Rare photograph of a WW1 Thresh Disinfector…
Jim Rees recently came across a postcard on e-bay depicting a group of soldiers stationed in France and in the background a Thresh Disinfector of very similar appearance to that in the collection at Beamish. The postcard has been purchased and the front and rear have been scanned, as shown in the gallery below. Also shown are some images relating to the trade origins of the Disinfector as well as the Beamish example both before and after restoration. Beamish came by the Disinfector by a rather circuitous route, and I have added more information and a reasonably comprehensive history into the stocklist pages on this blog – click on the drop down box and look under ‘Horse Drawn’ for information relating to this vehicle…
Paul,
Puzzled at to what a Thresh Disinfector is, or was, I googled the term and discovered an interesting item on “Elements of field hygiene and sanitation” – now I know! Apparebtly they were used to get rid of the lice and other vermin that pervaded the clothing of the troops in WW1. Makes you think that the old days were not so good!
But why are they called “THRESH” disinfectors?
Interesting, maybe next time the Durham Pals are at Beamish you could recreate the photo!
Would it be possible for me to use this rare photo of the Thresh Disinfector for an article in the Lancet Infectious Diseases on trench fever in World war I?
Please email me, thanks
Dr Anstead, I just returned from a trip to Pakistan where I actually saw one of these devices in an old British army ordnance site in Quetta Cantonment. It was in a good state and is part of a recently inaugurated army museum. I can send you pics if you like.
That sounds very interesting – I would be very interested to see any photos – you can send them in via museum@beamish.org.uk marked for the attention of Paul Jarman.
Best wishes, Paul
Eric Colling – it was the inventor’s name – John Clough Thresh
The Thresh steam disinfector was developed in the late 1800s by physician John C. Thresh, a lecturer of public health at the London Hospital Medical School, and consisted of two steam chambers arranged to allow contaminated clothes and other items to be treated with steam at low pressure for 30 minutes, with a valve between the outer and inner jackets that could be closed to allow the items inside the autoclave to be dried by heat (Zinsser: Textbook of Bacteriology). The Thresh steam disinfector was first used by the British military during the Second Boer War (1889-1902) (Anon. Thresh). The Foden lorries were steam driven (powered by coal) and thus were able to supply steam to the disinfector (Zinsser Textbook of bacteriology). Furthermore, by hooking the disinfector to a lorry, the disinfector gained the advantage of mobility with keep up with an army (or other population) on the go. The Thresh disinfector had room for sixty blankets or the clothing and gear of 12 soldiers; eight disinfectors would be required per military division, but only one was allotted per British division. So even in a well-equipped army of the World War I era, the necessary disinfestation could not be adequately carried out (FIELD SANITATION;
R. ST. J. MACDONALD). (The Thresh disinfector had its own problems; “it left clothes wet and ruined some parts of them.”