Military radiology before and during the first world war 1896–1918

Abstract

The centenary of the First World War is now upon us and with this in mind a brief review of military radiology before and during WWI is given. In early 1896, very soon after the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in Würzburg on 8 November 1895, many radiographs were published in books and journals showing bony fractures, and also foreign bodies embedded in skulls, hands, arms, legs and feet. Several of these cases related to injuries caused during warfare and the earliest textbooks always made some mention of the applications of the new rays in warfare. Descriptions are given of some of the early X-ray apparatus used in warfare and practical experiences such as the difficulty of setting up facilities for developing X-ray films and the difficulty of obtaining electrical power for the apparatus. Military radiology in the Boer War in South Africa, 1899–1902, was the first to be very well documented in medical journals. By the time of WWI motor vehicles specially designed for deployment just behind the battle front so that radiology services would be available as quickly as possible. These were used by most of the combatant countries, including Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the USA. These mobile X-ray ambulances included the so-called Little Curies used by Marie Sklodowska Curie, who with her daughter Irène acting as her assistant also taught military radiology to technicians in the American army.