When enlisting for the Great War, most men were worried about passing their medical examination to travel overseas. Fewer were concerned about the diseases and other afflictions they might face while serving in the trenches.

It fell upon Canada’s fledgling military medical personnel to keep the soldiers whole and in fighting shape.

Indeed, medical knowledge grew by leaps and bounds during the war as doctors, nurses and physiotherapists honed their crafts, inventing and improving medical techniques and treatments for wounded patients.

The Canadian Army Medical Corps was responsible for providing health care to troops during the war. Founded in 1904, the Medical Corps included doctors, nurses and stretcher-bearers, as well as physiotherapists who helped rehabilitate wounded or injured soldiers. All told, more than twenty-one thousand Canadian men and women served in the Corps between 1914 and 1918.

Most wounds were caused by either gunshots or shrapnel from artillery barrages. The wounds inflicted by shrapnel were particularly horrendous, often leaving gaping jagged holes in soldiers bodies.

However, soldiers also faced microscopic threats that were just as deadly. Disease and bacterial infections were common. Among the more prevalent illness were typhoid and tetanus, which proliferated in the muddy and germ ridden trenches. The rise in infections forced nations to improve vaccinations and other disease treatments. Indeed, Canada became a leading producer of tetanus vaccinations during the war thanks to research and development conducted at the University of Toronto.

For women, the Medical Corps offered them a way to get close to the front at a time when women were banned from serving as soldiers. In total, 3,141 women served as nursing sisters, often at casualty clearing stations near the front.

For all medical personnel, the war was a challenge. Rookies had to quickly come to grips with the devastating human carnage they witnessed in operating rooms or medical wards.

On the home front, advances in medical treatment at the front meant more wounded and disabled veterans survived to return home in need of further care.

One condition that gained prominence during the war was shell shock. Those who suffered from it often experienced uncontrollable tremors and tics. Some were catatonic, while others would scream and shake for hours on end. But, because the illness was mental, not physical, many soldiers with shell shock were mocked and derided as cowards by their colleagues and superiors.

When it comes to the number of dead and wounded, 66,000 slain Canadians and another 140,000 wounded seems incredibly high. However, the death toll would have been much greater if not for the dedicated and compassionate care provided by the members of the Medical Corps.