Soldier was pioneer in medical services
Delving into his family history, reader Robin Fuller came across the fascinating life of George Fowler, his grandfather’s cousin...
Sgt Major George Fowler was a well respected soldier and a leading figure in the Maidstone Company, Volunteer Medical Staff Corps.
In 1899 he set up a business manufacturing his patent fruit-bottling apparatus in Knightrider Street, Maidstone. Then after leaving the army in 1903, he established George Fowler, Lee and Co Ltd at 78 Bank Street, Maidstone. The business prospered and in 1908 he mover it to more substantial premises in Reading.
George Fowler was born in 1855 in the village of Oadby, Leicestershire. Leaving school at 14 his employment choices were limited. He could have followed his father and become an agricul- tural labourer or like many families in Oadby sought work in the home manufacture of wool and cotton hosiery.
Instead George opted to go into service and became a groom and servant. In 1856 Florence Nightingale had returned from the Crimea intent on reforming medical services in the British Army. The Lady with the Lamp may have inspired George Fowler to play a part in the changes being made in military health. Shortly after his 18th birthday, he signed up for 12 years in the Leicestershire Regiment 17th Foot as part of the Army Hospital Corps.
At the new Army Medical School, the young George followed a rigorous timetable of medical instruction and mili- tary discipline. He learned how to dress injuries, prepare splints for fractured bones and administer medicines. He also read about providing first assistance to the wounded on the field of action, the transport of patients on stretchers, mule-chairs and ambulance wagons and the management of hospital wards and field hospitals.
George was promoted to Corporal in January 1876 and in October posted to India where the failure of the monsoon had brought famine with five and a half million dying of disease and starvation. After only three months, George was back in England, and now promoted to Sergeant proposed to Elizabeth Ann Lee, the daughter of a tailor from Stroud in Gloucestershire. But wedding arrangements were put on hold when he set sail for India again in September 1878.
The threat by Russia to take over Afghanistan prompted the Viceroy of India to declare war on Afghanistan in 1878. The long lines of communication over the mountainous Khyber Pass placed a heavy strain on medical services with its allocated transport being frequently diverted for military uses. Sgt George Fowler showed early initiative by designing a system of rubber slings to hold stretchers inside ambulance wagons and make the patients’ transport less arduous.
He was also interested in the experiments being carried out with new types of portable foods, especially soups and condensed milk. War casualties were relatively few, but there were large numbers of men affected by diseases, especially cholera and pneumonia.
On May 31, 1879, after the Afghans signed a peace treaty, George Fowler was happy to be home again and four days later, on June 3, he and Elizabeth were married.
In 1880, George was promoted to Staff Sergeant but heavy casualties in the Boer War meant that a year later, he set sail for South Africa to join a medical team at one of the hospitals. From a health aspect, the greatest danger came from drinking polluted water. This, together with inadequate toilet facilities, led to thou- sands being admitted to hospitals with typhoid, dysentery and diarrhoea.
George returned to England the following January and had six months at home before he was shipped out again - this time to Egypt where the British were protecting their interests in Suez.
On his return, George was posted to Fort Pitt Hospital in Chatham.
In 1887, the Volunteer Medical Officers Maidstone Corps was set up and George Fowler was appointed as the permanent instructor in Maidstone and promoted to Sergeant Major.
At last, George, his wife and two daughters were able to move into their home at Western Road in Maidstone.