In 1914 the long expected war had broken out in Europe, and finally it reached the Schweitzers. They were German citizens, working in a French colony, so were technically enemy aliens. They were kept under house arrest at first, unable to treat their patients.

After a while they were allowed to go on treating their patients – partly because the military had medical problems which they could bring to the Schweitzers.

And it was now, with sickness and death all around, with news of the massacres of World War One filtering through, that Schweitzer hit upon the words that summed up his philosophy, the philosophy that he was to talk about and live by for the rest of his life – Reverence for Life.

Finally orders came from Paris. The Schweitzers were taken to an internment camp – virtually a prison – in France.

With their blood thinned by several years in the tropics, and without warm clothes, they were vulnerable to disease. Hélène had had tuberculosis slightly before coming to Africa, but seemed to have got over it. Now she caught it again, and was never fully to recover.

Now, too, she became pregnant. For both these reasons she was never again able to do the work she had so long prepared for with her husband.

Influential friends finally arranged for the Schweitzers to be included among a group of prisoners to be exchanged, and after painful and exhausting days travelling they reached Alsace again – now blighted and devastated by war.

Schweitzer’s mother had been killed – accidentally knocked over by galloping troopers. And thousands of young men who had grown up in Alsace had died, some fighting on the German side, some on the French. Schweitzer too fell sick, with an abscess that had to be operated on.

They were deeply in debt. Everything had changed at Strasbourg University, where Schweitzer had been such a star pupil and professor, and he found it hard to get a job. When their daughter Rhena was born, they were at the lowest point of their fortunes.

But one man had remembered Schweitzer –Nathan Söderblom, Archbishop of Sweden, who invited him to come and lecture at the University of Uppsala, and bring his family with him.

Sweden had been neutral and had made money out of the war. Unlike Strasbourg, the food there was good and plentiful. This, together with the joy of being able to talk about his new philosophy, Reverence for Life, gave Schweitzer back his old energy and enthusiasm. And when the Archbishop suggested and organised a lecture tour talking about his African experiences, he was soon able to pay off his debts. He wrote a book about it too – and the money started to roll in – enough for Schweitzer to plan to go back to Africa.

But without Hélène. They had to face the choice – should he stay in Europe with her and Rhena, or go back without them. For both of them the answer had to be – go. It was what they had worked for. They had promised their patients they would return. And above all, they had seen the need.

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