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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

The Flu That Killed 50 Million


NigelS

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tuesday... the 25th you mean????

21st was last friday ...

 

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The trailer I heard said "the flu killed ten times as many people as the war" which doesn't say a lot for the arithmetical content of modern courses in journalism.

 

Ron

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I've been researching my wife's great uncle recently, Pte Roland Kershaw 43809, killed on the opening day of the Battle of the Canal du Nord, having rejoined his unit (1/6th Manchesters) ten days earlier.  Prior to this he was in hospital in Trouville for 2 months with the first wave of the "flue" along with the head of the 7th Battalion, Major Rae and others.

I don't know if 2 months is typical for recovery, but his could have been prolonged because he was seriously gassed in August 1917.

 

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Got the recorder set for it and will watch it this WE.

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If anyone is visiting London, there is a special exhibition regarding the pandemic at the Florence Nightingale museum.

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It is actually on BBC Two HD in Scotland at the same time as the rest of the UK.  BBC Two Scotland will be carrying an opt out in SD at the same time..

 

 

Edited by mbriscoe
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On 23/09/2018 at 09:54, Ron Clifton said:

The trailer I heard said "the flu killed ten times as many people as the war" which doesn't say a lot for the arithmetical content of modern courses in journalism.

 

Ron

 

You’re too right, Ron !

 

It was a good documentary, I think : but the error stood out even more on that account.

 

Phil

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Might it be plausible to assess the spread and impact of the pandemic in terms of it being conflated with the war, rather than depicting it as something separate from the conflict ?

 

To state that the illness killed several times as many people as the war itself is to overlook the way that its spread and impact were facilitated and enhanced by the exigencies of global warfare.

 

Phil

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I thought they did associate the spread with the war - large numbers of people moving around and also confined in close proximity.

 

Earlier in the year the BBC did an experiment on the way a pandemic spreads.  A lot of work had been done previously but only involving quite small numbers of people, they used a mobile phone App to simulate the spread with much larger numbers. 

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Going through some family papers last year I came across a postcard Grandad had sent home in December 1918. On the bottom it said 'Sorry to hear about cousin Harry'. I wasn't sure who cousin Harry was but found he was RNVR (like Grandad) and looking at the date I did wonder about the flu. Sure enough when I investigated and found the papers he did indeed die of the flu, in S W Ireland. Another cemetery to add to my visiting list.

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On 23/09/2018 at 09:54, Ron Clifton said:

The trailer I heard said "the flu killed ten times as many people as the war" which doesn't say a lot for the arithmetical content of modern courses in journalism.

 

Ron

 

Having endorsed your point wholeheartedly, Ron, I have reflected on the whys and wherefores of the statistics of the Great War’s toll and it’s apparent that so much depends on who - and how - you count.

 

Roughly ten million lives were lost on account of actual battle ; if we take the notional hundred million that was pitched as the extreme estimate for the toll of the pandemic, the tenfold multiple gains a degree of credibility .....although I would be more than circumspect about it.

 

Phil

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22 hours ago, mbriscoe said:

You should find a picture of the headstone on the TWGPP website.

 

 

 

Was the link for me? I actually have a photo because his headstone happens to be the picture for the cemetery on CWGC!  I couldn't believe my luck when I saw it, but I would still like to visit and pay my respects.

Thanks for the link however, a site I had forgotten about but could be useful in other research.

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  • 3 years later...

"During the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918, Manchester's medical officer Dr James Niven became known across the country for his call to close down society as much as possible to stop the spread of the disease."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10624549/The-doctor-shot-fame-1918-Spanish-Flu-outbreak-pioneering-social-distancing.html

 

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I have just started. reading Pandemic 1918  (The story of the deadliest influenza in history) by Catharine Arnold.

Sue

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