Yan Zhao Yinglie | Bethune: the great international communist fighter

Bethune. Courtesy of the Provincial Department of Veterans Affairs

Norman Bethune (1890-1939) was born in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada. Graduated from the University of Toronto School of Medicine, he is a world-renowned thoracic surgeon. He joined the Communist Party of Canada in November 1935. In 1936, he went to Spain to participate in the anti-fascist struggle. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in China, in order to aid the liberation of the Chinese people, in March 1938, he was sent by the Communist Party of Canada and the Communist Party of the United States to lead a medical team to Yan'an, where he was cordially received by Mao Zedong. With the approval of the central government, he arrived in the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region in June and was hired as a health consultant of the Military Region. He ran in the lofty mountains, in and out of the gunfire and bullets, with a rigorous work attitude and excellent medical technology, full of enthusiasm to serve the anti-Japanese military and civilians. At the end of November, he led a medical team to Yanbei, Shanxi For field treatment, and underwent 71 consecutive surgeries in two days and nights. In February 1939, he led an 18-man "Crusade Medical Team" to the front line of Jizhong to treat the wounded. During the Battle of Qihui, despite the Japanese artillery fire, he worked for 69 hours and operated on 115 wounded. At the beginning of July, he returned to the mountainous areas of western Hebei, participated in the organization and leadership of the health organs of the military region, founded the health school of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, compiled a variety of field medical textbooks, and made a variety of medical equipment and equipment. In late October, the middle finger of his left hand was cut by a scalpel while rescuing the wounded in the battle of Maotianling in Laiyuan County, and later he was infected while operating on the wounded of a surgical infectious disease, and because his injuries worsened, he turned into sepsis, and the treatment was ineffective, and he died on November 12 in Huangshikou Village, Tang County, Hebei Province. Mao Zedong wrote "In Memory of Bethune" and spoke highly of Bethune's great internationalism and communist spirit.