Medical history: When a typhus epidemic killed thousands at the height of the Second World War

Captain Douglas Peterkin and his fellow medics struggled to empty the huts in anything like an orderly fashion amid distressing scenes of panic and despair. They would arrive draped in their white anti-typhus overalls and carrying stretchers to discover crowds of people desperate for medical treatment and food, making the job of choosing whom to help first almost impossible. But for those who were carried to Johnny Johnson’s human laundry, and able to tolerate the various food supplements now being offered, the changes could be rapid and remarkable. Three-quarters of the survivors were women and girls and most had been living in a desperate, exhausted and emaciated state for weeks now. The long and detailed equipment lists for 11 Light Field Ambulance never contained quantities of lipstick or face powder, but Peterkin and his commander Mervyn Gonin soon discovered that such things could be lifesavers, too.

A very large quantity of lipstick arrived. This was not at all what we men wanted, we were screaming for hundreds and thousands of other things and I don’t know who asked for lipstick. I wish so much that I could discover who did it, it was the action of genius, sheer unadulterated brilliance.

I believe nothing...

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