119th Australian General Hospital

Ward at Berrimah following the bombing of Darwin
History
Name	119th Australian General Hospital
Where formed	Darwin
Date formed	April 1941
Capacity	1,200 beds
Locations	Adelaide River, Darwin & Katherine

General Information

Raised at Kahlin, Northern Territoy from AAMC staff from the 2/5th Australian General Hospital together with Admin staff from HQ 7th Military Distict and reinforcements from Sydney, before moving to huts and canvas tents at Bagot. In March 1941 it was renamed 109th Australian General Hospital, operating 600 beds

A new hospital was built for the unit at Berrimah, 15 miles (25Km) south of Darwin and by Dec 1941 they were established there. During the first air raid on Darwin the new hospital was attacked with one patient killed. They played a key role in treating the injured and displaced population following the attack. Every ward had wounded in every available bed, and also on the verandahs. The Sisters worked without a break for thirty-six hours.

Following the raid, the hospital was moved to Adelaide River, 113 km south of Darwin to service units in the Northern Territory. To help service the 107th and 119th Australian General Hospitals, rail sidings were built at the Adelaide River station to serve ambulance or "hospital" trains that brought wounded personnel to them. The town also had a nearby operational airfield, and a War Cemetery. In May 1943 they were moved to Rokeby, Victoria where it is probable that teh unit was disbanded in late 1943.

Patients

Adelaide River

• † Edward Johnathon (Ted) Leadbitter 29 Nov - 6 Dec 1941
• Edward Henderson Craghill 25 May - 9 Jun 1942
• John Stephen Serventy 5 - 12 Aug 1942
• Ernest Stanley Lawrence 12 - 27 Mar 1943
• Alexander James Harris 8 - 14 Apr 1943 & 11 - 12 May 1943
• Herbert Bunney 19 - 24 Apr 1943
• Geoffrey Gordon Benson 3 - 9 May 1943

Notes

Content has come from The Unit Guide - Volume 4 - The Australian Army 1939-1945, page 4.109 - Graham R McKenzie-Smith - Big Sky Publishing - 2018