Actions

Difference between revisions of "Ambulance Train"

From Our Contribution

(→‎AT 16)
(→‎AT 28 ?? to Étaples)
 
(184 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 12: Line 12:
 
|  image4      = [[File:Ambulance_train_in_France.jpg|600px]]
 
|  image4      = [[File:Ambulance_train_in_France.jpg|600px]]
 
| caption4      = Transfer casualty from train to ambulance in Tréport, France
 
| caption4      = Transfer casualty from train to ambulance in Tréport, France
 +
|  image5      = [[File:AT_being_loaded_for_France.jpg|600px]]
 +
| caption5      = An Ambulance Train carriage being shipped to France
 +
  
  
Line 24: Line 27:
 
Ambulance trains were used at various stages of medical evacuation from the front line to hospitals. They transported men away from battle as early as from advanced dressing stations. Light railways were used to transport soldiers to casualty clearing stations (CCS), which were deliberately built on railway lines for the movement of soldiers and medical supplies. Ambulance trains were then used again to move men from the CCS to base hospitals, and from the base hospitals to evacuation ports.  
 
Ambulance trains were used at various stages of medical evacuation from the front line to hospitals. They transported men away from battle as early as from advanced dressing stations. Light railways were used to transport soldiers to casualty clearing stations (CCS), which were deliberately built on railway lines for the movement of soldiers and medical supplies. Ambulance trains were then used again to move men from the CCS to base hospitals, and from the base hospitals to evacuation ports.  
  
−
The average load carried on a train was 400 to 500 patients, more than half of whom were quite helpless and a large number in a critical condition. Nurses from the trains, while waiting to load, would help at this C.C.S. The cases were exceedingly bad ones, brought there practically as they had been found on the field of battle. All that could be done for them at the C.C.S. was to dress their wounds and give them feeds. The patients taken on to the train were wearing full uniform in a shocking condition of filth. Owing to the cramped and difficult accommodation, it was almost impossible to undress the patients in the ordinary way, and consequently there was a great sacrifice of clothing. Where under normal conditions the clothes could have been removed and saved, for the sake of the patient they had to be cut away, and were of no further use.
 
  
−
The arrangements as regards disposition of coaches on all the first Ambulance Trains was the same. One half of the train was set apart for what was known as ‘Lying cases’, and each compartment of the coach had 4 couchettes. In the middle of the train was the Dispensary, the coach for the Staff and the kitchens. The remaining portion of the train was ordinary 2nd or 3rd Class accommodation, where the so-called ‘walking cases’ were taken in.  
+
The average load carried on a train was 400 to 500 patients, more than half of whom were quite helpless and a large number in a critical condition. Nurses from the trains, while waiting to load, would help at this C.C.S. The cases were exceedingly bad ones, brought there practically as they had been found on the field of battle. All that could be done for them at the C.C.S. was to dress their wounds and give them food. The patients taken on to the train were wearing full uniform in a shocking condition of filth. Owing to the cramped and difficult accommodation, it was almost impossible to undress the patients in the ordinary way, and consequently there was a great sacrifice of clothing. Where under normal conditions the clothes could have been removed and saved, for the sake of the patient they had to be cut away, and were of no further use.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
The disposition of coaches on all the first Ambulance Trains was the same. One half of the train was set apart for what was known as ‘Lying cases’, and each compartment of the coach had 4 couchettes. In the middle of the train was the Dispensary, the coach for the Staff and the kitchens. The remaining portion of the train was ordinary 2nd or 3rd Class accommodation, where the so-called ‘walking cases’ were taken in.  
 +
 
  
 
The Sisters’ quarters on the first 10 Ambulance Trains were in the Staff coach differing a little in position on each train. The arrangements on one of the trains, and one which on the whole was the best as regards the Sisters, was as follows:- At each end of the Staff coach was a separate compartment of 4 couchettes, divided off from the central compartments. These latter compartments were occupied by the 3 Medical Officers, and each of the end ones by two Sisters, so that they had the advantage of being quite private in their quarters. The one drawback was the lavatory accommodation which was in the middle of the coach.
 
The Sisters’ quarters on the first 10 Ambulance Trains were in the Staff coach differing a little in position on each train. The arrangements on one of the trains, and one which on the whole was the best as regards the Sisters, was as follows:- At each end of the Staff coach was a separate compartment of 4 couchettes, divided off from the central compartments. These latter compartments were occupied by the 3 Medical Officers, and each of the end ones by two Sisters, so that they had the advantage of being quite private in their quarters. The one drawback was the lavatory accommodation which was in the middle of the coach.
 
   
 
   
 +
 
The Restaurant car attached to the Staff coach was so divided that a part was used for the Mess Room, and the other part for the Dispensary. No.7 Ambulance Train was a little different from the others in that part was reserved for French troops. 4 coaches were given up to them, and there was a French Major and 6 orderlies, who were assisted by the British Sisters when necessary.
 
The Restaurant car attached to the Staff coach was so divided that a part was used for the Mess Room, and the other part for the Dispensary. No.7 Ambulance Train was a little different from the others in that part was reserved for French troops. 4 coaches were given up to them, and there was a French Major and 6 orderlies, who were assisted by the British Sisters when necessary.
 
   
 
   
 +
 
The Medical Staff consisted of 3 officers – the C.O., usually a Major, and two Lieutenants. The Nursing Staff of 4 on the train was usually distributed as follows. the Sister-in-Charge took the supervision of the whole train, was responsible for the Officers’ coach, and as much as possible helped where it was most needed. Two of the other Sisters were responsible for the ‘lying cases’ of other ranks, and the fourth was responsible for all the ‘sitting cases’. Two of the staff always remained on duty throughout the night, and frequently the whole four did so.  
 
The Medical Staff consisted of 3 officers – the C.O., usually a Major, and two Lieutenants. The Nursing Staff of 4 on the train was usually distributed as follows. the Sister-in-Charge took the supervision of the whole train, was responsible for the Officers’ coach, and as much as possible helped where it was most needed. Two of the other Sisters were responsible for the ‘lying cases’ of other ranks, and the fourth was responsible for all the ‘sitting cases’. Two of the staff always remained on duty throughout the night, and frequently the whole four did so.  
  
−
Generally the Ambulance trains carried casualties to hospitals near the French coast where they received further treatment before many that required extensive recovery were sent on to England. Once the men had arrived in Britain by ship, they were loaded onto the home ambulance trains that took them to hospital.
 
  
−
Their operation was the responsibility of the RAMC, and an RAMC Major was in charge of each train.
+
[[File:Ambulance_Train_2.jpg|thumb|none|400px|Normal patient - staff ratio]]
  
−
Between journeys staff sometimes waited for days or even weeks for their next load of patients. A standard ambulance train consisted of sixteen cars, which included a pharmacy car, two kitchens, a personnel car, and a brake and stores car. The eleven patient cars would usually carry about 40 patients each, 36 bed patients and four seated. Most trains feeding ships for England did so in Boulogne, with the men being landed at Dover and  Southampton.
 
  
−
By war's end 2.7 million  men had used the Ambulance Trains.
+
Generally the Ambulance trains carried casualties to hospitals near the French coast where they received further treatment before many that required extensive recovery were sent on to England. Once the men had arrived in Britain by ship, they were loaded onto the home ambulance trains that took them to hospital. Their operation was the responsibility of the RAMC, and an RAMC Major was in charge of each train.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
[[File:Ambulance_Train.jpg|thumb|none|600px|Ambulances at an English station awaiting the arrival of an English Ambulance Train from Dover or Southampton
 +
AWM photo  P01429.001]]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
Between journeys staff sometimes waited for days or even weeks for their next load of patients. A standard ambulance train consisted of sixteen cars, which included a pharmacy car, two kitchens, a personnel car, and a brake and stores car. The eleven patient cars would usually carry about 40 patients each, 36 bed patients and four seated. Most trains feeding ships for England did so in Boulogne, with the men being landed at Dover and  Southampton.  By war's end 2.7 million  men had used the Ambulance Trains.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
An article in Wikipedia states that thirty one Trains are known to have operated on the Continent with identifying numbers that include: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 16, 21, 23, 42, 49 and 71. Individual Records of the soldiers whose stories are included in this wiki include others, namely 15, 19, 20, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, and 61.  There were also 20 used in England with numbers that included: 14, and 34.  Four of the trains were supplied and manned by Quakers and others with conscientious objection to taking lives. A detailed story of an Orderly crew member of AT17 in France can be found at [https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/ambulance-trains-bringing-first-world-war-home]
  
−
An article in Wikipedia states that thirty one Trains are known to have operated on the Continent with identifying numbers that include: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 16, 21, 23, 42, 49 and 71. Individual Records of the soldiers whose stories are included in this wiki include others, namely 15, 19, 20, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, and 61.  There were also 20 used in England with numbers that included: 14, and 34.  Four of the trains were supplied and manned by Quakers and others with conscientious objection to taking lives.
 
  
 
==Staff==
 
==Staff==
  
  
−
==Soldiers==
+
==Patients carried==
  
 
===Train Number not recorded===
 
===Train Number not recorded===
  
 
''Egypt & Palestine''
 
''Egypt & Palestine''
−
*[[Archibald Roland Bunney]] 1 Jun 1917
+
'''1916'''
−
*[[George Ezra Bunney]] 16 Jan 1918
+
* [[Henry Thomas (Harry) Brear]] 8 Apr 1916
−
''
+
 
−
Western Front''
+
'''1917'''
−
*[[Leonard Butcher]] 26 Dec 1916
+
* [[Archibald Roland Bunney]] 1 Jun 1917
−
*[[Arthur Percy Thomas Boyle]] 16 Jun 1917
+
* [[Walter Cattach]] 23 Jul 1917
−
*[[Gordon Edgar (George) Bennett]] 4 Jul 1917
+
* [[Harold Shepherd MID]] 3 Aug 1917
−
*[[David Forbes Abernethy]] 4 Oct 1917
+
* [[Phillip Selwyn Allen]] 12 Oct 1917 to Rafa
−
*[[Arthur Percy Thomas Boyle]] 1 Nov 1917
+
* [[Phillip Selwyn Allen]] 14 Oct 1917 to El Arish
−
*[[David Forbes Abernethy]] 2 Jun 1918
+
* [[George Ezra Bunney]] 16 Jan 1918 to El Arish
−
*[[Gordon Edgar (George) Bennett]] 2 Jun 1918
+
 
 +
''Western Front''
 +
'''1916'''
 +
* † [[Albert Edward John Walls]] 26 Jun 1916 & 9 Jun 1917
 +
* † [[Frederick James Bishop]] 19 - 20 Jul 1916
 +
* [[Walter Robert Hayes]] 22 Jul 1916
 +
* [[James Thomson MM]] 23 Jul 1916
 +
* [[William Joseph Hayden]] 26 Jul 1916
 +
* [[William Mathews]] 30 July 1916
 +
* [[Walter Hayward]] 5 Aug 1916
 +
* [[John Paterson Henderson]] 16 Aug 1916
 +
* [[Frank Halliday]] 29 Aug 1916
 +
* [[Lionel William Gibbs]] 5 Nov 1916
 +
* [[Roby Helliwell]] 15 Nov 1916
 +
* [[Maurice Clarence Robinson]] 23 Nov 1916
 +
* † [[Leonard Butcher]] 26 Dec 1916
 +
* † [[William Edgar Rowe]] 28 Dec 1916
 +
 
 +
'''1917'''
 +
* [[Henry Richard Keefe]] 9 Jan 1917
 +
* † [[Francis Dyson]] 31 Jan 1917
 +
* [[William Edward McKenna]] 8 Feb 1917
 +
* † [[Gordon Weston Johanson]] 19 Feb 1917
 +
* [[Donald Gordon Melville Huggins]] 21 Feb 1917
 +
* [[Leo Patrick Kane]] 13 Mar 1917
 +
* † [[Albert Edward See]] 19 Mar 1917
 +
* † [[Albert Ernest Elkington]] 22 Mar 1918
 +
* [[George Harris]] 6 Apr 1917
 +
* [[Edward Hobson]] 12 Apr 1917
 +
* † [[Frederick James Powell]] 20 Apr 1917
 +
* † [[Reuben Arnold MM]] 24 Apr 1917
 +
* [[Ernest Henry Chisholm]] 4 May 1917
 +
* † [[John Hobbs]] 4 May 1917
 +
* [[Walter Hayward]] 5-6 May 1917
 +
* [[George Bett]] 14 May 1917
 +
* [[Francis William Singleton]] 15 May 1917
 +
* [[Alexander Dowle]] 5 Jun 1917
 +
* [[Reginald Grove Sexty MID]] 8 Jun 1917
 +
* [[Thomas Frederick McDonough]] 10 Jun 1917
 +
* [[Henry Albert Thorp]] 12 Jun 1917
 +
* [[Arthur Percy Thomas Boyle]] 16 Jun 1917
 +
* † [[David Edward Bromley]] 18 Jun 1917
 +
* † [[Albert Edward John Walls]] 26 Jun 1917 & 9 Jun 1917
 +
* [[Gordon Edgar (George) Bennett]] 4 Jul 1917
 +
* [[Herbert James Reed]] 27 Jul 1917
 +
* [[John Arthur Patterson MM]] 2 Aug 1917
 +
* [[William George Rosekelly]] 20 Sep 1917
 +
* † [[David Edward Bromley]] 21 Sep 1917
 +
* [[John Edward Thomson]] 29 Sep 1917
 +
* [[Josiah James Skinner]] 1 Oct 1917
 +
* [[Robert George Orrock]] 2 Oct 1917
 +
* [[David Forbes Abernethy]] 4 Oct 1917
 +
* † [[Reuben Arnold MM]] 4 Oct 1917
 +
* [[Arthur Percy Thomas Boyle]] 1 Nov 1917
 +
* [[Stanley Victor Coney]] 15 Nov 1917
 +
 
 +
'''1918'''
 +
* [[Alfred James Hansen MM]] 5 Feb 1918
 +
* [[Thomas Hesketh]] 5 Feb 1918
 +
* † [[Albert Ernest Elkington]] 22 Mar 1918
 +
* [[Jack Hayden Gibson]] 29 Mar 1918
 +
* [[George Weston Firns]] 19 Apr 1918
 +
* [[David Forbes Abernethy]] 2 Jun 1918
 +
* [[Gordon Edgar (George) Bennett]] 2 Jun 1918
 +
* [[Norman Sedrick Tonkin]] 9 Jun 1918
 +
* [[Arthur James Allen]] 14 Jun 1918
 +
* [[ William Henry Gibbs]] 14 July 1918
 +
* [[John Edward Thomson]] 9 Aug 1918
 +
* [[John Grant Watt MM & Bar]] 25 Aug 1918 ?
 +
* [[John Kiely]] 28 Aug 1918
 +
* [[Charles Glyn Firns]] 3 Sep 1918
 +
* [[Thomas Percival (Percy) Hanretty]] 3 Sep 1918
 +
* [[Walter Hayward]] 5 Sep 1918
 +
* [[Reginald William Edwards]] 6 - 7 Oct 1918
 +
* [[George Alfred Hill]] 14 Oct 1918
 +
* [[George Weston Firns]] 16 Oct 1918
 +
 
 +
'''Australia during WW2'''
 +
* [[James Henry Clarke]] 27 - 28 Jan 1944 Brisbane to Melbourne
 +
* [[James Henry Clarke]] 12 - 16 Feb 1944 Melbourne to Perth
  
 
===AT 1===
 
===AT 1===
Line 69: Line 163:
 
===AT 2===
 
===AT 2===
 
*[[William James Allen]] 18 May 1918
 
*[[William James Allen]] 18 May 1918
 +
* [[William Rawlinson]] 19 Jul 1918
  
−
===AT 4 Egypt===
+
===AT 3===
−
*[[William Buck]] 27 Apr 1916
+
?? to Camiers
 +
*[[Charles Richard Irvine MM & Bar]] 7 Nov 1916
 +
 
 +
===AT 4 Egypt Tel-el-Kebir to Ghezireh===
 +
* [[John Harold Rupert Smith]] 7 Feb 1916
 +
* [[Douglas Campbell Wills Winning]] 26 Mar 1916
 +
* [[William Buck]] 27 Apr 1916
 +
 
 +
===AT 4 France===
 +
* [[John Harold Coffen]] 6 May 1917
 +
 
 +
===AT 5===
 +
* [[William Plant]] 8 Dec 1916
 +
* [[Joseph Pulford]] 9 Feb 1917
 +
* [[Nicholas Joseph Rosekelly]] 17 Nov 1917
 +
 
 +
===AT 6===
 +
* [[William Arthur Shepherd]] 1 May 1916
 +
* [[Clarence Henry Batt]] 22 Dec 1918
 +
 
 +
===AT 7 ?? to Boulogne ===
 +
 
 +
* [[Percy Fleming]] 10 Jul 1917
 +
* [[William Isaac Little]] 4 Jul 1918
 +
 
 +
===AT 8===
 +
*[[Charles John Mitchell]] 11 Jun 1918
 +
 
 +
===AT 9===
 +
*[[Harry Simpson Francis]] 5 Jull 1918
 +
 
 +
===AT 10 ?? to Boulogne===
 +
 
 +
* † [[David Alexander Sayer]] 20 Sep 1917
 +
 
 +
===AT 11===
 +
* [[John Aubrey Nunn MC]] 1 - 2 Sep 1918
 +
 
 +
===AT 12 ?? to Abbeyville===
 +
 
 +
* [[Lyndon Vivian Brady]] 9 Dec 1916
 +
* † [[Arthur Thomas Feast]] 19 Jul 917
 +
*[[Thomas Hale Kensit]] 20 Mar 1918
  
 
===AT 14===
 
===AT 14===
 
*[[Albert Edward Victor Byfield]] 22 Sep 1917
 
*[[Albert Edward Victor Byfield]] 22 Sep 1917
 +
*[[Sydney Chadwick McDonald]] 17 Nov 1918
 +
*[[William Thomas Driver]] 30 Mar 1919
  
−
===AT 15===
+
===AT 15 Transferred patients to Rouen===
−
*[[Lancel Butcher]] 29 Jul 1917
+
Donated by Princess Christian.
−
*[[William Wright Casterton MM]] 5 Jul 1918
+
* [[William Stephens]] 21 Aug 1916
 +
* [[Lancel Butcher]] 29 Jul 1917
 +
* [[William Wright Casterton MM]] 5 Jul 1918
 +
* [[Thomas Hetherington]] 1 Sep 1918
 +
* [[Harold Empsall]] 13 - 14 Mar 1919
  
 
===AT 16===
 
===AT 16===
 
Donated by the United Kingdom Flour Millers
 
Donated by the United Kingdom Flour Millers
 
*[[James Baillie]] 3 May 1917
 
*[[James Baillie]] 3 May 1917
 +
* [[Lennart Birger Wilander]] 21 Aug 1918
 +
 +
===AT 18===
 +
*[[Percy Goodall]] 22 July 1916
  
 
===AT 19===
 
===AT 19===
−
*[[Arthur Leworthy Bettenay]] 8 Jun 1917
+
* [[Arthur Leworthy Bettenay]] 8 Jun 1917
 +
* [[James Baillie]] 9 Aug 1918
 +
* [[Arthur Frederick William Eivers]] 16 Sep 1918
  
 
===AT 20===
 
===AT 20===
 +
* [[William Harrington Edward Watson]] 23 - 24 May 1916
 +
* [[Edgar Leslie Livermore]] 25 Jul 1916
 
*[[Leith John Newton Angelo]] 19 Oct 1917
 
*[[Leith John Newton Angelo]] 19 Oct 1917
 +
*[[Sydney Chadwick McDonald]] 21 Oct 1917
 +
 +
===AT 21===
 +
* [[Michael Dennis O'Rourke]] 8 May 1917
 +
 +
===AT 22===
 +
* [[George William Piesley]] 7 Jul 1917
 +
 +
===AT 23 ?? to Le Havre===
 +
 +
* [[John Harold Rupert Smith]] 12 Nov 1916
 +
* [[John Thomas Clements]] 7 & 8 Oct 1918
  
 
===AT 24===
 
===AT 24===
 +
* [[Cyril Lowth MM]] 24 Nov 1916
 
*[[Leith John Newton Angelo]] 9 Aug 1918
 
*[[Leith John Newton Angelo]] 9 Aug 1918
  
 
===AT 25===
 
===AT 25===
−
*[[William James Allen]] 3 Mar 1919
+
* [[Herbert Clarence (Bert) Ronan]] 28 Mar 1917
 +
* [[Matthew Walsh]] 18 Apr 1918
 +
* [[William James Allen]] 3 Mar 1919
 +
 
 +
===AT 26 to Boulogne===
 +
* † [[Samuel Simpson Thompson]] 30 Jul 1916
 +
* [[Arthur Thomas Orton MM]] 28 Mar 1918
 +
 
 +
===AT 27  ?? to Rouen===
 +
 
 +
* [[Alfred Warburton Chapman (Jnr)]] 23 Jul 1916
 +
* [[Charles Gorringe]] 6 Nov 1916
 +
 
 +
===AT 28 ?? to Étaples===
 +
 
 +
*[[Jack Hayden Gibson]] 31 Aug 1916
 +
*[[William John (Bill) Hart]] 30 Aug 1916
 +
*[[Edward Dudley Mann]] 10 May 1917
 +
* [[Robert Lightbody]] 16 Mar 1918
 +
 
 +
===AT 29 ? to Camiers===
 +
 
 +
* [[John Laidlaw Paterson]] 11 Aug 1918
  
 
===AT 30===
 
===AT 30===
−
*[[Beverley Loxton Bennett]] 9 Jul 1918
+
* † [[Beverley Loxton Bennett]] 9 Jul 1918
  
 
===AT 31===
 
===AT 31===
 
*[[George Henry Aspinall]] 6 Jun 1917
 
*[[George Henry Aspinall]] 6 Jun 1917
  
−
===AT 32===
+
===AT 32 ?? to Boulogne===
−
*[[Edward Bailey]] 14 Apr 1918
+
 
 +
* [[Edward Bailey]] 14 Apr 1918
 +
* † [[David Alexander Sayer]] 5 May 1918
 +
* [[Roslyn Christopher Coulston]] 17 May 1918
 +
* † [[Daniel Malcolm Wann]] 21 Jun 1918
 +
 
 +
===AT 33===
 +
* [[William Plant]] 27 Feb 1919
 +
 
 +
===AT 34===
 +
* [[John Harold Coffen]] 5 Mar 1918
 +
*[[Thomas Hale Kensit]] 8 Aug 1918
 +
* [[Ernest Ball DCM]] 26 Aug 1918
 +
 
 +
===AT 35===
 +
* [[John Arthur Patterson MM]] 7 Jul 1918
 +
 
 +
===At 36===
 +
* [[John Alexander Spilsbury]] 20 Sep 1917
 +
* [[James Anthony Parker]] 22 Oct 1917
 +
*[[Frank Moore]] 3 Nov 1917
 +
 
 +
===AT 42===
 +
* [[John Henry Holroyd]] 3 Apr 1917
 +
* [[William Henry Gibbs]] 25 Sep 1918
 +
* [[Sydney Scott]] 3 Jan 1919
 +
* [[Lancel Butcher]] 6 Jan 1919
 +
 
 +
===AT 47 ?? to Boulogne===
  
−
===At 42===
+
* [[Matthew Harwood]] 12 Aug 1916
−
*[[Lancel Butcher]] 6 Jan 1919
+
 
 +
===AT 61 ?? To Rouen===
  
−
===AT 61===
 
 
*[[Robert Frank Bickford]] 27 Jun 1918
 
*[[Robert Frank Bickford]] 27 Jun 1918
  
Line 116: Line 330:
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
  
−
 
+
[[Category:AIF Units]]
 
[[Category:Hospitals]]
 
[[Category:Hospitals]]

Latest revision as of 19:29, 1 November 2023

Ambulance Train at Heliopolis.jpg
AWM photo - Ambulance Train at Heliopolis Egypt
Hospital train.jpg
Hospital Train No 23 in France
HMHS Grantully Castle with train.jpg
Ambulance train carrying patients to ships
Ambulance train in France.jpg
Transfer casualty from train to ambulance in Tréport, France
AT being loaded for France.jpg
An Ambulance Train carriage being shipped to France


Remarks

Ambulance trains were used at various stages of medical evacuation from the front line to hospitals. They transported men away from battle as early as from advanced dressing stations. Light railways were used to transport soldiers to casualty clearing stations (CCS), which were deliberately built on railway lines for the movement of soldiers and medical supplies. Ambulance trains were then used again to move men from the CCS to base hospitals, and from the base hospitals to evacuation ports.


The average load carried on a train was 400 to 500 patients, more than half of whom were quite helpless and a large number in a critical condition. Nurses from the trains, while waiting to load, would help at this C.C.S. The cases were exceedingly bad ones, brought there practically as they had been found on the field of battle. All that could be done for them at the C.C.S. was to dress their wounds and give them food. The patients taken on to the train were wearing full uniform in a shocking condition of filth. Owing to the cramped and difficult accommodation, it was almost impossible to undress the patients in the ordinary way, and consequently there was a great sacrifice of clothing. Where under normal conditions the clothes could have been removed and saved, for the sake of the patient they had to be cut away, and were of no further use.


The disposition of coaches on all the first Ambulance Trains was the same. One half of the train was set apart for what was known as ‘Lying cases’, and each compartment of the coach had 4 couchettes. In the middle of the train was the Dispensary, the coach for the Staff and the kitchens. The remaining portion of the train was ordinary 2nd or 3rd Class accommodation, where the so-called ‘walking cases’ were taken in.


The Sisters’ quarters on the first 10 Ambulance Trains were in the Staff coach differing a little in position on each train. The arrangements on one of the trains, and one which on the whole was the best as regards the Sisters, was as follows:- At each end of the Staff coach was a separate compartment of 4 couchettes, divided off from the central compartments. These latter compartments were occupied by the 3 Medical Officers, and each of the end ones by two Sisters, so that they had the advantage of being quite private in their quarters. The one drawback was the lavatory accommodation which was in the middle of the coach.


The Restaurant car attached to the Staff coach was so divided that a part was used for the Mess Room, and the other part for the Dispensary. No.7 Ambulance Train was a little different from the others in that part was reserved for French troops. 4 coaches were given up to them, and there was a French Major and 6 orderlies, who were assisted by the British Sisters when necessary.


The Medical Staff consisted of 3 officers – the C.O., usually a Major, and two Lieutenants. The Nursing Staff of 4 on the train was usually distributed as follows. the Sister-in-Charge took the supervision of the whole train, was responsible for the Officers’ coach, and as much as possible helped where it was most needed. Two of the other Sisters were responsible for the ‘lying cases’ of other ranks, and the fourth was responsible for all the ‘sitting cases’. Two of the staff always remained on duty throughout the night, and frequently the whole four did so.


Normal patient - staff ratio


Generally the Ambulance trains carried casualties to hospitals near the French coast where they received further treatment before many that required extensive recovery were sent on to England. Once the men had arrived in Britain by ship, they were loaded onto the home ambulance trains that took them to hospital. Their operation was the responsibility of the RAMC, and an RAMC Major was in charge of each train.


Ambulances at an English station awaiting the arrival of an English Ambulance Train from Dover or Southampton AWM photo P01429.001


Between journeys staff sometimes waited for days or even weeks for their next load of patients. A standard ambulance train consisted of sixteen cars, which included a pharmacy car, two kitchens, a personnel car, and a brake and stores car. The eleven patient cars would usually carry about 40 patients each, 36 bed patients and four seated. Most trains feeding ships for England did so in Boulogne, with the men being landed at Dover and Southampton. By war's end 2.7 million men had used the Ambulance Trains.


An article in Wikipedia states that thirty one Trains are known to have operated on the Continent with identifying numbers that include: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 16, 21, 23, 42, 49 and 71. Individual Records of the soldiers whose stories are included in this wiki include others, namely 15, 19, 20, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, and 61. There were also 20 used in England with numbers that included: 14, and 34. Four of the trains were supplied and manned by Quakers and others with conscientious objection to taking lives. A detailed story of an Orderly crew member of AT17 in France can be found at [1]


Staff

Patients carried

Train Number not recorded

Egypt & Palestine 1916

1917

Western Front 1916

1917

1918

Australia during WW2

AT 1

AT 2

AT 3

?? to Camiers

AT 4 Egypt Tel-el-Kebir to Ghezireh

AT 4 France

AT 5

AT 6

AT 7 ?? to Boulogne

AT 8

AT 9

AT 10 ?? to Boulogne

AT 11

AT 12 ?? to Abbeyville

AT 14

AT 15 Transferred patients to Rouen

Donated by Princess Christian.

AT 16

Donated by the United Kingdom Flour Millers

AT 18

AT 19

AT 20

AT 21

AT 22

AT 23 ?? to Le Havre

AT 24

AT 25

AT 26 to Boulogne

AT 27  ?? to Rouen

AT 28 ?? to Étaples

AT 29 ? to Camiers

AT 30

AT 31

AT 32 ?? to Boulogne

AT 33

AT 34

AT 35

At 36

AT 42

AT 47 ?? to Boulogne

AT 61 ?? To Rouen

Notes


External Links

Retrieved from "https://www.birtwistlewiki.com.au/index.php?title=Ambulance_Train&oldid=65675"