Letters from the Front

Description:Amongst the many documents relating to the work of the Stafford House Committee are books of letters and reports sent from V. B. Barrington-Kennett, Commissioner General of the Committee and various doctors despatched to the battlefields. In addition to providing an insight into the work which the Stafford House Committee funded, the letters are an invaluable resource for firsthand accounts of the Russo-Turkish War and the medical procedures used at this time.

What can the letters tell us about the work of the Stafford House Committee?

One letter written to the Committee dated 31st October 1877 states that ‘medical stores and blankets’ had been supplied and distributed throughout the hospitals, indicating that the funds raised by the Stafford House Committee appeal had been used effectively.

The report above written by a Dr. Bond states that Turkish military officers communicated to him that they were ‘very much obliged to England for sending out Doctors and medical stores’.