New exhibition highlights the role of medicine in wartime

The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa today unveiled its new exhibition – War & Medicine, in collaboration with the Wellcome Collection in London, England and the Deutsches Hygiene Museum in Dresden, Germany.

The exhibition – which has been adapted for a North American audience, contains 300 artifacts, which is the most the Canadian War Museum has ever displayed in one show.

From black and white photographs of legless Crimean War soldiers to the physical and mental injuries suffered by Canadian combat troops in Afghanistan, the exhibition takes viewers on an emotional roller coaster. Expect to see a vast array of surgical instruments, diagnostic equipment, prosthetics and even leeches.

Videotaped interviews with medical personnel and a soldier's diary remind viewers of the terrible emotional toll that combat takes on individuals.

The Canadian War Museum is the only North American stop for this exhibition. It continues until November 13.