Bulford

Bulford camp

Photo of the main camp of which hospital was but a part

1st Australian Dermatological Hospital

Remarks

Bulford Camp is a military camp on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Established in 1897, the site continues in use as a large British Army base. The camp is close to the village of Bulford and is about 2¼ miles (3.6 km) northeast of the town of Amesbury.

The camp was built as a mixture of tents and huts in 1897. In 1906 the Amesbury and Military Camp Light Railway was extended from Amesbury into the camp. The station within the camp was the terminus for personnel while a goods track extended into Sling Camp. This extension was removed in 1933; the whole line closed to passengers in 1952 but goods services continued until 1963.

The section called Sling Camp was occupied by soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the First World War. The New Zealanders left their mark by creating the Bulford Kiwi, a large mural on the hillside.[2] At the end of the war, the camp was the site of the Battle of Bulford, when New Zealand troops staged a brief mutiny.[3][4]

The site also included a hospital and this was passed to the jurisdiction of the Australians who established it as a specialist hospital for venereal diseases, becoming known as 1ADH. At its peak 1ADH was able to accommodate over 1,500 patients, some of which were under guard. Security however was not tight and going absent without leave relatively simple. Eventually criminal patients were treated at Lewes Prison in Sussex.

Soldiers

For a list of soldiers who spent time in this camp, please visit the page for 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital.

Notes

Around 15 per cent of the entire AIF contracted VD.