Society of Anaesthetists for the British Forces in Germany

The Society of Anaesthetists for the British Forces in Germany (SABFG) was started in 1977 as a small society for military anaesthetists posted to Germany. Annual scientific meetings were run in West Germany to bring speakers from the UK. The services involved were the Army and the RAF (there being no Royal Navy medical personnel serving in Germany at that time). Meetings were held at the main centres, including RAF Wegburg, and Army Hospitals at Munster and Hannover. The senior service anaesthetists who supported the Society in Germany were John Restall (Army) and Colin MacLaren (RAF). Both were active members of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, and there were strong links between the Association and its members in the military forces: at that period the Association always had an anaesthetist from one of the services co-opted to Council. Professor James Payne served as President from 1977 until 1986 and Dr Peter Baskett from 1986 until the Society ceased being in 1993 (the result of military changes following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the re-unification of Germany). The Society became incorporated with the Tri Service Society of Anaesthetists.