Lieut. J L S Melville 31Mot. Ambulance Convoy (705 coy)

[Hallaton1]

I'm currently researching this officer and have his file from the national archives. I have a few basic questions which I'm sure some of you will be able to answer.

1 The first page of his records state that 1,2,3,5,6 were destroyed in 1932. I was just wondering if this was standard practice and why they might have been destroyed.

2 Can anyone tell me where in France the 31 Mot Ambulance Convoy was? I know there is a war diary (WO95/249) but I'm not able to get to Kew at the moment and this isn't available on line. He appears to have been a "W'shop officer" so I'm guessing he wouldn't have been driving the ambulances to collect the wounded.

3 He appears to have been a patient at Craiglockhart late in 1918. Are there any records available for this hospital? I was a little surprised he was treated there as a letter in his file seems to suggest that his condition was not due to military service. Was this common for soldiers to be treated there if their condition was not considered to have been brought about through military service?

Many thanks

Max

[Sue Light]

Max

He was at Craiglockhart for a long time. I've transcribed the admission and discharge registers for the hospital and his entry shows that he was admitted 19 July 1918 with Neurasthenia and was a patient there for 141 days treatment until his transfer on 6 December 1918 to Tidworth Military Hospital (TNA MH106/1889)

His length of stay is certainly at the upper end for that time.

Sue

[Hallaton1]

Max

He was at Craiglockhart for a long time. I've transcribed the admission and discharge registers for the hospital and his entry shows that he was admitted 19 July 1918 with Neurasthenia and was a patient there for 141 days treatment until his transfer on 6 December 1918 to Tidworth Military Hospital (TNA MH106/1889)

His length of stay is certainly at the upper end for that time.

Sue

Sue

Thanks so much for that information. I suppose his actual clinical records have been destroyed. I understand Neurasthenia is a sort of catch all term used at the time for a wide variety of nervous conditions but I thought it was likely his was brought on by military service though one of the letters suggests they didn't consider this to be the case.

Are we able to say what sort of treatment he might have received there?

The correspondence was signed by a major Brown of the RAMC. Would he have been one of the doctors there?

thanks

Max

[Sue Light]

I don't think any clinical records survive other than any that are contained within service records. Almost all the entries throughout the period that the registers were kept show the same 'Neurasthenia' diagnosis. Of course, each man was an individual, so I'm sure there must have been many variations in what symptoms they actually displayed. There are also a few men with other problems - 'Debility,' 'Nervous Debility,' and some instances of heart disease and gunshot wounds etc., but not many. The variety is enormous among the age and status of the men - elderly colonels and officers with more than thirty years service, right down to teenage officers who have never actually been overseas. Lt. Melville is noted as having served for 2 years 10 months, of which one year and ten months was overseas (sorry, missed that bit out before).

The treatment was described as 'progressive' and like many people I've gained an image of the ways in which it was dispensed by reading Pat Barker's fictional 'Regeneration' trilogy, though I'm not sure how accurate it is. There's a mass of bits and pieces scattered throughout the web, partly because of the interest aroused by both Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen having been patients there, but they need picking over. I've no idea about Major Brown. If the letter refers to the findings of a medical board, then likely he was not directly connected with the hospital.

Going back to your first point, officers' service files, both men and women, were routinely 'weeded' during the first half of the 1930s and a lot of personal correspondence removed at that time. If you'd like the page image of the entry in the A&D Register email me via the contact link on my website (the 'Scarletfinders' link at the bottom of the post).

Sue

Sue

[Sue Light]

Also, check out links on the web for the Hydra Magazine like this one - I think hospital magazines always give good clues as to what was going on there:

The Hydra

Sue

[Waggoner]

Max, That is 31 Motor Ambulance Convoy. They would have been transporting casualties from the front line Casualty Clearing Stations to medical facilities further behind the lines. I can't find a reference that tells me where they were. However, the other MTCs in the 30s range were in the Middle East. Because they used motorized vehicles, they would have required a workshop to repair them. Your man would have been either the OC or one of the other officers supervising the workshop. Hope this helps a bit. All the best, Gary

[Waggoner]

Max, Just noticed that 705 Company was employed as 31 MAC. The company was formed on 3 June 1916 and disbanded on 10 May 1919. It was employed on the Western Front as part of the First Army. This might give you some idea of where they were although the First Army area of operations probably covered a significant amount of space. All the best, Gary