ISBN-13: 9781845195014 / Angielski / Twarda / 2012 / 372 str.
ISBN-13: 9781845195014 / Angielski / Twarda / 2012 / 372 str.
In this response to the lack of accessible literature on what was surely one of the most important aspects of the conflict health care and medical assistance during wartime this book reviews the enormously valuable contribution of the volunteers who left Britain to serve with the Republican Medical Services during the Spanish Civil War. Acknowledgement is also given to the immense effort and self-sacrifice made by men and women from all walks of life who, working ceaselessly at home, made it possible for the medical teams to function in Spain. The first British Medical Unit in Spain had immense political significance for the Spanish Republic, and this work shows how, barely a month into the start of the civil war, this small group was the first visible sign of international support. This work details how volunteers not only helped to create and to maintain an emergency medical service, but how some of the individuals involved were also responsible for important developments that were of relevance to later military-medical practice and also to the history of medicine in general. Medical personnel generally worked in dreadful conditions, for hours and even days without rest, and with a lack of equipment and provisions of all kinds; that they rose to the challenge is in itself worthy of tribute, but this book details their experiences, giving them the credit they so richly deserve."