New York-tidewater chapters' history of military medicine award: The military odyssey of Norman Bethune

Military Medicine, Apr 1999 by Alexander, C Alex

Bethune in Spain

Bethune was eager to get away from Canada. On October 29, 1936, Bethune left for Spain with a large quantity of donated medical supplies.5 The Spanish forces opposing General Franco's troops promptly recognized Bethune's skills as a surgeon and gave him the rank of Major.6 He visited several ill-equipped army hospitals and decided to establish a blood-transfusion service to minimize battle casualties by transporting blood to the battlefront. By making quick trips to Paris and London, Bethune procured the needed equipment and established a mobile military blood bank unit, which he commanded. Besides Bethune, there were 10 in the group: 6 Spaniards, 3 Canadians, and 1 American. Bethune also cleverly developed a volunteers list for blood donors, which grew to more than 1,000 by the end of 1936.6 About 8 donors were bled daily at 500 ml per donor. The bottles were labeled, frozen, and transported to the battlefront almost daily in motorized vehicles.

Bethune soon established two additional centers, both much larger than the first, with a combined staff strength of 100. The number of volunteer blood donors grew to nearly 4,000. Five motorized vehicles regularly served the combat areas and delivered, on average, 100 liters of blood per month. It was reported that in 1 year Bethune's teams had transfused 1,900 soldiers. Many transfusions were given by Bethune himself, because he loved the excitement of combat. Bethune's professional and organizational skills were highly regarded. But his immoderate drinking habits and his flirtatious behavior with women came under heavy criticism. Finally, his Spanish hosts decided to take control of Bethune's transfusion units. Bethune rebelled, and during an angry exchange of words a ranking Spanish military officer declared him persona non grata and seized control of Bethune's staff.7 In May 1937, Bethune was sent back to Canada. But he continued to support the Canadian Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy by raising funds for the Spanish freedom fighters.2 Although the Spanish military forces acknowledged Bethune's stellar contribution in developing the world's first mobile military blood bank, his forced exit from Spain disappointed him deeply.1

Bethune in China

In October 1937, Bethune heard about the combined project of the New York-based China Aid Council and Madame Sun Yat-sen's China Defense League seeking medical volunteers to aid the Kuomintang soldiers and Mao Tse-tung's guerillas, who were jointly fighting the Japanese invaders in northern China.' Bethune visited the China Aid Council's office in New York during December and volunteered his services. In January 1938, he departed Vancouver by ship accompanied by Jean Ewen, a nurse, and a large consignment of medical equipment and supplies.8 In a farewell letter to his former wife Frances, he said, "Spain is a scar on my heart.... Spain and China are part of the same battle. I am going to China because I feel that is where the need is greatest; that is where I can be most useful."' He and Ewen disembarked in Hong Kong on January 20 and reached Hankow by air 3 days later. Bethune's destination was the headquarters of the 8th Route Army in Yenan. En route, he and Ewen remained incommunicado with the outside world to elude the Japanese. This resulted in a false press report that he had been killed by the Japanese. On his way, he had a meeting with Zhou Enlai in Wuhan. Zhou advised Bethune to rest and become acclimated to rural China before going to the battlefront. Bethune disregarded this advice and proceeded to his destination. A fellow Canadian missionary physician (Richard Brown) from Hankow joined Bethune and Ewen.2 After nearly 10 weeks of harsh travel over a distance of more than 1,000 miles, Bethune's group reached Yenan on March 31. Although most of their medical equipment and supplies had been destroyed in transit, Bethune and his travel mates treated the wounded and the sick during their entire journey.9