The Development of Forensic Pathology in London, England: Keith Simpson and the Dobkin Case, 1942

During the Second World War in London, the bombing raids targeting civilians led to a greater public reliance on forensic pathologists. Hospitals used their skills to identify the victims of raids and determine their cause of death, though many bomb victims were never identified. The public reputation of forensic pathology was enhanced by Dr. Keith Simpson's 1942 identification of a body found in a bombed church as the missing Mrs. Dobkin, murdered by her husband and hidden in the rubble. The devastation wrought by the Blitz was countered by this public display of the collaboration between forensic pathology and wartime authorities desperate to maintain order.