Selecting the records of blood donors, Army Blood Supply Depot, Southmead Hospital, Southmead Road, Bristol
At this time the Army Blood Transfusion Service at Bristol held the names and details of 66,000 blood donors. The organising secretary, Mr. R. J. G. McCrudden is shown selecting donors whose blood will be used for the preparation of dried plasma or serum. The dried preparation will be sent abroad for the testing and enrolling of blood donors in tropical countries. The Army Blood Supply Depot, based at Southmead Hospital, was established in 1938 and began collecting blood from local donors in summer 1939. During the campaign in France in 1940, the Army Blood Supply Depot provided nearly all the blood and plasma required. Donated blood could be exchanged between the civilian and military blood depots, but the two services drew blood from separate pools of donors. Britain’s blood depot, established during World War One, and its fully functioning transfusion service pre-war meant that the transfusion service of the British army was well-organised compared to other armed forces.
Location
Bristol BristolPeriod
World War Two (1939 - 1945)Themes
