Museum of Military Medicine

Today, together with an ex-nurse friend, I visited the Museum of Military Medicine in Mytchett. I have been meaning to go for some years and the visit had been rearranged a couple of times but today we finally made it.

The museum covers military medicine from the English Civil war through to the present day. There was much to interest including tableaux of medical treatment in different time periods, information on developments in military medicine and a, sometimes gruesome, collection of surgical instruments. There were also sections devoted to dentistry and veterinary medicine.

I guess the main message was the awfulness of war and the debt we owe to our soldiers and the military medical personnel who tend them when they are wounded. It was also shocking to consider how brutally basic treatments have been until recently, especially during the First World War. It also made me think that even today in the Ukraine there will be people suffering appalling wounds and others traumatised by what they have to deal with. It's sad that humans seem unable to live in peace with one another.

Later we came back to Farnham and had some lunch with Mr Flossmo. Mr Flossmo was also the lucky recipient of a lemon cake, a present from my friend, who as well as having nursing skills is an excellent cook. He has already had a sample or two.