We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
BRITISH AND CANADIAN MOBILE LABORATORIES: Bacteriology's Three-Tonne Technical Innovation In World War I.
- Authors
Wright Jr., James R.
- Abstract
WWI was the first large war in which clinical pathology played a critical role. About a month into the War, the British War Office determined that a Mobile Laboratory should be developed and the Lister Institute was authorized to develop, staff and equip it. Dr. S.D. Rowland, a Lister Institute microbiologist highly skilled in mechanics and engineering, was given the task, and he retrofitted a unique luxury motor caravan into a fully functional No.1 Mobile Laboratory, which was deployed to France on October 9, 1914, with him in command. The War Office deemed it such a grand success that it quickly became a prototype and 24 more Mobile Laboratories were deployed before the end of the War. One was No. 5 (Canadian) Mobile Laboratory, staffed by Canadians Lieutenant-Colonel G. Nasmith, Captain A. Rankin, and Captain A.W.N. Ellis, and deployed to France on March 21, 1915. Mobile Laboratories provided routine bacteriological and other services, and were responsible for water quality, investigating infectious disease outbreaks, and helping maintain troop readiness; when time permitted, they also did research. No. 5 (Canadian) Mobile Laboratory played a role in the discovery of a previously unknown disease, Trench fever, which affected ~1,000,000 Allied troops.
- Publication
Canadian Journal of Pathology, 2016, Vol 8, Issue 3, p77
- ISSN
1918-915X
- Publication type
Article