Title: New Zealand Medical Services in Middle East and Italy

Author: Stout, T. Duncan M.

Publication details: Historical Publications Branch, 1956, Wellington

Part of: The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945

This text is the subject of: ‘Something of Them Is Here Recorded’: Official History in New Zealand

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Medical Lessons from Alamein Battle

There were certain lessons to be learnt from the work carried out by the Medical Corps during the Battle of Alamein.

The carefully planned scheme for the evacuation of the wounded through the minefields proved highly successful and became standardised in the Army.

The main lesson was the great value of concentration of the medical units, especially those responsible for forward surgery, in the handling of large numbers of casualties. This allowed the even distribution of surgery between the MDS group and the CCS group. The utilisation of a field ambulance in front of the CCS group as a sorting centre and a treatment centre for the minor cases proved invaluable.

Early operation on the abdominal cases and the holding of these cases in the unit following operation gave excellent results. The surgical potential available was insufficient to cope with all the casualties in spite of the attachment of many excellent FSUs.