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Cou 12
LIBRARY
THE HEALTH REPORT OF COULSDON AND PURLEY
FOR 1944.
INTERIM REPORT.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In accordance with the instructions-of the Ministry
Health I have prepared an interim report on the state of the
Public Health in this District during 1944, which I beg to
present to you.
This is my 13th Annual Report as your Medical
Officer of Health and it is hoped that this will be the last of
a series of 5 such abbreviated reports as also that it will be
permissible and practicable, either to prepare the 1945 Report
as a summary of conditions during the war years, or for such a
summary to be published in addition to the 1945 Report.
The matter required for a comprehensive report of this nature
has been prepared and preserved year by year.
Looking back, the year 1944 will stand out from the
other war years on account of the nature of the enemy attack
following the invasion of the Continent. It is well known
that there were two phases, the first from 15th June to 31st
October, was marked by the use of "Flying Bombs" which chiefly
affected the south-eastern Counties south of the Thames; the
second, in which rockets predominated, was more severe northeast
of the capital. During the first phase at least 70 Flying
Bombs fell in, or on the boundary of, this District, damaging
the vast majority of houses. Occasional night bombing raids
had occurred in the first half of the year, one particularly
heavy one being on 25th March while the rockets, one of which
fell in the District on the 17th September, frequently sounded
unpleasantly close, but it was the Flying-bomb period which
caused locally the greatest upheaval of the war period.
Unofficial evacuation, in a similar mariner to the ??? in 1939
and 1940, commenced soon after these bombs started to arrive,
followed, however, this time by the official evacuation of
mothers and children from mid-July onwards. By contrast troops
and large numbers of workmen wore drafted into the District to
deal with the bomb damage. With the overrunning of the French
and Belgian coasts the unofficial return of evacuees commenced,
but their official return was delayed until 1945.
This social upheaval might have been expected to
have an adverse effect upon the public health of the District,
but fortunately there is but little statistical evidence of
this. It "appeared to some that the 1944 attacks had a more
profound effect on the nervous system than earlier attacks, as
might be expected after 5 years of War, but the effects of the
prolonged strain have greatly diminished since, and are, in
any case incapable of statistical presentation.
The following are the essential facts which can be
presented relating to the health of the District in 1944.
Infectious disease was at a lower level than in either of the
preceding war years. The Infant Mortality Rate was the lowest
for the last 10 years and the Birth Rate remained high, though
slightly less than in 1943. While it is true that the crude