 167 men were sent to hospital out of a stength of about 400.'

 

The Derbyshire and the South Notts were so depleted that they were formed into a single composite regiment.

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That is bad, also that's just one regiment too, how many the totals would be must be staggering!

Paul

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Some more stats from the Official History that show measures taken to combat Malaria were effective:

 

The worst month in 1917 was September with 16,488 admissions, in 1918 the worst month was June with 7,655 admissions.

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A bit OT, but "in the ball-park", as we say:  In 1915 my father got malaria at Gallipoli (in a somewhat similar enviroment to Salonika), and my grand-father, a staff officer, got malaria in Russia. My father recovered well,  but my grandfather was never able to serve at the front again, and did staff work in the rear for the rest of the war. However, I have seen a lot of medical statistics, etc. about the Germans at Gallipoli, and not that many Germans got malaria, but certainly had tremendously high levels of other illnesses. Once my father's entire volunteer engineer company was pulled out of the front and put in hospital in Istanbul in an attempt to improve their general health, but a crisis developed and they had to be rushed back to the fighting. The physical quantity of medications consumed was astonishing, I have some statistics on this. One factor was the water, which after several days in goatskins on the back of a camel was black; Europeans could only drink it if it was liberally dosed with oil of peppermint, which the Germans made sure that they had in abundance.

 

 

 

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The Official data in the Official History of the Great War: Medical Services: Statistics, chapter XII Macedonia page 194 Table 15 "Principal Causes of Inefficiency" has

 

Cause..........Admissions.....Average annual ratio per 1,000

Malaria............162,517.............403.58

 

The data also broken down by year in subsequent tables. The ratios per 1,000 men in each year were as follows:

1916......259.48

1917......391.12

1918......458.94

 

The ratio per 1,000 men for all diseases for the whole campaign was 1,195.14. 

 

The data can be slightly misleading and it is important to understand the factors behind it. While 1918 might appear to be the worst year, the numbers peaked in Sep 1917 (see Gardener Bill's post # 11). The Medical Services  volume on Macedonia indicates the peak period in the summer of 1917 was driven by new cases and 'recrudescence' i.e the re-appearance of malaria in men whose condition had previously been stabilized. 

 

For the men who fought in Macedonia and in particular those who operated in the Struma Valley, recrudescence became a lifelong problem for some of them. It is very debilitating and the preventative measures used in 1916-1918 were not particularly successful.  Discipline is an extremely important factor - ensuring everyone takes the necessary measures such as daily quinine. MG

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Very interesting you mention the Struma valley, my Grandfather was in the 6th Btn Royal Munster Fusiliers and in the Struma valley. He was hospitalised between January and September 1918. He was to die from TB in the Irish Free State Air Corps. I am sure it must be connected somehow.

Paul

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Hi

just came across this topic whilst doing family tree research. Of those on my tree that went to Salonica, both of them from the records I have found contracted malaria.

Must have been a buzzing place!

 

regards

Jon

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On the other hand my grandfather spent two years in the Struma area and never suffered from Malaria, perhaps he had a natural immunity or was just lucky.

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My Grandfather contracted Cerebral Malaria and was admitted to hospital in Salonica in Sept 1917.  He lived to tell the story of how he was almost buried alive due to the fact that he was paralysed.  He was found in his dugout and presumed dead. He said he could hear everything but couldn't move. As they were about to bury him, someone noticed his eyelids move with the sound of gunfire close by. He recovered in hospital and returned to his regiment 99th brigade Ammunition Column. He had a slight slur to his speech for the rest of his life and died at the age of 81 with Parkinsons Disease. 

I have often wondered how many soldiers actually did get buried alive. I'm sure my Grandad wouldn't have been the only one to be effected by this form of Malaria. 

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  • 5 months later...
On 2017-1-1 at 12:14, Gardenerbill said:

On the other hand my grandfather spent two years in the Struma area and never suffered from Malaria, perhaps he had a natural immunity or was just lucky.

Nosy question, but was he by any chance from Kent/Essex/East Anglia?

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Bang goes my theory ;) wondered if he might have come from one of England's "marsh fever" areas.

 

Maybe he was just better covered and didn't get bitten.

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This is only anecdotal Jane, but some people don't seem to get bitten. My wife is one of these lucky people I sadly am not. My Grandfather may have been one of the lucky ones.

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My paternal Grandfather had malaria, Macedonia, 1916. Seems to have impacted on Irish regiments. 

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