No. 1 Medical Receiving Station RAAF
From Our Contribution
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Brief History
The mobile surgical unit, presented to the RAAF by the Prahran patriotic Society in August 1941 and detached from No. 1 RAAF Hospital at Laverton, formed the nucleus of No. 1 Medical Receiving Station (1 MRS) when it was formed at Daly Waters on 23 March 1942. The unit camp site was constructed at 5 Mile Water Hole. Admissions in the first month totaled 131, comprising RAAF and US personnel, and civilians.
At the beginning of September, 1 MRS moved to a new site at Coomalie Creek and 271 patients were admitted during the month. Many air raids occurred at Coomalie strip, and on several
occasions bombs fell within the boundaries of 1 MRS. Wards were rebuilt during May 1943. During the unit's operation patients were airlifted to southern hospital facilities, with a Hudson aircraft used as an air ambulance for the first time in November 1944.
1 MRS moved to Nightcliff, Northern Territory, on 16 February 1945 and continued functioning until the beginning of December that year, when it was reduced to a 45-bed hospital. The final entry in the Unit History Record was on 28 Feb 1946.
Unit Personnel
=Patients
- Avon William Mills 11 Jan - 2 Feb 1945
Notes
Source of information - Units of the Royal Australian Airforce - A Concise History - Vol 9 Ancillary Units, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995