A surgeon in khaki

A surgeon in khaki by Arthur Anderson Martin is a wartime memoir written in the early 20th century. It follows a New Zealand surgeon serving with the British Expeditionary Force in 1914, moving from embarkation and base work to front-line medical duty during the retreat and counteroffensive on the Western Front. Expect vivid scenes of logistics, field ambulances, and combat at the Marne and toward the Aisne, along with frank critiques of military medical organization.

The opening of the memoir sets out the author’s aim to record personal scenes from 1914, then traces his pre-war clinic tour, the tense days at Aberdeen as war breaks, and his swift commissioning in the Royal Army Medical Corps with sharp comments on rank and readiness. He works at Aldershot examining recruits before shipping to Le Havre, where he experiences an ecstatic French welcome, a makeshift defense at Harfleur against a rumored German raid, spy scares, and then Kitchener’s evacuation of the base. Embarkation chaos, mistreated horses, and poor sanitation mark the hurried change of base to St. Nazaire; from there he is sent by rail via Le Mans and Angers (greeted by cheering crowds) toward the front. Near Coulommiers he joins a field ambulance, treats exhausted Prussian Guard prisoners, and watches the Battle of the Marne unfold across the river—Generals dashing by, batteries dueling, an aeroplane braving shell bursts—before the force crosses the Marne. That night his unit pitches an operating tent, dresses scores of wounded by lamplight, and sends them to railhead at dawn. The section closes with the march toward the Aisne, the road littered with abandoned gear and the dead, described in spare, compassionate detail.