MUSEUM BLOG
Explore our blog to learn about pieces from Canada’s largest collection of medical artifacts, discover the lesser-known history of health care, or hear about all of the exciting developments at the Canadian Museum of Health Care.
A Fighting Chance: Disease, Public Health, and the Military, Part 3
From a medical point of view the two military campaigns to capture the Dutch island of Walcheren – the first in 1809, the second in 1944 – could not have been more different. The 1809 British expedition was ravaged by disease, a lethal combination of malaria, typhus, typhoid fever, and dysentery that infected over 60% of the force, killed over 4,000 soldiers, and left tens of thousands as casualties.