RAMC man in Palermo, March 1916

[Chris_Baker]

I've been sent a copy of a postcard sent by a soldier who is known to have served in the RAMC. It was sent from Palermo (which I can only imagine is the place of that name in Sicily) in March 1916. Come on then Forum pals. How/why is an RAMC man in Sicily in 1916? Was a troop or hospital ship sunk in the area at the time, for example?

[Guest Rundberg]

Chris,

I found this on internet, could perhaps be an explanation? Earlier in the text it states that they were in Palermo 1916 but unfortunately my laptop crasched when I tried to copy that as well....

Regards,

Chris

Edit: I think this will lead to where i got the text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P...j06958-0022.pdf

MILITARY MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN ITALY.

According to the Giortale d'Italia of July 10th, there were

in Italy before the war 28 principal and 2 auxiliary military hospitals, 6 convalescent depots, and 31 garrison infirmaries.

In September, 1917, there were 948 reserve hospitals, 21 convalescent

institutions, 146 Red Cross hospitals, and 1 hospital

of the Order of Malta, with a total number of several hundred

thousand beds, The sanitary services of the army included

bacteriological and disinfecting stations, close up to the front lines; consultatiort posts, each with a surgeon, an ophthalmologist,

a syphilographer,;a psychiatrist, a neuropathologist, and

a stomatologist chosen from among university teachers; hospital trains, trains for stores and equipment, stretcher sledges, motor

litters, and ambulances; physiotherapeutio.centres for eacb

army corps; departments of confirmatory diagnosis for incipient

tuberculosis; a centre atNervi for tuberculousprisoners, and one at Careggi, near Florence, for tuberculous men from

the war zone; surgical sections at Turin, Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, and Palermo for blinded and mutilated soldiers; neurological centres for each army corps; departments and special hospitals in each army corps for relapsing malarious patiet,s; aptimalarial sanatoriums for convalescents; and surgical and radiological ambulances for

each army corps.

[michaeldr]

How/why is an RAMC man in Sicily in 1916? Was a troop or hospital ship sunk in the area at the time, for example?

Another possibility, was he en-route to/from a hospital in Malta?

Edit: just seen Rundberg's post, which looks like a more promising line of enquiry