Endurance, courage and care: the Kokoda campaign of Captain Alan Watson and the 2/4th Field Ambulance

Many of the modern principles of combat health support were displayed in the critical 1942 Kokoda campaign of the 2/4th Field Ambulance. The photographic collection and war diary of a member of this Field Ambulance, Captain Alan Watson, Dental Officer, AAMC, provides a unique illustrated view of the essential and difficult work of the 2/4th Field Ambulance. The 2/4th Field Ambulance functioned in a similar fashion to a current day ADF role two (enhanced) deployable hospital, providing initial wound surgery close to the battlefield whilst being mobile and capable of redeploying quickly to minimise evacuation times over the mountainous jungle terrain as the campaign progressed. In his Kokoda campaign, Captain Alan Watson demonstrated the vital importance of deploying a dentist to provide rapid and local care for soldiers' dental pain, dental disease, and mouth and jaw battlefield wounds. Dental pain, disease and injury not only reduce soldier performance and oral function, they lower morale. The versatility of deployed dental officers was illustrated when Captain Watson was multitasked into two additional essential roles while still performing his dental duties. In the absence of an anaesthetist for the general surgeon, Captain Watson was trained in the field to administer general anaesthesia for battle casualties, and performed 173 general anaesthetics for wounded soldiers, often under hurricane lamp and ankle deep in mud. Captain Watson also served as an aerial evacuation officer, and in one day alone arranged the aerial evacuation of approximately 400 casualties. Events of the campaign of the 2/4th Field Ambulance are described in relation to current day principles of combat health support. The valuable and timeless lesson from the Kokoda campaign of Captain Alan Watson is that immediate high quality oral care by ADF dental teams who are capable of providing battlefield wound care has always been essential for our deployed Australian soldiers.