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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Hospital Blues


Lachlan

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My Granddad spent part of his war in a military hospital and a group photo shows him and the other servicemen, all in their hospital blue uniforms. I would like to ask when the practice of issuing these blue uniforms started, was it universal and was there any reason for that choice/design ?

Does anyone have a photo of a hospital blue uniform surviving today ?

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My Granddad spent part of his war in a military hospital and a group photo shows him and the other servicemen, all in their hospital blue uniforms. I would like to ask when the practice of issuing these blue uniforms started, was it universal and was there any reason for that choice/design ?

Does anyone have a photo of a hospital blue uniform surviving today ?

My understanding is that Hospital Blues were first issued during the Crimean War and arose from the public outcry engendered by William Howard Russell's dispatches that brought attention to the suffering of the wounded. This is turn attracted Queen Victoria's attention and before long the special blue uniforms were issued and a large military hospital built at Netley, Southampton, for the better treatment of the wounded. The uniforms were the same blue flannel, lined in white that served their purpose throughout the Boer War, WW1, WW2, Korea and as late as the 1960s, when they were finally withdrawn and replaced by issue striped pyjamas and dressing gowns, but on a much smaller scale. These latter have also since been withdrawn (along with the military hospitals). If you look you can see that the later pattern appears to be just a cropped version (as in coat cut into a jacket) of the original. There were few sizes and most men had to turn up trouser cuffs to fit. The lapels were originally designed to be fastened at the neck and so when turned back for the white shirt and red tie also showed a portion of white lining.

There is an interesting link showing the scale of effort involved in treating WW1 wounded here: http://rusholmearchi...itals-1914-1918

And an explanation regarding the use of hospital blues here: http://wellcomelibra...oldiers-in.html

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Photographs of the Hospital Blues in wear.

Whilst it was compulsory to wear the Hospital Blue uniform whilst convalescing in hospital, it was usual for the convalescing soldier to continue to wear their service headgear.

Many wounded soldiers from overseas forces also spent time convalescing in the U.K. and they also wore the Hospital Blue uniform.

There was also another version of the Hospital Blue uniform without the white lapels.

Soldiers wearing the Hospital Blue uniform may also wear the Hospital Blue armband.

LF

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  • 5 months later...

Photographs of the Hospital Blues in wear.

Whilst it was compulsory to wear the Hospital Blue uniform whilst convalescing in hospital, it was usual for the convalescing soldier to continue to wear their service headgear.

Many wounded soldiers from overseas forces also spent time convalescing in the U.K. and they also wore the Hospital Blue uniform.

There was also another version of the Hospital Blue uniform without the white lapels.

Soldiers wearing the Hospital Blue uniform may also wear the Hospital Blue armband.

LF

Apart from when worn on greatcoats, which were the nornal khaki drab type, it seems that the arm bands were to show the various stages of a man's treatment and recovery, as explained at one of the two links above.

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Whilst the blues were withdrawn in the 1950's, we continued to wear the white shirt and red tie under BD whilst convalescing. I wore this in 1964 at Cambridge Mil Hospital.

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Whilst the blues were withdrawn in the 1950's, we continued to wear the white shirt and red tie under BD whilst convalescing. I wore this in 1964 at Cambridge Mil Hospital.

Some miltary hospitals still had their blues as late as the early 1960s, especially overseas. The withdrawal was probably phased and began in Britain, as stocks were no longer replenished there first, but directed abroad.

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  • 6 months later...
Guest albert carter

I spent eight month's in Tidworth Hospital during 1946 and we had to wear the hospital blues, white dog collar shirt, pajamas type trousers, coat with orang-utan sleeves,and the red tie. Only one size was issued (One size fits all ) and I was only 5ft 4. After this it was convalescent to Queen Victoria Netley, Southampton. We wore various coloured sash to denote stages of recovery, I only managed three and then demob came to my rescue.

A.E. Carter. 3rd Division and 79th.

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  • 9 years later...

Hello to all

I am new to this site but have been a collector for most of my life I found this forum when looking on the net for information on convalescent uniforms as there is not a lot of information there I have recently acquired one of these very rare uniform I do not know why they are so rare as there must of been a large number of these made I would say a million or so the problem I am having is the colour of this uniform as it is not dark blue like the one in the IWM and also has packets to the front, as I look at all the pictures on line of these uniforms even though they are black and white pictures I do not believe any of them are dark blue here is a picture of my uniform and lapel inside the collar 

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A022B559-8B08-4E65-BB98-709D9E916165_1_201_a.jpeg

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The issue is not really that they are black and white pictures but that they (WWI period) are almost all shot on ORTHOCHROMATIC film which, because of the part of the light spectrum the film responds to (blue/green end) renders blues very light and yellows and reds very dark (this is also why skin tones are sometimes darker looking if an individual had a pinkish complexion or the light conditions were warm (yellow).

There are quite a number of threads on this, but for an easy demonstration look at some period photographs of British union flags to see how the dark blue and red are rendered.

I have a hospital blues set (probably from the 1930s) and the colour is close to that shown in the cartoon above, however as with all uniforms of the period I do not doubt that there was considerable variation between dye lots.

Chris

 

Edited by 4thGordons
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The first one is hand coloured (on top of what appears to be an orthochromatic print) - notoriously unreliable as a guide to the actual color (as also the cartoons posted above)

The second is a lithograph/screen print so has to be taken with a grain of salt -- unless red shoes were really issued? :D

I don't doubt that there was a range of colours from light to quite dark. I have several dozen photos of hospital blues in wear and the tones vary considerably.

Chris

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I'll see if I have a pic of the item -- if not it may take a while to dig out!

Here is a pic from my collection that (to my eyes) appears to show several variations in style and colour)

The jacket of the Gordon (with glengarry) on the right is quite dark (as are some of the men in the rear

whereas others are lighter

some have white facings on the lapels - others do not -- so I suspect there was a lot of variation.

Chris

woundedworkshop.jpg.27d490746672d777d68986488a86c18a.jpg

 

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6 hours ago, Anzac said:

Here is one of my favourites in this theme 

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Hospital blue dates back to the Crimean War when Queen Victoria expressed a wish to see her returned wounded.  The Army Authorities realised that they needed to ensure the men were as well presented as possible and so special clothing was arranged for them.  There is quite a well done podcast that’s worth watching here: 


You might also find this article from St George’s Library informative too: https://stglibrary.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/patients-and-the-first-world-war/

The photo below shows a jacket from the Imperial War Museum collection.

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Edited by FROGSMILE
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Anzac: Welcome to the Forum and that really is a great photograph. Such cheerfulness on the faces!  I did a reverse- image search, and one site stated that the men were in the grounds of the 47th London General Hospital.

 

 

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Thank you so much to Frogsmile - 4thGordons and Moonraker as this has all been so helpful I now know for sure that my convalescent uniform is WW1 and made in USA as a stopgap

Malcolm  

 

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57 minutes ago, Anzac said:

Thank you so much to Frogsmile - 4thGordons and Moonraker as this has all been so helpful I now know for sure that my convalescent uniform is WW1 and made in USA as a stopgap

Malcolm  

 

Glad to help.  Two extra things to look out for, one is what appears to have been a later issue, or special contract suit, in that it has no lining, is cut like a lounge suit with open rever lapels, and issued with a matching waistcoat/vest to make a 3-piece outfit.  It is less often seen, but was clearly issued in some numbers.
The second is that at the specialist, ‘Roehampton’ hospital for fitting prosthetics to men who had lost limbs, a contrasting patch pocket was fitted to the outside of the jacket front, presumably to aid those with one arm as a convenient receptacle, or contain a special item required by all.  It’s a mystery and they were a feature of just that hospital.  See:

1.https://archives.friendsqmh.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/A-History-of-QMH.pdf

2.https://archives.friendsqmh.com/1915-38/

 

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Edited by FROGSMILE
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Would the jackets always have been blue ? I have a light brown jacket signed by about 40 RAMC medics and other patients , all dated 21/11/16 . I presume this was the date of the owners discharge from hospital. 32B9AA66-84DF-4E2C-B30D-1AAF5B9A135A.jpeg.c22b37fc11ed7b0e6adfb4c0f53a0fc9.jpegEF778248-7F41-40B8-9C05-D0E6A0A31230.jpeg.e4a346b86ad36b264d091660501fe5bf.jpeg

B0DD90EC-3E93-47C2-B771-784D06D9416B.jpeg

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1 hour ago, NevB said:

Would the jackets always have been blue ? I have a light brown jacket signed by about 40 RAMC medics and other patients , all dated 21/11/16 . I presume this was the date of the owners discharge from hospital. 32B9AA66-84DF-4E2C-B30D-1AAF5B9A135A.jpeg.c22b37fc11ed7b0e6adfb4c0f53a0fc9.jpegEF778248-7F41-40B8-9C05-D0E6A0A31230.jpeg.e4a346b86ad36b264d091660501fe5bf.jpeg

B0DD90EC-3E93-47C2-B771-784D06D9416B.jpeg

That isn’t a hospital/convalescence suit.  It looks similar to a storemans brown coat, but that was usually single breasted.  I don’t recognise your garment, but the patch pockets are typically utilitarian for workmanlike usage.

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