Our ‘bog moss’ saved so many lives…

joe-margetts-searching-for-sphagnum

One of the ‘heroes’ of World War One was from our own moorlands, as Izzy Bunting reports.

A CENTURY after the end of World War One,  we remember all those who fought, and the many who made the ultimate sacrifice. But one unlikely hero is often overlooked – sphagnum moss.

Soon after the war had begun in 1914, and casualties mounted, doctors realised they didn’t have enough resources to treat the wounded. Bandages and cotton wool dressings were becoming limited and expensive, with cotton being needed for army uniforms and even explosives. There was also a huge risk of infection – it would be at least another decade before penicillin was discovered, and the antiseptic acids in use at the time were often unreliable…