steve fuller Posted 7 July , 2004 Share Posted 7 July , 2004 Hello all Has anyone seen info on or learned about the route the hopsital ships (?) took from Gallipoli battle zone to Blighty, cos if you have Id be very grateful to learn about it! Specifically, a Bedfordshire soldier (if it makes a difference), ports stopped at, entry port to UK, and where from there (i have the Western Front Casualty info from the main page already) ... Thank you again Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 7 July , 2004 Share Posted 7 July , 2004 I don't have the information you are after. But I have just read the poem by Nazim Hikmet (or the English translation thereof) that describes what happened to Ottoman casualties: By the time the sun was setting They took us out... Medics put us on horsecarts. One on top of another, Like empty wheatbags... Ten, fifteen wounded on a cart. Some cry out Some die that minute... The roads of Ari Burnu are bumpy. It is dark. I am lying on my back. Another body underneath wriggles, On my chest, a pair of legs, but Half of one is missing. We are going downhill. By morning we arrived at the pier. There is a tent. Someone shouts from inside the tent: 'Where are you from?' 'Such and such.' 'What is your father's name?' 'So and so.' 'What is your name?' 'So and so.' 'Driver throw him down.' The pain is unbearable, I swore at the driver. Obviously used to this, he said 'Swear my brother As much as you like.' We were laid on the sand. The sea comes and goes... Maybe a thousand wounded on the beach, Maybe more. In the afternoon Came a ship: With two stacks, Painted the colour of the sea They loaded us on to it Shouting, swearing Again like empty bags. Inside the ship it was hell. Blood squelching, Steam, Oil, Sweat. They took me down to the hold. We sailed. Seven days seven nights. Maggots appeared in my wounds... Black headed White bodied... Maggots are smart, When I look, they bury Themselves in the wounds. Seven days seven nights. If Allah doesn't kill, he doesn't The Turk is strong, He can endure... Around nightfall, I was taken ashore... Istanbul glittering. My precious Istanbul. We entered a hospital. The walls gleaming white... They put me on a trolley. So comfortable. Powerful stuff Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 7 July , 2004 Share Posted 7 July , 2004 Steve I presume initial moves would be Mudros, then Alexandria (which was, I think, the major hospital and recuperation centre). Route might then be direct to UK, but I have seen indications that casualties were disembarked at Marseilles. Presumably, they would then have been moved north by train and then re-embarked at the Channel ports). Happy to be corrected by the Gallipoli buffs (cue Wills'). John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Brown Posted 7 July , 2004 Share Posted 7 July , 2004 The following is clipped from CWGC Pieta Cemetery , Malta:- "From the spring of 1915, the hospitals and convalescent depots established on the islands of Malta and Gozo dealt with over 135,000 sick and wounded, chiefly from the campaigns in Gallipoli and Salonika, ............" Also see a reference to that campaign at here where someone previously asked about Gallipoli. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhill Posted 7 July , 2004 Share Posted 7 July , 2004 In the absence of better information, we can fall back on our ever useful on-line Canadian War Diaries, which you can find in the usual place, here: http://www.collectionscanada.ca/02/02015202_e.html There were no Canadian units on the penninsula (Newfoundland was not part of Canada in those days), but several Canadian hospitals were in the theatre. Nos. 1 and 3 Canadian Stationary Hospitals were at Mudros from August, 1915. I have not gone through their diaries in detail, but they seem to give a good idea of the initial evacuation situation. The 3rd CSH information is in the form of reports written on the boat on the way back, so is dated April, 1916. Below is a map snippet to whet your appetites. In general, it seems casualties went to Egypt, but there are references to loading hospital ships direct for England. No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital was in Cairo at this time. Their diary (what there is of it!) is also interesting, although we may have to speculate where their casualties came from. I hope this is of use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenwoodman Posted 7 July , 2004 Share Posted 7 July , 2004 I have traced one man of my grandad's unit from Gallipoli back to Alexandria (one of the few hospital documents still remaining in the NA-PRO) from where he was shipped back to UK. Also Vera Brittain describes her time at Malta looking after Gallipoli personnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 8 July , 2004 Share Posted 8 July , 2004 Hi Steve I have a copy of a diary of a member of the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital who for the first few months of the campaign was stationed on hospital ships off Cape Helles & Anzac Cove. Sometimes the hospital ships went straight back to Alexandria, other times they went to Egypt via Lemnos or Malta or they unloaded all their patients in Malta before going back for more. Your Bedfordshire soldier might have stopped at one of these ports before making it back to England. Cheers Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fuller Posted 8 July , 2004 Author Share Posted 8 July , 2004 Lovely stuff. Thank you all. Will be looking into all your leads! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dinkidi Posted 20 July , 2004 Share Posted 20 July , 2004 Andrew Was he on the "Alaunia" about the time of the Lone Pine / Nek battles? Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 20 July , 2004 Share Posted 20 July , 2004 I recently came across reference to soldiers from Gallipoli being transferred to hospitals in Gibralter as well. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 20 July , 2004 Share Posted 20 July , 2004 This thread gives some information about hospital ships and their routes http://1914-1918.org/forum/index.php?showt...t=0entry35833 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 21 July , 2004 Share Posted 21 July , 2004 Andrew Was he on the "Alaunia" about the time of the Lone Pine / Nek battles? Pat Hi Pat I'll check what he was doing at the time of Lone Pine and get back to you. He was detailed to casualty evacuation on the ships for the first few months before being stationed at Lemnos. Regards Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 22 July , 2004 Share Posted 22 July , 2004 Pat Checked the diary and by the time of the August battles he was on ward duty at the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital where he was busy with the casualties coming in. "Many of the unfortunate fellows were sent to Lemnos and I saw for the first time the awful treatment metted out to these unfortunate fellows who have so nobly done their duty and served their part at Anzac". There was an entry for 21st July which may interest some. "During the past few days I have been doing as little as possible owing to the state of my stomach which is still very painful and tender. Today General Hunter Weston was brought on board as a walking case, and among his luggage was a set of golf clubs and two lounge chairs" Anyone know if Hunter-Weston got much golf in while he was there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 22 July , 2004 Share Posted 22 July , 2004 Andrew, Many thanks for that detail re H-W; it would be nearly impossible to make something up about this guy. Speaking to Compton Mackenzie, he referred to his dug-out as the ‘baronial hall’ though obviously he did not have to do any of the digging. Someone pointed out that of all the figures from Gallipoli, H-W is perhaps the only major one who did not put pen to paper after the war to justify his place in history. I also think that his time at Gallipoli was entirely missing from his entry in ‘Who’s Who.’ And yet, despite everything, he was popular [exactly why, I don’t know] and he was an MP after the war. I seem also to remember that he died after a fall from a window or balcony or some such place at the family seat. Regards Michael D.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dinkidi Posted 22 July , 2004 Share Posted 22 July , 2004 Andrew Thanks for the look-up! The Hospital could have adopted the motto "Casualties? We care for casualties, Even Hunter-Wilson!" Someone would have to whip it into Latin though. ooRoo Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 23 July , 2004 Share Posted 23 July , 2004 Hi Michael & Pat Looking at some of the attacks he ordered I can't understand how he could be as popular as he was. Did the soldiers & people back home blame Hamilton for the attacks rather than Hunter Weston? Regards Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 23 July , 2004 Share Posted 23 July , 2004 Andrew, I can’t say who they blamed instead of H-W Gen Paris was genuinely upset by his callous attitude to casualties however I am tempted to think that the poor bloody infantrymen expected no better One is reminded of Sassoon’s lines “’He’s a cheery old card,’ grunted Harry to Jack As they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . But he did for them both by his plan of attach.” Regards Michael D.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dinkidi Posted 23 July , 2004 Share Posted 23 July , 2004 Andrew I don't think the average Australian "student" or relative got to hear much about H-W! I'm almost ashamed to say that I knew almost zero about second Krithia until fairly recently and was amazed at the 2nd brigade carnage [ resisted the urge for decimation ] Not to trivialise, the old KISS principle may have decreed that having Hamilton to blame would be enough. ooRoo Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telaw Posted 10 September , 2004 Share Posted 10 September , 2004 Besides Alexandria many wouned from Gallipoli were taken to Cairo. the hospital at the citadel was much more advanced than anything Alex had so many ended up there. cairo and Heliopolis cemeteries add to the testament of those who gave the ultimate sacfrifice at Gallipoli. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fuller Posted 10 September , 2004 Author Share Posted 10 September , 2004 Anyone know if Hunter-Weston got much golf in while he was there? That'd explain why the Turk snipers were so effective; getting to practice on the General's balls as they fly through the air would make them pretty accurate marksmen! Telaw; cheers for that. Came across Citadel when exploring another casualty route few months ago. Would they move someone from Alex to Citadel after an Operation, or leave them where they are to recover? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telaw Posted 10 September , 2004 Share Posted 10 September , 2004 Telaw; cheers for that. Came across Citadel when exploring another casualty route few months ago. Would they move someone from Alex to Citadel after an Operation, or leave them where they are to recover? Yes, it seems a lot of patients were moved from Alex to the Citadel to convalesce and enjoy the sights of Cairo. Though most had seem them prior to departing for Gallipoli. I'm still waiting to get a tour of the old hospital buildings. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fuller Posted 13 September , 2004 Author Share Posted 13 September , 2004 Understood mate. Ive got a jpeg of the Citadel layout if you want it - prob a pic or two somewhere as well? Let me know if its any use? Thanks Tom Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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