4th Australian Auxiliary Hospital

4th Australian Auxiliary Hospital

A ward at 4th AAH at Abbassia c1916

Brief History

Opened in Abbassia, Cairo, Egypt before relocating to Welwyn, Hertfordshire, England in 1916 where it was co-located with the 5th Australian Auxiliary Hospital which serviced officers only. Both hospitals cared for convalescents and closed on 31 Jan 1919.

Auxiliary hospitals were classified as Class A (those who took cot cases, i.e. the bedridden, from military hospitals) and Class B (for convalescent and ambulant patients). Specialised units were also set up for shell-shocked and neurasthenic patients. Some 352 auxiliary military hospitals were established in the London district.

The staff of an auxiliary hospital included a commandant (who was in charge of the hospital, but not the medical and nursing services), a quartermaster, a matron and members of the local Voluntary Aid Detachment who had been trained in first aid and home nursing. Medical care was provided voluntarily as needed by the local doctors. Discipline was less strict in the smaller hospitals than in a military hospital and the surroundings more homely

Soldier Patients by date admitted

Egypt

• Hector Louis Polain 12 - 31 Dec 1915
• William Dobson Stevens 31 Jan - 14 Mar 1916
• Edward William Tink ??Feb - 6 Mar 1916

England

• John Francis Grabham MM 4 - 30 Jan 1916
• William Dobson Stevens 31 Jan - 14 Mar 1916
• John Edwin Ffoulkes DCM 12 Feb - 3 Mar 1916
• John Harold Coffen 1 - 10 Apr 1916