The First and Second World Wars defined the 20th Century. Although far removed from the main battle theatre, the Southern African countries contributed to these significant conflicts. As such, Africans from all walks of life were affected and their lives were impacted on social, economic and political levels. Current historiography provides an understanding of how Africans – black and white alike, from different countries in Southern Africa participated in war from a military aspect. Thanks to a growing body of work on the socio-political and economic impact of the war on societies in Southern Africa, our understanding of the lived experience is also expanding.

However, there are themes that remain under-researched in the history of both World Wars and Southern Africa. Indeed, an area that needs further research revolves around health care during and immediately after the war. In particular, the experiences of combatants and health care providers need rethinking, as do various aspects of health care in the theatre of the war and at home in the aftermath of war. These aspects range from military medicine, military hospitals, and military nursing services to mobilization of medical resources during war to post-war rehabilitation of combatants.

This special issue seeks to highlight research that raises new questions about Medical History and Southern Africans during the First and Second World Wars in the African theatre of war. We are particularly interested in new work on individual experiences or a group experience during and in the immediate post-war period that illuminates any of the following themes:

- Military medicine
- Military nursing
- Medical care on the battlefront
- Innovation in military medicine/military nursing methods
- Military hospitals at home and the battlefront
- Biographies of military medical / nursing personnel/medics
- The mental health impact of war on combatants
- Post-war medical rehabilitation
- The war's impact on providing health services to civilians at home