When the incompetence of the medical services in the Crimea became common knowledge, Parkes was appointed to organize and take charge of a temporary hospital at Renkioi in Asia Minor to relieve pressure on the hospitals in Scutari. As a result of the glaring faults of organization in the Army Medical Department, which were revealed during the Crimean War, a Royal Commission was set up to investigate the sanitary condition of the army. Unusually action was taken on its report and the first Army Medical School was set up at Fort Pitt in Kent after Parkes’ advice had been sought and taken. Not only did he advise on its organization but, on its formation in 1860, he was invited to become the first Professor of Military Hygiene. Parkes gladly accepted because he was eager to leave London as it suited neither himself nor his delicate wife. Three years after its inception the Army Medical School moved to the Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley near Southampton Water where, in 1863, Parkes produced his Manual of Practical Hygiene which was to run to four editions within nine years.
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Photo: http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwii/MedConslt1/figures/figure089.jpg