The Harvey-Fletcher Medal and Prize

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The Harvey-Fletcher Medal and Prize J Royal Naval Medical Service 2012, Vol 98.2 39 Dental Branch History The Harvey-Fletcher Medal and Prize Grant E J Introduction to the Medical Director General. The first book covering the history of the Royal Naval Harvey’s ‘memorial’ to the MDG, which he entitled The Dental Service (RNDS) from its inception in 1905 to 1964 Blue Jackets’ Teeth (3), was based on research that he had was published in 1995 to coincide with the celebration of the undertaken while he had been serving in the Royal Naval Branch’s 75th Anniversary (1). Barracks at Sheerness. He carried out dental examinations A follow-up volume covering the years 1964 to 1995 has on 1,022 sailors over the age of twenty, who had originally just been published (2) and the text of this article, covering joined the Navy as Boy Seamen. He found that more than the history of the Harvey- Fletcher medal and prize, borrows one seventh of the total number of teeth had been extracted unashamedly from both volumes of these histories. or had decayed and from this concluded that “every seventh Acknowledgment is made that the References annotated man in the Navy is toothless”; a number he considered in the first two sections of this article derive from the strikingly large. meticulous research carried out by the late Surgeon Harvey believed that there were three main causes for Commander (D) Nick Daws for the 1995 publication. this dental disease: first, a want of cleanliness; second, a lack of employment for the teeth (the sailors’ diet had got softer Staff Surgeon Christopher Harvey by the 1880s); and third, insufficient professional attention The Harvey-Fletcher medal, the most prestigious to the teeth. award in the gift of the Director Naval Dental Services, For the first two of these, Harvey recommended that commemorates the two founding fathers of the RNDS. “a toothbrush, or better still a pointed stick of soft wood, The first of these was Staff Surgeon Christopher Harvey. be used by friction up and down, after the manner of the Harvey, a far-sighted naval doctor, was concerned about the natives of India” and that soft food be avoided. To rectify poor dental health of the sailors in the Fleet, a matter which the third cause, Harvey stressed at great length, the need he brought to the attention of the Medical Director General for professional dentists to be employed by the Royal Navy of the day. He had assumed that the dental treatment of and he urged that: “at the large Home Hospitals of Haslar, sailors was being carried out by medical officers and he was Plymouth and Chatham, skilled dentists be permanently appalled to discover that it was not. He wrote: attached, whose sole duty should be to attend to the teeth of the men”. “It is unquestionable that formerly, medical officers It was, sadly, to be another fifteen years with further themselves had a great tendency to neglect the teeth of the men pressure from other authorities, including the British under their charge and to relegate the duties of extraction to Dental Association, before the Admiralty finally and formally the sick berth stewards, men who too frequently abused such accepted that there was a need for dental surgeons to care improper powers”. for the personnel of the Royal Navy. Yet, even then it was to be 1905 before the first appointments were made and Harvey had been serving in HMS Warrior in 1870, when the the following advertisement appeared in the British Dental sick berth steward had proudly presented him with two large Journal: Lazenby’s Pickle bottles, one full, the other, two thirds full “The services of three DENTAL SURGEONS are of teeth that he had extracted over a period of ten months, required for duty with the Naval forces in the United Kingdom without the knowledge of the ship’s medical officer. from April next. They will be required to devote their whole The thought of the pain and suffering associated with time to their duties, and they will receive an inclusive salary these extractions had such a profound effect on Harvey that of £1 per diem, and, when necessary, travelling expenses. he decided to investigate the true extent of dental problems The period of engagement will be for one year, and under in the Navy. conditions specified in the contract. The necessary dental The vagaries of service appointments prevented him appliances will be provided. The Dental Surgeons will be from carrying out his research until 1880. For the same stationed at Portsmouth, Plymouth and Chatham, but will reason, it was not until 1886, by which time he was stationed be required to give attendance elsewhere as directed by the at the RN Hospital Yokohama, that he presented his findings Naval Commander-in-Chief. Application, by letter, should 40 General be addressed to the Director General, Medical Department were given commissions in the RNVR, while the existing of the Navy, 18 Victoria Street, London S.W., not later than dental surgeons, to their embarrassment, retained civilian MARCH 7TH, and should be accompanied by evidence status. Jellicoe acted promptly, with the result that dental of age and qualifications, and by not more than two recent surgeons serving at sea were granted commissions in the testimonials.” (4) temporary rank of Dental Surgeon RNVR. Those, however, Despite this slow start, the Admiralty continued to drag who did the same work ashore continued as civilian dental its heels on the matter of ‘in Service’ provision of dental surgeons and, not unreasonably, felt that they too should be care and by 1910, the number of civilian dental surgeons granted commissions (8). employed within the Royal Navy numbered only twelve (5): Fletcher considered resigning over the issue of commissions, but eventually decided that he could best Royal Naval Hospital Haslar 1 serve the Navy and influence the outcome by remaining in Royal Naval Barracks Portsmouth 2 Devonport. Royal Naval Barracks Chatham 2 The Admiralty became aware that public ridicule, or Training Establishment Shotley 2 worse, scorn, might be directed at the non-uniformed HMS Impregnable (& Plymouth Hospital) 1 dental surgeons and attempted to protect them from it, Royal Naval Barracks Devonport 2 rather bizarrely, by not providing uniforms and issuing each Royal Marines Depot Deal 1 man with a card indicating that the bearer was engaged in Chatham Hospital 1 essential war work! Representations on this issue continued to be made, Edward Ernest Fletcher not only by the civilian dental surgeons, but by the BDA and It was at this time that one Edward E Fletcher applied even in the House of Commons, but to no avail (9). for one of the above positions and, after undergoing the By the time of the Armistice, there were 84 uniformed selection process, was appointed to the Royal Naval Barracks dental officers serving at sea, but together with their civilian Devonport as one of two dental surgeons, working on the colleagues, these were far from the numbers required top floor of the Sick Quarters – the other being W Grant to provide an effective dental service to the hundreds of Oliver LDS. thousands of naval personnel. Indeed, so poor was the By 1914, the conditions of service, under which the dental health of the Fleet that the busiest members of the civilian dental surgeons were employed, which had been dental teams were the dental mechanics making dentures questioned by the BDA in 1905, were giving rise to such to replace the sailors’ teeth as fast as the dental officers dissatisfaction that they petitioned the Admiralty for could extract them! Towards the end of the war, the dental improvements to be made (6). mechanics were granted the rate of Chief Petty Officer. Fletcher showed early tendencies of becoming the Fletcher and others continued to agitate on the issue spokesman for and champion of naval dentistry and the of commissions and, finally, in February 1918, the civilian outbreak of war later that year did lead to some changes, dental surgeons were given temporary RNVR commissions, some of which were to lead to further discontent. backdated to March 1915 (10). The large increase in the number of personnel in the Until 1918, uniformed dentists wore identical uniforms Royal Navy, caused by the mobilisation of the Royal Naval to their medical colleagues, with the same scarlet distinction Reserve, the Royal Fleet Reserve and the Royal Naval cloth. It was then decided, with the King’s approval, that the Volunteer Reserve at the beginning of the First World War, RNVR dental surgeons should wear orange distinction cloth. led to an increased demand for dental treatment which Fletcher took credit for the choice of colour. Later in 1918, clearly could not be handled by the (then) twenty-nine the uniform and rank of ‘non-executive’ officers was changed civilian dental surgeons employed by the Admiralty. to bring them more into line with executive officers. The This situation led to the appointment of a number of ‘Executive Curl’ was adopted on the gold lace of the rank dental surgeons, both to hospital ships and to ships in the insignia and the Temporary Dental Surgeons RNVR became Grand Fleet (7). Temporary Surgeon Lieutenants (D) RNVR (11). The initial appointments at sea were given to newly The role played by naval dental surgeons during the War, entered civilian dental surgeons with no previous naval did not go unnoticed. Several, including Edward Fletcher, experience or training, leading to some resentment among were awarded the OBE. the previously employed civilian dentists. This situation The need for dental treatment of naval personnel was was unintentionally made worse by the action of the now recognised and accepted and the status of dental Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, Admiral of the officers had become established.
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