Routines ashore 1 - "We had quite a big medical staff" Lowestoft, 1940

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Paul Houghton at LowestofPaul Houghton

Service: 1939 - 1946

Rate: Surgeon Lieutenant Commander

Paul joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) as a Surgeon in 1938. He was called up on the outbreak of war and trained at Royal Naval Hospital Haslar. He was sent to Lowestoft in January 1940 before joining HMS Zulu in 1941 on which he took part in Atlantic convoys. His next ship was the Battleship HMS Nelson, primarily based in the Mediterranean where he was involved in the invasions of North Africa, Sicily and Italy before returning to Bristol and finally the Royal Naval Hospital in Liverpool.

Find out what were the common conditions the medical staff dealt with at Lowestoft in 1940.

 

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Extract Text (Duration 0.42)

We had quite a big medical staff, there was a very nice Irish regular, Surgeon Commander, and a... we were really very busy as general... as doctors. Hmmm, every man who came through had to be examined, if he left a ship he had to be examined for lice, that was an awful thing. They shared duffle coats and the duffle coats were infested with lice and everybody got them, and they had to be treated and shaved off. And scabies was very common, and one was always on the lookout for tuberculosis.

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