THE FALKLANDS CAMPAIGN 1982

BATTLE ZONE SURGERY

One of the Senior Naval Nurses who sailed with the Task Force An over-riding memory for many staff from Plymouth's Royal Naval Hospital (RNH), who sailed to the South Atlantic with the Falklands Task Force, is of the great courage shown by the wounded.

That courage is typified by the young man brought from the battlefield to the hospital ship, Uganda, whose leg had to be amputated without general anaesthetic.

Senior Naval Nurse June Hendy, one of the seven women nurses and six women nursing officers from the RNH to sail to the South Atlantic, sat and held the man's hand during the operation.

The man's medical history dictated that doctors could not give him a general anaesthetic and he was given anaesthetics which numbed the lower part of his body. He was screened from the procedure, but he was fully conscious throughout.

Bravery was often seen by staff from the RNH, who found themselves whisked from the ordered routine of hospital life in Plymouth 8,000 miles to a battle zone. The hospital sent 12 doctors, a dentist, 13 women nurses and nursing officers and 41 medically trained ratings with a wide variety of specialisations.

A complete surgical support team of 24 spent its war ashore at Ajax Bay dealing with battle casualties in an abandoned freezer plant, which was turned into a makeshift hospital by Commando Logistic Regiment's Medical Squadron.

Doctors, nurses and medical assistants from the RNH served in Uganda and Canberra and some doctors and ratings were sent to serve in warships needing medical staff for the conflict.

Women staff forsook their crisp uniforms for their role at sea and instead adopted the shirts, trousers and the ubiquitous "woolly pulleys" worn by the men of all the services.

Senior Naval Nurse Hendy, a naval for six years, worked in the operating theatre on Uganda and casualties airlifted to the ship by helicopter were often brought to the theatre still in combat gear. Another Naval Nurse on Uganda was Geraldine Hodgson, 23, and she remembers the high morale of the wounded and their willingness to try to help the nursing staff.

Senior Nursing Officer Jean Kidd, who was in charge of the casualty department at the RNH, ran the casualty reception area on Uganda. She spoke of the resilience of the wounded, how quickly they recovered and how undemanding they were.

In one exceptional day, 160 casualties flooded aboard Uganda, but usually the staff could expect between 40 and 70 wounded when the fighting was at its height.

Medical Assistant Andrew Massocchi, 25, nursed in Uganda's improvised wards. He came from Cardiff and has vivid memories of the day badly wounded Welsh Guards were brought aboard after the Sir Galahad was bombed at Fitzroy. He recalls that on the voyage south he had tried to imagine what it would be like to deal with battle casualties.

Surgeon Captain Roger Wilkes, a consultant general surgeon, was in charge of medical staff onboard Canberra. He spoke of the very important period of training as the ship steamed south for what many would be their first experience of war for many people.

The days down to the tropics and on south towards Antarctica were used to prepare the ship and the medical teams to receive wounded. Spaces were prepared to deal with each stage of a casualty's treatment, from reception and, if necessary resuscitation, to the operating theatre and the ward.

Canberra dealt with casualties immediately after the D-Day landings on May 21st, but some of her medical staff were put ashore and others transferred to Uganda. The size of her medical complement dwindled as the campaign went on.

Surgeon Captain Wilkes, who had dealt with battle casualties in Aden, said that, generally speaking, there were two sorts of casualties in the Falklands. Clean wounds on the injured from ships and field casualties with dirt, earth and other material in their wounds.

He said he had been impressed with the calm and expertise of the younger men, including the doctors, the ratings and the members of Canberra's ship's company.

A problem in the cruise ship had been large areas of armoured class. Carpets had been taken up and hung like curtains to provide a form of protection from flying glass in the event of hits in an air attack.

Surgeon Captain Wilkes said the medical team in Canberra dealt with fit young Servicemen, who took injuries that the average young man might have taken more time to recover from.

He likened Canberra's arrival in San Carlos to arriving in a Scottish Loch. Two hours later the whole area had been transformed. It had been a shock. Canberra was withdrawn from San Carlos to steam to South Georgia to embark units from 5th Infantry Brigade. She returned to the Falklands in cloudy weather and left after two days without incident.

Surgeon Lt. Cdr. Richard Moody, an anesthetist at the RNH sailed in Canberra and he said one problem for the medical staff was having to share facilities with military units continuing their training on the voyage south. He said that a night club onboard had been converted into a hospital ward, with associated pantries and bars becoming sluices, a pharmacy, a pathology laboratory.

A lot of ingenuity had gone into creating these spaces and in getting running water and power into them. Surgeon Lt. Cdr. Tim Riley, from the RNH, devised a ramp so that casualties could be brought straight down from the helicopter pad.

Surgeon Lt. Cdr. Moody stressed the importance of training on the voyage to the Falklands. Everyone had been drilled to deal with casualties in a uniform way. It had been essential preparation for dealing with large numbers. He said an important decision had been to set up a blood bank of 1,000 units in Canberra. Troops preparing to fight had been only too willing to donate blood two weeks before the British landings.

A number of straightforward medical emergencies cropped up to test the system in Canberra as she headed south. The first battle casualties came onboard on D-Day at San Carlos. Canberra took onboard about 60 wounded that day. Casualties on their stretchers were placed on the deck during air raids. Argentinean wounded were given their own helmets back during the raids to afford some extra protection.

All operations were carried out after dark after the raids had ceased. Surgeons worked until 2 am cleaning wounds, cutting away dead tissue and, following the long-standing principle of battle surgery, leaving wounds open. These open wounds were not usually closed for around 5 days to week until healthy tissue was seen to be growing.

Chief Medical Technician Peter Hopkins, 26, a dispenser at the RNH, sailed in Uganda and received a Commendation from the Task Force Commander for his work. It was his initial task, helped by Medical Assistant David Owen, also from the RNH, to sort, index and store about 35 tons of medical supplies in Uganda. Chief Medical Tech. Hopkin's Commendation says that he worked long and arduous hours throughout the conflict. "At the height of the crisis, with casualties arriving every day, his advice and professional skills were required constantly," said the commendation.

Chief Med. Tech. Hopkins' happiest memory is of the night of May 5th when he telephoned home from Uganda to be given the news of the birth of his first child, Lucy. He was told Lucy and his wife, Mary were both fine.

That night there was a concert onboard given by Royal Marines bandsmen. They marked the occasion with "Thank Heavens for Little Girls" and then "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow".

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