USMORC

[JulianB]

The War Diary of the 41st Bn MGC has an item for the 25th March 1918.

'In the course of the day Lt. LESLIE U.S.M.O.R.C. the medical officer was wounded.'

Does anyone know what the initials stand for.

[egbert]

most likely: US Medical Officer Reserve Corps

[Simon Furnell]

Hello Julian.

When i was going through the 58th Battalion M.G.C. war diary,i also came across a U.S doctor.

He was L.t L Kavanaugh,U.S.R.M.C,and he became Battalion M.O on the 14th of March 1918.

It seems that there were a group of Amereican Reserve Medical officers,that were sent to serve with frontline units in the British and French armies,to gain experience of battle conditions.

The French,so i briefly saw on the web,had a full field hospital made up of Americans that were serving long before American soldiers started fighting as a unit,on the western front.

I have never found out wether L.t Kavanaugh survived the March Offensive,and consequent battles that the battalion fought,during the great retreat.

I have not been able to find any further references to him and wonder if he was pulled out of the Battalion and sent back to the states.

Hope this is of help,Julian.

Somewhere on the site,a long time ago,i put a posting,concerning the U.S.R.M.C,and there were some replies that explain things in a little more detail.

Regards.

Simon.

[JulianB]

Thank you both. I did vaguely wonder if he was American. The 41 Bn MGC was formed on 17.3.18 and I suppose Bn MOs were appointed at the time. The previous MGC Coys diod not have specific MOs, but 2 RAMC NCOs attached - or at least 123 Coy did. The next question of course, is - where would I find out about American MOs serving with British units !?