Wounded to Returning

[moggs]

My Grandpa spent 21 months in hospitals, convalescent homes and retraining centres across south England. Except for names and a few pictures there appears to be little information available about the places and what happened in them. If anybody could assist I would be grateful.

His itinerary (for want of a better word)

Wounded Mouquet Farm Aug 31st 1916

2AGH Wimereux

County of London Hospital, Epsom?

Perham Downs

Harefield

Hurdcott

OTS at Longbridge, Deverill

rejoined unit May 29th 1918

Jonathan

[Moonraker]

Perham Downs: more usually Perham Down, a prewar camping-site on the edge of Salisbury Plain that had hutments built on it early in the war. Conveniently close to Ludgershall Station. The Australian Imperial Force's Number One Command Depot was there, training soldiers who had been discharged from hospital and were to return to active service.

Hurdcott: Close to the better-known Fovant Camp, west of Salisbury. Hurdcott House was the HQ of the AIF's Number Three Command Depot. (Postcards of the house in civilian guise are currently being offered on eBay.) Initially, Number 5 and 6 camps at Hurdcott housed convalescing Australians but these became a "sub hospital", with higher categories of patient transferred to Number 7 and 8 camps. One patient was W J Duffell who, after being gassed, arrived at Hurdcott on November 24, 1917: In his letters home (edited by Gilbert Mant and published under the title Soldier Boy), he wrote:

"The scene here was row after row of wooden huts & to one of these I was alloted [sic], together with some 50 other rather war worn diggers. Iron bedsteads with fibre filled mattresses lined the walls & a trestle table together with forms held the centre of the hut. A tea consisting of bread & jam followed by a rice pudding was readily despatched by the troops. Mugs & plates were washed up by the mess orderlies after which blankets were handed out three to a man. Soon all were curled up in bed as it had been a heavy day for most of us who were not yet very strong."

Longbridge Deverill: more often known as Sand Hill Camp, near Warminster, on the edge of Salisbury Plain. Australian troops arrived there in autumn 1917. "OTS" stands for "Overseas Training School" (I'm almost sure). In 1917 Tom Gardner of the Australian Imperial Force, having been passed for active service, arrived at Sand Hill to be fitted out with kit and was then ready to move out at any time. "We get physical jerks, bayonet fighting, bomb throwing and all the other things that are essential for the killing of a fellow man, but the work is not hard here like the training camps because here they are all seasoned troops who have been through the actual thing," he wrote to his sister. In the event, Tom suffered more ill health and ended up in hospital, possibly at Hurdcott. (J Morice, Six Bob a Day Tourist)

Australian soldiers were often moved around these camps and others on Salisbury Plain and elsewhere as they recovered from wounds or illness and were then trained for a return to active service.

Moonraker

[moggs]

Thank you Moonraker,

that's a good start. You are right about OTS meaning Overseas Training. I made a mistake, I think, about the acronym - it should have been OTB - the b stands for Brigade.

Jonathan

[Moonraker]

Googling the respective camp names that I've mentioned together with "Australian" will take you to a number of websites (including this one) offering information. There are several links to this

excellent photographic archive

where one can spend a happy half-hour or more searching for pics.

Moonraker

[moggs]

Fantastic. Thank you.

Jonathan