The life and works of Sir Archibald Garrod / [C.J.R Hart].

  • Hart, C. J. R. (Cyril James Roy)
Date:
1949
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The life and works of Sir Archibald Garrod / [C.J.R Hart]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/16 (page 186)
    THE LIFE AND WORKS OF SIR ARCHIBALD GARROD Part II By C. J. R. Hart WAR AND POST-WAR War found him with an established reputa¬ tion and a grown-up family. He was gazetted to the 1st London General Hospital (T.F.) at Camberwell, and so spent the first part of the conflict in England. Of his three sons, the eldest, Alfred Noel, had just qualified at Bart.’s and became a houseman there. Basil, the youngest, entered Sandhurst on leaving Marlborough. The second son, Thomas, was commissioned in the 6th Batt. London Regt. Dr. Garrod’s daughter was then still at school. So for the time being, all but one were safe. They were not granted many months immunity. The first blow fell on May 10th, 1915, when 2/Lieut. T. A. Garrod was killed in action in France. To the family’s deep bereavement was added anxiety for the remaining members. Dr. Alfred Garrod was commissioned in the R.A.M.C. that July. He went to France later in the year, just before his brother passed out at Sandhurst. Meanwhile, Dr. Archibald Garrod began to concern himself with cases of typhoid and paratyphoid, then rampant in the East among uninoculated troops, some of whom were brought back to England for treatment. Osier comes into the picture once again, for he arranged an important series of meetings at the Royal Society of Medicine to discuss all aspects of ‘ P.U.O.”—pyrexia of unknown origin, then so readily diagnosed to cover such diseases as trench fever, infective hepatitis, and paratyphoid fever. He notes: “21st Oct. I saw Garrod today. Failing Dawson I will open but D. is the man and he should be asked. It is a most urgent problem. I will ask tomorrow at the Army Med. College for any man who knows Para- Typ.” Garrod’s activity in this field resulted in his promotion to Acting Colonel, A.M.S., and appointment as a consulting physician to the Mediterranean Forces. He was based on Malta, where he saw patients evacuated from Gallipoli and later from Salonika. “ This,” said Dr. Graham, “ called forth all his great powers, for he had to treat patients suffering from tropical diseases which he had never seen previously, but his powers of observation and research enabled him to cope success¬ fully with these problems, and to give valuable service.” He formed a close friendship with the archaeologist Professor Zammit, who was then curator of the Valetta Museum, and who was excavating the Neolithic temples of the island. Whenever he could spare the time he accompanied Zammit on these expeditions, and became very knowledgeable on Maltese pre-history. Some such occupation was very necessary for him, to take his mind off the tragedy which war had brought to his family. In January, 1916, his eldest son, the only one to follow his father into the profession, was killed in action at Givenchy, near Bethune, when a shell exploded while he was working with an ambulance. He had been in France only two months. At this period of adversity Garrod concen¬ trated on his clinical work as never before. His object was not to seek recognition— rather the reverse; nevertheless official notice was taken of his efforts. In 1916 he was mentioned in despatches and created C.M.G. Two years later he was appointed a Knight Commander of this Order, for his devoted service. He was made an hon. M.D. of Malta University in 1916, and during his stay on the island he was closely associated with the staff there. His researches with Zammit, together with his unusual knowledge of history and geography, were drawn upon in a charming lecture on Islands delivered at the University in January, 1919, and afterwards published. In the fine peroration he pro¬ phesied the destiny of Malta with remarkable insight: — “The agency which promises to be most destructive to insular seclusion is only emerging from its infancy. Malta has been a halting-place for flocks of migrant birds, northward and southward bound ; so we may expect that in the future it will become a place of call for squadrons of aircraft making the same traverse. But even when the sea¬ girt fortress shall no longer afford protection, nor insular retreat seclusion, there will remain the fascination of the far-spread sea, the island’s beauty and the island’s charm.” A month afterwards, fate dealt its final blow. His last remaining son, who had sur¬ vived three years of war, was carried off in the great influenza pandemic which scoured