At AFMC's iconic War Surgery Museum, a glimpse into how surgeons fought to save lives of frontline soldiers

Indian Express

18-07-2025

Are you curious about the life of an Indian Army surgeon in active combat, and the challenges they face on the warfront? If so, just step into the War Surgery Museum at the Armed Forces Medical College in Pune where you can walk past Samurai swords gifted by the Japanese to Indian doctors who treated them despite being the enemy during World War II, shrapnels from the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict, and taken out of the patients at 7 Air Force hospital, Kanpur.
Other exhibits at this iconic and one of the oldest museums, include equipment from 60 Parachute Field Hospital – the Indian Army's only airborne medical unit, a 17th century painting depicting the battle between Chhatrapati Shivaji's forces and Rustam Zaman who commanded Adil Shah's army in the Battle of Kolhapur to and even a war diary that dates back to 1912.
'For young medical graduates curious about the role of army surgeons, this is the ideal place to begin,' Director-General Armed Forces Medical Services Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin said while on a recent visit to Pune.
She was accompanied by Lt Gen Pankaj Rao, Commandant, AFMC, Air Commodore (Dr) Anurakshat Gupta, Head, Department of Surgery, AFMC, Col Jafar Husain, Professor of Surgery, AFMC, and others.
'Whether it is during conflict or in peacetime operations like disaster relief, medical units are not just reactive but proactive in ensuring our soldiers receive cutting-edge care,' Surgeon Vice Admiral Sarin said.
She added that the museum showcases the vital role of the war surgeon and brings to light their critical contributions in saving lives.
'The collection includes a war diary of the 3rd Indian Field Ambulance, which was deployed in Mesopotamia during WWI. It was donated by the British High Commission and records daily medical activities from 1915 to 1916. There are medical instruments dating back to 1917- some by James Wise and Company and even the personal collection of Captain P B Bardhan, who started his career in the British Royal Army Medical Corps and later served as Commandant, AFMC. The mess jacket, silver medicine weights, and other memorabilia embody the spirit of military medicine,' elaborated Col Husain of AFMC on some of the collections that have been meticulously preserved.
The officer also explained the notable role of the 60 Parachute Field Hospital and how a mobile surgical team parachutes behind enemy lines, swiftly setting up a fully functional field hospital complete with an operating theatre, radiology unit, laboratory facilities, and even a patient ward. Recently, 60 Para had gone to Myanmar during Operation Brahma, Turkey during Operation Dost, Nepal during Op Maitri, and Indonesia during Op Samudra Maitri, providing a unique experience of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
From the imposing mannequins of 'plague doctors' who constantly chewed garlic and used primitive masks in the form of a bird's beak way back in 1619 to the well-defined personal protective equipment worn by modern-day doctors during Covid-19 pandemic, an array of posters, computer printed charts, scroll boards and kiosks on different aspects of public health define South East Asia's largest public health museum at Pune's Armed Forces Medical College. This museum has served as an invaluable teaching aid and draws students from across the country. In its new 'avatar', the museum has a 'pandemic' gallery and another on `lifestyle diseases' that is in sync with the rising importance of non-communicable diseases.
Different aspects of military public health have been professionally displayed with a new model for high-altitude health. An innovative 3D classroom can be used to screen educational videos and for regular tutorials. A huge wall depicts a 'timeline' of the evolution of public health as a concept and discipline in the world and India.
'The museum over the years has been an invaluable teaching aid and has been upgraded many times to keep it contemporary,' DGAFMS Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin said during her visit.
According to college authorities, undergraduate and postgraduate students from different medical colleges and other visitors from all over the country make special trips to the museum.
Started by Lt Col J Rice in 1944 at Babina,Jhansi district in UP, it was shifted to a government premises near Pune University in 1948 and then to the Army School of Physical Training. In 1958, the museum was relocated to AFMC and modelled on the lines of the Wellcome Trust Museum of the History of Medicine, University College of London.
The then AFMC Commandant Air Marshal CK Ranjan had asked for a plan as he had envisaged a complete revamp – to change the structure which he had been seeing since his days as a medical student. It was a formidable task that required a total restructuring. While the museum was modernised to make it contemporary almost continuously, the basic structure of the main museum was preserved – that is, the herringbone structure and the display panels.
The high ceiling was retained with its heritage fans to give it a grand look. A huge wall in the grand hall of the museum depicts a 'timeline' of the evolution of public health as a concept and discipline in the world and India.
Sections on pertinent health aspects of the Army, Navy, and the Air Force have been included, especially post-deployment of troops at Siachen glacier, the highest battlefield in the world, when health problems of high altitude and extreme cold were the most important issues.
Over the years, this iconic museum has become a 'must-visit' place in the college for its sheer vastness and uniqueness.
On a recent visit, Dr Rajiv Bahl, Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), applauded the department of community medicine's effort that has made it so engaging for the medical student. 'The passion, enthusiasm, and innovation in creating the galleries and museum are awesome. I wish every medical college in India had a museum like this,' Bahl wrote in the visitor's book.