[The military odyssey of Norman Bethune]

While visiting the People's Republic of China in 1982, I became aware of the work of the Canadian, Norman Bethune, as a military surgeon. Bethune first served as a stretcher - bearer in an ambulance unit and later as a medical officer with the Allies during the First World War. He also participated in the Spanish Civil War as a military physician. He died in China while serving with Mao Tsetung's Eighth Route Army, fighting the Japanese invaders in Yen'an. Bethune pioneered the use of whole blood transfusions in combat areas, first in Spain and then in China. In the annals of Chinese military history, he has been given an honored place as a military surgeon and a martyr. He is also credited in China, with improving the practice of battlefield medicine, as an organizer, teacher and innovator. Bethune's fame in China is now spreading to Canada.