Table 1.
Reported cold injuries in a variety of conflicts throughout history
| Circa 400 BC | Armenia (Xenophon) | ‘Cold’ cause of approximately 6,000 (60%) casualties |
|---|---|---|
| 218 BC |
Hannibal crossing the Alps |
19,000 (50%) survived from 38,000 |
| 1719 |
Swedish/Norwegian |
3,700 Swedish dead from a force of 5,000; 600 permanently crippled from frostbite |
| 1778 |
American War of Independence |
Up to 10% of casualties in some battles |
| 1812 |
Napoleonic/Russian campaign |
100,000 KIA; 200,000 DNBI (majority from cold injury and hypothermia); 12,000 men from the 12th Division all perished except for 350 |
| 1854–1856 |
Crimean War |
2,000 cold injured out of 50,000 |
| 1861–1865 |
American Civil War |
15,000 cold injury casualties |
| 1870–1871 |
Franco/Prussian |
1,450 CI |
| 1899–1902 |
Boer War |
‘Many with cold injuries’ |
| 1904–1905 |
Russo/Japanese |
‘Staggering numbers’ |
| 1912 |
Balkans |
‘Many cold casualties’ |
| 1914–1918 |
World War I |
British 115,361; French 79,000; Italians 38,000; Germans (number unknown) but had special hospitals dedicated to treating cold injuries (distinction between freezing and non-freezing injury, ‘Trench Foot’, was first made) |
| 1939–1945 |
World War II |
Western Europe: British 500; Americans 91,000 |
| Italian campaign, winter 1943–1944: British 102 cold injury casualties (ratio 1:45); | ||
| Americans 4,560 (ratio 1:4) | ||
| At sea, ‘Immersion Foot’ was first described | ||
| Russian Front: Germans massive casualties (special cold injury hospitals) | ||
| Attu (Aleutians): US Marines 1,200 in a 15-day period of conflict with a ratio of 1:1 with battle casualties |