Compared with the two world wars, military casualties before 1914 were comparatively light. The Battle of Waterloo, the greatest British military victory of the nineteenth century, saw between 3,000 and 3,500 British deaths. In comparison, 20,000 men were killed on a single day in July 1916. The greatest losses by the British Army were during the Boer War (1899-1902) where 50,000 soldiers died, mainly from Enteric Fever (Dysentery). However, most servicemen died from natural causes, perhaps exacerbated by the poor conditions they lived in.

This talk will discuss how and why men died while in the Army, the increasingly competent care that was available in battle or in the barracks, and the attempts made to commemorate fallen comrades. Naturally, we will be looking at the records that are available online; at The National Archives; at the National Army Museum and regimental museums.  

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