FIELD AMBULANCE / CLEARING STATIONS

[steve140968]

Can anybody please help me in identifying the correct field ambulance / clearing station for the area around 'Monchy le Preux / Orange Hill' , on or around 24/4/1917 , thanks .

Steve.

[steve140968]

Sue ,

that's great , thanks . It seems as though it is going to be a long , long road . If it's there i'm determined that i'll try my best to find it , i'm not so sure i'll feel the same once i've started - but now i've got the bit between the teeth so to speak . If i am lucky enough to find an entry , do you know what information i'm likely to find ? Thanks again Sue .

Steve.

[Chris Best]

identifying the correct field ambulance / clearing station for the area around 'Monchy le Preux / Orange Hill' , on or around 24/4/1917 , thanks

Steve

16 MIDDLESEX were part of 86 Inf Bde, 29 Div at the time of the Battle of the Scarpe. The 'affiliated' fd amb would have been 87 Fd Amb, the other 2 in the Div being 88 and 89 - all Gallipoli units. Confirm this via the Long Long Trail:

http://www.1914-1918.net/29div.htm

an excellent resource.

The Official History of the War, Medical Services Vol III covers this period, but the scematic for medical arrangements on Page 91 does not show any medical facility at Monchy le Preux. ADSs or Coll Posts were at ANZIN ST AUBIN, ST CATHERINE, ST NICHOLAS AND L'ABBAYETTE and 2 Walking Wounded Coll Stns at ANZIN ST AUBIN and ST NICHOLAS. The CCS area was in AUBIGNY, The 2 units in situ at that time being No 30 and No 24 CCS and No 1 Canadian CCS (Source: WO95/5494).

Afraid the MOH makes no mention of VI Corps medical activity at this time.

Hope this helps

Regar

Chris Best

[Chris Best]

You will see from the list that no unit was static during the war, but you will be able to discount many from their position on any given date. I think that to track your man, the first thing you need is a good map of France and Belgium, and pinpoint whereabouts he was at the time of his wounding.

Sue

I presume your familiar with WO95/5494 which details all British and Empire CCS, hospital etc plus fd amb affiliations? It's colossal and doesn't repro easily. Got my copy before PRO/NA allowed us to use digital cameras.

Regards

Chris Best

[steve140968]

Thanks for the reply Chris . Can i assume that as my grandfather would have been un-able to walk that he would have spent time with either 87 , 88 or 89 field ambulance ? If so do records exist with solders names in them , so that i'm able to make a connection ? Chris , can i also assume that he would heve passed through the CCS area at Aubigny at some time . Again are the records for the units involved (30 , 24 and no.1 Canadian) all to be found in WO95/5494 , and will solders names be in amongst them so as i'm able to make a trace ? Kind regards , Steve .

[Chris Best]

Steve

You can assume that, if he was a stretcher case from the front line, then he would almost certainly have passed through an ADS where treatment given at RAP would have been checked and modified if necessary.

It is likely that he would have passed through the fd amb affiliated to his parent brigade, particularly if that bde formed part of the early attack echelon (ie, not in reserve).

From the ADS horse or motor amb would have taken him back to the allocated CCS area (AUBIGNY in this instance) where a decision would have been made about subsequent surgical requirement and his priority determined by the nature of his wounds and probable post-surgical outcome. He would then have moved to one of the large hospital complexes and/or back to UK or to duty if sufficiently recovered. All medical units maintained copies of admission and discharge books and a thread elswhere in the forum drew my attention, yesterday, to the NA file (MH 106). The thread suggests that only about 10% of A&D books were retained (Paul Reed). I suspect it's even less than that, given the overall size of the AMS ORBAT in WWI. Whatever, 29 Div's three fd amb are not represented in that list. Nor are the AUBIGNY CCSs at the period in question. So, doubtful you'll be able to trace that link.

The NA file I quoted simply gives a LOCSTAT for units of CCS size and above, and formation affiliations for others.

Medical unit war diaries do not (in my limited experience) give any detail about patients other than rate of flow and numbers admitted/discharged/transferred/died.

They are more concerned with unit administration and reaction to orders.

I'm off to F&F on Thu for 2 weeks with wife and son following Gt Grandfather's and 3 great uncles through their battles and medical evac chains.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Chris Best

[Chris Best]

All medical units maintained copies of admission and discharge books and a thread elswhere in the forum drew my attention, yesterday, to the NA file (MH 106). The thread suggests that only about 10% of A&D books were retained (Paul Reed

For Steve in particular and Everyone in general

It was Sue (above) who gave the detail about MH 106, a series also used by Paul Reed for research. You're units are definitely not represented there. I wonder if there are any other Admission and Discharge Book entries at the NA. What about the Wellcome repository, anyone any ideas?

Here's hoping

Regards

Chris Best

[steve140968]

Thankyou Chris for taking the time to go into so much detail , this is not going to be easy !!! I hope you and your family have a productive and enjoyable 2 weeks . Kind regards , Steve .

[Chris Best]

Thanks Steve. One other option would be to visit the National Archive, or ask a visiting Forum member to, and look to see if his details are still available in the Burnt Records series. I'd have thought it would be a relatively simple search given the 'uniqueness' of the surname. It's just possible that, if his records survived, his record of service might be there too. I would expect that to deal with casualty occurrences, including medical units to which he was evacuated and admitted, with dates.

With that information, you could easily follow his progress on the ground, at least by village, town or feature and, sometimes (in the rear areas) by building.

Shame, I have partly transposed the WDs of the 29 Div fd ambs in Gallipoli and on the 1st Jul 16, but haven't yet progressed beyond that date.

Keep us posted.

Regards

Chris Best

[BatterySergeantMajor]

"When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country."

Sorry to leave the subject of this thread, but this is one of the best "epitaphs" of the whole Forum. Congratulations Sue, where did you got this?

Erwin

[steve140968]

Thanks Chris , i've already been to the PRO and unfortunately his records in the burnt series did not survive (unless the were mis-filed). The only records that i was able to view were his medical records ( to pension) in WO 364 . These told me a fair bit , but i didn't recall seeing any of the information i need . They are very difficult to read , but it might be worth another look . Thanks for your help Chris , Steve .