Медицинская служба русской армии в русско-японской войне 1904-1905 гг

Abstract

The Russian-Japanese War (1904-1905) began in the night of 27 January (9 February, New Style) 1904, when the Russian squadron, standing in the roads of Port Arthur, was attacked. The Russian Manchurian Army had no success with its retrograde-defensive actions. After 157-day defense Port Arthur surrendered in early January 1905 and then in May 1905 the 2nd Squadron and the 1st Detachment of the 3rd Pacific squadron were lost during a naval battle at Tsushima; therefore, Russia had to conclude infamous Portsmouth peace treaty on August 23 (5 September). Mobilization deployment of the medical service units, including staffing, was first performed with «health officers» accumulated after the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Main Military Medical Directorate of the Military Ministry, headed by N. V. Speransky, as well as the army commanders in their activities were guided by the newly adopted «Regulations on the management of field forces in time of war,» «Regulations on military medical institutions of wartime» (1887) and «Regulations on the evacuation of the sick and wounded» (1890). During their anti-epidemic activities they relied on the provisions of the «Manual on protection of health of troops of the acting army», «Instruction on the measures against the development and spread of contagious diseases in the army», «Manual on the prevention and limitation of cholera in the troops» and «Instructions on disinfection of residential rooms, linen, clothes, soft bedding and discherge of cholera patients», updated and put into operation in 1905. Sanitary losses of the Russian army over 23 months of war amounted to (with an average number of troops 728,568 people and irretrievable losses of 84,062 people (killed and captured)) 557,854 persons, including 151,944 (27.3 %) wounded and 405,910 (72.7 %) patients. Together, military doctors and medical personnel of the Russian Red Cross Society provided recovery and return to order of 75,606 wounded and 254,621 patients, a total of 330,327 (56.2 %) of those in need. In carrying out their professional duty, total losses among medical personnel amounted to 460 people, among them 84 doctors, 1 pharmacist, 364 medical assistants, 6 sisters of mercy and 5 students. Among full-time porters (paramedics) who worked on the front lines and often on the battlefield, 1020 were killed, 2300 were injured and contused.