‘He has stuck to the work in all weathers, sometimes having to scrape away snow to find the moss, and up to date has tramped 1,000 miles gathering, free of cost to the hospitals, moss valued at £75. Mr Durant is at work by the riverside with his specially-made rake, which is a useful implement when the moss is difficult to reach by hand.’ Western Times, 1916.
Such was the War’s insatiable demand for high explosives and army uniforms, cotton was already in very short supply by the closing weeks of 1914. Not only that, but doctors on the frontlines were reporting many cases of sepsis, blood poisoning from infected wounds. The resulting trails of viable alternatives included bandages soaked in formaldehyde and carbolic acid. The answer eventually came in the form of sphagnum, a moss that grows prevalently throughout the damp, peaty regions of Scotland, Ireland and Dartmoor.
Not only does sphagnum moss harbour impressive absorbent qualities (two ounces of dried moss can hold two pounds of liquid) but it is also had antiseptic properties, releasing its own iodine and keeping wounds deodorised and sterile. Soon, large local parties were out on the moor, gathering sackfuls of the precious plant to be sorted, dried and packed into bandages. There were sorting stations across Devon, including Mary Tavy and Princetown. A memorial shell casing still stands in Widecombe, a thank you gift to the people of the village from the National War Savings Committee.
John Durant was one of hundreds of men, women and children who managed to gather enough moss to send over a million dressings per month from Britain to the front lines throughout Europe and Africa.
References
Boissoneault, L., 2017. How Humble Moss Healed the Wounds of Thousands in World War 1. [online] Available from: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-humble-moss-helped-heal-wounds-thousands-WWI-180963081/ [Accessed on 25/04/2018]
Western Times, 1916. He has tramped over 1,000 miles of moorland, ‘doing his bit’. Friday 14th July. Available from: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000265/19160714/056/0007 [Accessed on 25/04/2018]
Images
1918. Collecting Curative Moss – Exmouth. Daily Mail. 10th December. P.16 A. Available from: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19181210/143/0016 [Accessed on 25/04/2018]
Western Times, 1916. He has tramped over 1,000 miles of moorland, ‘doing his bit’. Friday 14th July. Available from: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000265/19160714/056/0007 [Accessed on 25/04/2018]
