Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900: Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small CalibreMakins, George Henry
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Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900: Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre
Makins, George Henry
Gunshot wounds; South African War, 1899-1902; Surgery, Military
The result of this addition to the total is to show that the percentage
of men killed and wounded was slightly lower than in the Crimean war,
and nearly corresponded with that observed in the Franco-German
campaign.
As it has been shown that our numbers correspond in general with those
of the whole war up to September 15, 1900, there can be little doubt
that the same ratios will be maintained to the close of the campaign.
On the face of the numbers, therefore, there is little ground for
assuming that the change in the nature of the weapons has materially
influenced the deadliness of warfare at all. This is capable of
explanation on the ground that in the Crimea the battles were fought at
much closer quarters, and hence the weapons of the time were as
effective, or more so, than the present ones. That this increased
distance between the combatants will always counterbalance the increased
deadliness of the weapons in the future is more than probable, since the
range of effectiveness has been increased both in rifle and in artillery
fire. In the present campaign the effect of the latter was very
noticeable, since the Boers were, as a rule, quickly displaced by shell
fire, unless they were in especially favourable positions, and this
although no great number of men was hit by the projectiles. Under these
circumstances, except on some occasions, neither side derived all the
advantage from the increased shooting powers of their rifles which might
have been expected. To a lesser degree this will probably always be the
case in the future.
In connection with these remarks, however, I would point to column 4 of
Table III., as showing how difficult it is to draw definite deductions
from any particular set of numbers alone. This column shows that in the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877 all the percentages were practically doubled
or more, and in the case of the number of men killed on the field of
battle, the number was nearly five times as great as either in the
Crimea or the present campaign. The explanation here depends on the race
of men and their tenacity in resistance alone. In the case of either
nation death in battle is little feared, and slight inclination to avoid
it exists. When the theory of war held by the Boer--_i.e._ going out to
shoot an enemy without incurring risk of being yourself shot--is borne
in mind, the special circumstances attending the present campaign are
sufficiently obvious to need little further remark. A future campaign in
which the combatants are as equally well armed, but each side stands to
the last, will probably give very different results.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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