Penicillin drug treatment, World War II. Gas gangrene of a soldier's left thigh being treated with penicillin and sulphonamide (sulpha) antibiotic drugs. The gangrene resulted from a gunshot wound. Gas gangrene is a bacterial infection that results in foul-smelling dead tissue. It is treated with antibiotics, though amputation may be required to prevent its spread. Penicillin had been discovered in 1928, but was not widely used as an antibiotic until its mass production for the US Army in World War II. Sulphonamide drugs were discovered and developed in the 1930s. Photographed at the US Army's 363rd Station Hospital, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.