Soldiers in World War I were given a surprisingly wide range of drugs, from morphine for battlefield pain to bromide salts for shell shock, arsenic-based injections for syphilis, and a daily rum ration to endure trench life. Some were genuine medical treatments; others reflected how little was understood about addiction, toxicity, and mental health at the time.
Morphine for Battlefield Pain
Morphine was the primary painkiller on both sides of the conflict. Medics administered it by injection to soldiers with gunshot wounds, shrapnel injuries, and amputations. At base hospitals, a standard pre-surgical dose was about 1/6 grain (roughly 10 mg) of morphine given by intramuscular injection, often combined with scopolamine to enhance the sedative effect before general anesthesia.
The collapsible morphine syrette, a small squeezable tube topped with a needle that let wounded soldiers inject themselves before medics arrived, became closely associated with wartime medicine. While these devices saw their widest use in World War II, the concept originated in the earlier conflict. French military medicine eventually standardized a 10 mg subcutaneous morphine syrette in combat first-aid kits, and this approach shaped battlefield pain management for decades.
Addiction was a known but poorly managed risk. Soldiers who spent weeks or months recovering from severe wounds often received repeated morphine doses, and many returned home physically dependent.
Anesthetics in Field Hospitals
For surgery, doctors relied on chloroform, ether, ethyl chloride, and nitrous oxide mixed with oxygen. Chloroform and ether were typically administered using an open-drop mask method: a gauze-covered frame placed over the patient’s face, with the liquid anesthetic dripped onto the cloth so the soldier inhaled the vapor. More advanced anesthesia gas machines, like the Connell and Heidbrink models, allowed doctors to deliver controlled mixtures of nitrous oxide and oxygen, sometimes supplemented with ether. These machines were used by both American and French hospitals and represented a significant step forward from simply holding a soaked rag over a soldier’s mouth.
Antiseptics for Wound Infections
Infected wounds were one of the war’s biggest killers. The muddy, manure-rich soil of the Western Front meant that nearly every wound was contaminated with bacteria that caused gangrene and sepsis. English chemist Henry Dakin and French surgeon Alexis Carrel developed a dilute bleach solution, now called Dakin’s solution, specifically for this problem. It was essentially sodium hypochlorite buffered with boric acid or baking soda to reduce irritation.
The Carrel-Dakin treatment involved surgically cleaning a wound, then continuously irrigating it with this solution through rubber tubes inserted into the wound cavity. Gauze sponges soaked in the fluid were packed into deeper wounds and changed frequently, since the solution lost its germ-killing properties quickly after application. The technique saved countless limbs that would otherwise have been amputated.
Bromides and Sedatives for Shell Shock
Shell shock, the condition now recognized as a form of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury, was treated with a grab bag of chemical sedatives. Lewis Yealland, a prominent neurologist at Queen Square hospital in London, prescribed bromide salts to calm agitated soldiers. Bromides were the era’s go-to sedative, suppressing nervous system activity in a blunt, dose-dependent way that often left patients drowsy and foggy.
Yealland also prescribed mixtures of strychnine and belladonna (a toxic plant extract), along with aspirin and phenacetin for pain. Strychnine, now known primarily as a poison, was used in tiny doses as a stimulant for soldiers considered too lethargic or unresponsive. The logic was crude by modern standards: sedate the anxious, stimulate the withdrawn, and hope the nervous system reset itself. These chemical approaches were often combined with rest cures, electric shock therapy, or simply being ordered back to the front.
Treating Syphilis With Arsenic and Mercury
Venereal disease was rampant among troops on all sides. Syphilis alone incapacitated enormous numbers of soldiers, and the treatments available were nearly as harsh as the disease. Before the war, the standard approach was mercury, applied as ointments, taken as pills, or even inhaled as vapor. Mercury treatment was painful, toxic, and ultimately ineffective, though doctors at the time believed otherwise.
Salvarsan, introduced in 1910, was the first genuinely effective treatment. It was an arsenic-based compound, designated “compound 606” because it was the 606th chemical Paul Ehrlich’s lab tested against syphilis. Salvarsan worked, but it was difficult to handle and notorious for damaging veins during injection. Despite its toxicity, it rapidly replaced mercury as the preferred treatment and remained the standard until penicillin became available after World War II.
Treating Chemical Weapon Injuries
The war introduced chemical weapons on an industrial scale, and the medical responses were often improvised. When chlorine gas was identified as the agent in early attacks, soldiers were given cotton pads soaked in a thiosulfate solution to neutralize the gas. Once evacuated, chlorine and phosgene victims received oxygen and bed rest, with treatment focusing on preventing bronchial pneumonia. Heart stimulants were given in severe phosgene cases.
Mustard gas was far harder to treat. It burned skin, blinded eyes, and damaged lungs more severely than chlorine or phosgene. The protocol required washing affected skin with kerosene or gasoline, then scrubbing with strong soap and hot water, all within three minutes of exposure. Eyes were flushed as quickly as possible to reduce acute inflammation, which could still last several weeks. The lung damage mustard gas caused had no specific treatment. Doctors could only provide oxygen, rest, and supportive care, much as they did for other gas casualties.
Rum, Tobacco, and Daily Rations
Alcohol was issued as an official part of military life. British and Commonwealth soldiers received a daily rum ration of 2.5 fluid ounces (about 70 ml) of high-proof Navy rum. It was meant to be drunk in the presence of an officer to prevent hoarding or overindulgence. The ration served partly as a caloric supplement, partly as a cold-weather warmer, and partly as a morale tool. As one lieutenant wrote to his mother in April 1915, “I don’t believe half of the men could have existed without it all through the winter.”
Cigarettes were considered so essential that they were included in standard rations for American troops. They were believed to calm nervous tension in combat and relieve the claustrophobic tedium of trench life. Tobacco was treated as a quasi-medicinal substance, something that steadied the nerves and kept soldiers functional. Organizations back home ran cigarette drives to send more to the front, and the habit soldiers acquired in the trenches contributed to the massive rise in smoking rates across Europe and North America in the decades that followed.
Other ration-based remedies included lime juice to prevent scurvy and whale oil rubbed on the feet to protect against trench foot, the painful condition caused by standing for days in cold, waterlogged trenches.