Number 9, Number 9, Number 9

“One veteran remembered how, as a wheeze, he and his comrades marched off to the nearest MO to report sick. The MO had them all take ‘number 9’ pills* and sent the lot packing. On the way back the Emma Gees made a surreptitious visit to a café and restaurant. Undoubtedly this sort of incident was not a one off.”

“*The number 9 was legendary for being dished out as a cure-all for every ailment. One veteran recalled that number 9 ‘was expected to cure trench feet, the aching tooth and ingrowing toe nails, to lower temperature, restore lost appetite, regulate the pulse, heal the boil on the official place and cure scabies'. There was a widespread conspiracy theory that the number 9 was a placebo.”

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