The Lifesavers

Join Roderick Bailey as he uncovers the little-known story of the medics at the forefront of groundbreaking battlefield care during the Second World War.

The Lifesavers were a group of medical professionals who revolutionised battlefield care through the pioneering use of blood transfusion. Working in expert teams – officially the smallest units in the British Army – these men and women risked their own lives to reach the wounded and sick.

Pulling and pushing blood from hundreds of thousands of donors into the veins of battle casualties all over the world, their cutting-edge methods transformed survival rates on the front lines and continue to influence civilian medicine today.

In this talk, historian Roderick Bailey follows the trailblazing work of the Lifesavers from Dunkirk to the Burmese jungle. Unearthed from rigorous research, he tells the full story of one of the most important medical innovations of the Second World War.

About the speaker

Roderick Bailey is a historian at the University of Oxford, where he specialises in the history of medicine and the study of war and conflict. His previous books include the 'Sunday Times' bestseller 'Forgotten Voices of the Secret War' and, as an official SOE historian appointed by the prime minister, 'Target: Italy – The Secret War Against Mussolini'.