Page 27 - QARANC Vol 20 No 3 2023

The Museum has quirky artefacts from the period, including the kit belonging to the dentist who treated Napoleon in exile.
Jason adds: “When the Crimean War started in 1853, they had to relearn some of the lessons, and of course that’s when Florence Nightingale went out. The reason for that was, although they had hospital provision, the people doing the tending were barely capable of providing much of a service. It was also the first media war – because of the telegraph, news was able to get back to Britain quite quickly and there was a public outcry about the treatment of soldiers and the wounded.
“More people died because of disease and unsanitary conditions than through injuries. So, it was then that they really thought it was essential to get hospital provision properly organised and get nurses out there.”
School parties and scouts, who often visit to the Museum, can learn of Florence Nightingale’s legacy of establishing nursing as a profession, with training at Netley Military Hospital in Southampton, built under Queen Victoria’s patronage.
In the second half of the 19th Century, there was a military nursing service which was still civilian, but they could go out on campaign and provide the nursing care. Particularly the campaigns in Africa, the Sudan, the Anglo-Ashanti conflicts, and the Boer War in South Africa. The Scarlet and Grey we are familiar