{"id":29134,"date":"2025-06-06T00:17:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T00:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=29134"},"modified":"2025-06-06T03:25:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T03:25:33","slug":"handwritten-notes-reveal-churchills-penicillin-concern-ahead-of-d-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=29134","title":{"rendered":"Handwritten notes reveal Churchill&#8217;s penicillin concern ahead of D-Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-component=\"byline-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new\" class=\"sc-801dd632-0 eSlECZ\">\n<div class=\"sc-801dd632-1 eeJXtz\">3 hours ago<\/p>\n<p><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-42d8a745-2 sc-42d8a745-5 sc-42d8a745-6 bHDbVj ffpPdD htCKMu\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-42d8a745-0 jNAQSQ\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-42d8a745-1 cwJkjb\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-42d8a745-2 sc-42d8a745-5 sc-42d8a745-6 bcpeIB fxnHdQ fYsCgf\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-42d8a745-0 jNAQSQ\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-42d8a745-1 cwJkjb\">Save<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new-contributors\" class=\"sc-801dd632-12 jSIeFi\">\n<div class=\"sc-801dd632-5 kRoBHa\">\n<div><span class=\"sc-801dd632-7 lasLGY\">Hugh Pym, Health Editor<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-42d8a745-2 sc-42d8a745-5 sc-42d8a745-6 bHDbVj ffpPdD htCKMu\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-42d8a745-0 jNAQSQ\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-42d8a745-1 cwJkjb\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-42d8a745-2 sc-42d8a745-5 sc-42d8a745-6 bcpeIB fxnHdQ fYsCgf\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-42d8a745-0 jNAQSQ\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-42d8a745-1 cwJkjb\">Save<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 gyQxwn\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-d1200759-1 kycbVO\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/4317ebf0-4230-11f0-b6e6-4ddb91039da1.jpg.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Getty Images A black-and-white photo of Winston Churchill as British wartime prime minister 1941\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\" \/><span class=\"sc-d1200759-2 gwFzuU\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Winston Churchill&#8217;s push to obtain penicillin in time to treat casualties expected from D-Day has come to light in documents seen by BBC News.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Official papers unearthed by the National Archives reveal the prime minister&#8217;s frustration and concern over slow progress securing supplies of what was then seen to be a brand new &#8220;wonder drug&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">The BBC was shown the papers ahead of the anniversary of the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Even months after D-Day, the wartime prime minister called efforts &#8220;very disappointing&#8221; and bemoaned the fact the US was &#8220;so far ahead&#8221; despite the drug being a &#8220;British discovery&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 hoQmHM\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-d1200759-1 kycbVO\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/grey-placeholder-3.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8915\/live\/cde6e510-4230-11f0-835b-310c7b938e84.png.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Churchill&#039;s disgruntled typed note to the minister of production about the UK&#039;s lack of penicillin compared to the US\n\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Penicillin was discovered in London by Professor Alexander Fleming in 1928. Despite attempts to produce a usable medicine from the bacteria-killing mould, this had not been achieved by the start of World War Two. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">But an Oxford team of scientists, led by Howard Florey, carried out the first successful trials. With large-scale production difficult in the UK, they took their research to the United States, where drug companies expanded output.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Before the development of penicillin, blood poisoning could follow even minor wounds with no cure available. So with the anticipation of the huge military effort ahead, supplies of the drug were seen as essential.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 hoQmHM\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-d1200759-1 kycbVO\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/grey-placeholder-3.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/8550b340-422f-11f0-835b-310c7b938e84.png.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Early in 1944, the prime minister was complaining to his ministers about Britain&#8217;s inability to produce it at scale. He scrawled in red ink on a Ministry of Supply report that said the Americans were producing greater quantities: &#8220;I am sorry we can&#8217;t produce more&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Later in the year, in response to explanations from officials, he said: &#8220;Your report on penicillin showing that we are only to get about one-tenth of the expected output this year, is very disappointing.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">On another report, he instructs: &#8220;Let me have proposals for a more abundant supply from Great Britain&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dFZIgd\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-d1200759-1 kycbVO\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/grey-placeholder-3.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/971f6320-4232-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.png.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Less than a fortnight before D-Day, health officials could report that sufficient supplies had been obtained, most from the US, but only for battle casualties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">Dr Jessamy Carlson, modern records specialist at The National Archives, said: &#8220;The files give a glimpse into the extraordinary levels of preparation undertaken in advance of the D-Day landings. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">&#8220;Only six weeks before, penicillin is just reaching our shores in quantities which will allow it to play a major role in improving the outcomes for service personnel wounded in action.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">But what&#8217;s now seen as the first true antibiotic would not be fully available to the general public till 1946. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">A telegram in the same files shows a doctor from Cornwall, who was treating a 10-year-old child in 1944, pleading with the authorities for the medicine: &#8220;No hope without penicillin&#8221;. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 hoQmHM\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-d1200759-1 kycbVO\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/grey-placeholder-3.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8543\/live\/ab5a06c0-4231-11f0-b6e6-4ddb91039da1.png.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"A telegram from a Cornwall infirmary to Sir Francis Fraser, head of Emergency Medical Services, asking for penicillin for a 10-year-old child suffering from pneumococcal peritonitis, stating there was \u201cno hope\u201d without the drug.\n\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">The plea was rejected, with supplies said to be only available for military use.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 hoQmHM\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-d1200759-1 kycbVO\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/grey-placeholder-3.png\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dkIvM hide-when-no-script\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/f80b3480-4231-11f0-b6e6-4ddb91039da1.png.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dEGcKf\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 hxuGS\">With antibiotics now part of everyday life (and arguably too widely used), the documents seen by the BBC shed new light on the urgent efforts by Churchill and others to secure enough of one such drug for the first time to save lives during the struggle to liberate northern Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"links-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dHQIrb\">\n<div class=\"sc-666b6d83-0 sc-c4fb5674-0 gMiqnK iuHqSH\"><span data-testid=\"links-title\" class=\"sc-c4fb5674-2 jdmgui\">More on this story<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>3 hours agoShareSaveHugh Pym, Health EditorShareSaveGetty ImagesWinston Churchill&#8217;s push to obtain penicillin in time to treat casualties expected from D-Day has come to light in documents seen by BBC News.Official papers unearthed by the National Archives reveal the prime minister&#8217;s frustration and concern over slow progress securing supplies of what was then seen to be a brand new &#8220;wonder drug&#8221;.The BBC was shown the papers ahead of the anniversary of the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944.Even months after D-Day, the wartime prime minister called efforts &#8220;very disappointing&#8221; and bemoaned the fact the US was &#8220;so far ahead&#8221; despite the drug being a &#8220;British discovery&#8221;.Penicillin was discovered in London by Professor Alexander Fleming in 1928. Despite attempts to produce a usable medicine from the bacteria-killing mould, this had not been achieved by the start of World War Two. But an Oxford team of scientists, led by Howard Florey, carried out the first successful trials. With large-scale production difficult in the UK, they took their research to the United States, where drug companies expanded output.Before the development of penicillin, blood poisoning could follow even minor wounds with no cure available. So with the anticipation of the huge military effort ahead, supplies of the drug were seen as essential.Early in 1944, the prime minister was complaining to his ministers about Britain&#8217;s inability to produce it at scale. He scrawled in red ink on a Ministry of Supply report that said the Americans were producing greater quantities: &#8220;I am sorry we can&#8217;t produce more&#8221;.Later in the year, in response to explanations from officials, he said: &#8220;Your report on penicillin showing that we are only to get about one-tenth of the expected output this year, is very disappointing.&#8221; On another report, he instructs: &#8220;Let me have proposals for a more abundant supply from Great Britain&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28720,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29134"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29141,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29134\/revisions\/29141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}