1st (Home Counties) Field Ambulance

[stoker99]

Looking at the service record of a chap that served in the 1st (Home Counties) Field Ambulance, part of the Territorial Force, I’ve seen mention of both the second-line unit, the 2/1st HCFA, and the third-line unit, the 3/1st HCFA. The Long, Long Trail describes how the second-line units were raised to replace the original territorials when they went overseas on the outbreak of the war, and how the third-line units were subsequently formed to release the second-line units for overseas service. It also states that the third-line units remained at home for the duration of the war. So far so good. However, the service record also mentions the 4/1st HCFA. What was this? Was there really a fourth-line unit? Why would there need to be another reserve unit, given that the 3/1st HCFA was already in existence?

[Ron Clifton]

Hello Richard

1/1st HCFA (along with 1/2nd and 1/3rd) was assigned to the newly formed Regular 27th Division in autumn 1914.

They were not replaced in the original Home Counties Division when it went to India, but 2/1st, 2/2nd and 2/3rd, originally assigned to 2/Home Cos Div, were transferred to 58th (2/1st London) Division, which was then sent to France. They were replaced in 67th (2/Home Cos) Div by 3/1st, 3/2nd and 3/3rd HCFAs. This division remained in the UK.

Therefore, both 1/1st and 2/1st were in effect 1st-line TF units; 3/1st became a 2nd-line unit; and 4/1st became the reserve and depot, 3rd-line, unit.

Quite a few TF units, especially in London and the Home Counties, raised two 1st-line units in the same way, which makes the 1/, 2/ and 3/ prefixes a bit misleading! But it does illustrate how 4/1st HCFA, and not 3/1st, was the eventual "3rd-line" unit.

Ron

[stoker99]

Ron

Thanks very much for the response. But (and there's always a but!) I'm now more confused than ever. I thought that the 2/1st HCFA was raised in August / September 1914 - at least, that's when my chap appears to have joined up. But more to the point, the 2/1st HCFA was apparently attached to the 2/4th Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, part of the 53rd (Welsh) Division, and went to Gallipoli in July / August 1915. Or have I got that wrong?

Richard

[BJanman]

Hi Richard

When war was declared the 1st Home Counties Field Ambulance was almost up to strength and it wasn’t long before it was able to mobilize. The headquarters was then taken over by the 1st (Reserve) Home Counties Field Ambulance. Authority was given in September 1914 for the formation of a second line unit and they started to advertise, which is why your man joined up around that time. By January 1915, the 2/1st became part of the 2nd Home Counties Division and the 3rd line unit became the reserve unit. The 3/1st Home Counties Field Ambulance became part of the 67th [2nd Home Counties] Division and the 4/1st came into existence on 31st March 1916. The reserve unit was intended to act as a training unit and depot for the units above them.

The 1/1st Home Counties Field Ambulance mobilised under 44th (Home Counties) Division but switched to 27th Division in November 1914.

The 2/1st Home Counties Field Ambulance were formed under 67th (2nd Home Counties) Division but served with the 58th (2/1st London) Division.

The 3rd and 4th Line units never went abroad, in fact they were disbanded in 1917 and ‘Home Service’ units were formed.

Hope that helps to make it a bit clearer.

Barbara

[stoker99]

Barbara

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

According to the Long, Long Trail, the 2/1st HCFA, the 2/2nd HCFA and the 2/3rd HCFA only joined the 58th (2/1st London) Division on 22nd February 1916. However, I’m interested in the period before this, since my chap's service records definitely show he was in Gallipoli with the 2/1st HCFA, attached to the 2/4th Queens (Royal West Surrey) Regiment. Looking through different websites, the movements of the 2/4th Queens were as follows:

Aug 1914: 2/4th Battalion, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment formed at Croydon

Sep 1914: 2/5th Battalion, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment formed at Guildford

Nov 1914: 2/4th & 2/5th joined 200th (2nd Surrey) Brigade, 67th (2nd Home Counties) Division at Windsor

24 Apr 1915: composite Battalion formed from 2/4th and about 400 men of 2/5th; joined 160th (Welsh Border) Brigade, 53rd (Welsh) Division at Cambridge

Jun 1915: composite Battalion restyled 2/4th Battalion

16 Jul 1915: entrained for Devonport at midnight, arriving next morning

17 Jul 1915: embarked ‘Ulysses’ and sailed from Devonport that evening

28 Jul 1915: arrived Alexandria

30 Jul 1915: arrived Port Said

4 Aug 1915: sailed for Lemnos

7 Aug 1915: arrived Mudros Harbour and from there sailed straight for Gallipoli

8/9 Aug 1915: landed at ‘C’ Beach, Suvla Bay, Gallipoli

You say that the 2/1st HCFA was part of the 67th (2nd Home Counties) Division. Is it possible that the 2/1st HCFA moved to the 53rd Division at the same time as the 2/4th Queens, and went with them to Gallipoli?

Richard

[BJanman]

Richard

The 2/1st Home Counties Field Ambulance and the 2/4th Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment were both attached to the 200 (2nd Surrey) Brigade in the early part of 1915, however they definitely parted company. As already stated, the Field Ambulance left the 67th Division on 22nd February 1916 and joined the 58th Division, and the unit never went to Gallipoli.

If the service record shows your chap as being attached to the 2/4th Queens (Royal West Surrey) Regiment then it is highly likely that he was assigned to their regimental medical establishment and left with them when they joined the 160th (Welsh Border) Brigade, 53rd (Welsh) Division on 24th April 1915. This means that he would have been working with the Regimental Medical Officer in the Regimental Aid Post, and no longer part of the field Ambulance. However, he would have still ‘belonged’ to the 1st Home Counties Divisional Field Ambulance’s team, the team at the RAPs were not a unit as such and he would have needed to report to a specific unit when he went back home or transferred back to his original unit, the 2/1st Home Counties Field Ambulance, if need be.

That’s the only logical explanation I can think of but I am not sure where you would get information to back it up though. I am slowly working through the 1914 Star Medal Rolls and this provides the regiments that these men where attached to when they arrived in their theatre of war, I haven’t looked at the 14-15 Star rolls so do not know if they do as well but it might be worth looking there. The only other information source I can think of is the A.D.M.S., 53rd Division's war diary, as he was writing up on the medical situation for that Division, so there is a small chance he might be mentioned there.

Barbara

[Ron Clifton]

Hello Richard

2/1 Home Counties FA was not attached as a unit to 2/4 Queens (except possibly in the early days, during formation and training, and it did not go to Gallipoli or form part of 53rd (Welsh) Division. A Field Ambulance was a unit of about 240 all ranks and there were three in each division. They were not officially allocated on the basis of one FA per infantry brigade but that is how it often worked out in practice.

Each infantry battalion had attached to it a medical officer, a corporal and four privates of the RAMC, the latter being mainly responsible for ensuring a supply of clean drinking water. What probably happened, therefore, was that your man originally joined 2/1 HCFA but was then attached to 2/4/Queens as part of their "water purification detachment", wand went to Gallipoli with the battalion. This explanation fits all the facts and resolves the anomalies: it may still not be the whole truth but it is a "best guess."

Incidentally 4/Queens was another of those pre-war TF bodies which formed two 1st-line units, so there was also a 4/4/Queens, its "3rd-line" unit, back in the UK.

Ron

[stoker99]

Barbara & Ron

I think your explanations must be what happened. I've looked at the chap's service records again, and it doesn't actually say that he was with the 2/1st HCFA in Gallipoli - I'd just assumed he must have been. My mistake. He was wounded on the peninsula; when he was invalided back to England, the daily orders describe his status as follows:

Unit R.A.M.C. att: other units than Medical Units. (53rd Welsh Div:)

Att: 2/4 Queens R.W. Surrey Regt:

However, he rejoined the 2/1st when he arrived back in England, before being posted on to the 3/1st and then the 4/1st - hence my original post. All rather confusing!!

Richard

[stoker99]

Slightly off topic, but...

I notice that three men of the 1/1st HCFA died in October 1916:

• Captain Aubrey William Venables, killed in action on 2 October 1916, aged 29 years, buried in Struma Military Cemetery, Greece
• 291 Private Frank Richard Crossman, killed in action on 2 October 1916, aged 24 years, buried in Struma Military Cemetery, Greece
• 2044 Sergeant Alfred George Stephen Hoad, died of wounds on 4 October 1916, aged 23 years, buried in Lahana Military Cemetery, Greece

At the time, the 27th Division was in action at Karajakoi Bala, Karajakoi Zir, and Yenikoi. Could anyone tell me what happened to the 1/1st HCFA during the battle? Were they hit by shellfire?

Many thanks

Richard