Ambulance Drivers

[spingo]

Would it be possible for a Private in the 21st Bn Manchester Regiment to be an ambulance driver?

Also his service number seems quite late 43465

I thought the Royal Medical Corp had there own drivers.

Spingo

[Captain Dave]

If he was a medic in the Mancheter Regiment, he may have been employed as an Ambulance Driver.

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Most Regimental "Medics" would have just been Stretcher Bearers & for the immediate Attention & movement of the Wounded,RAMC Medics would have been attached to the Units for more involved Medical Attention Prior to despatch to CCSs,Motor Drivers were generally ASC Drivers on attachment to the RAMC,rather than Medically trained RAMC Men.Your number shows a Pte Sheane,Manchesters who doesnt appear to have been transferred to any other unit acording to the MiCs,so I would think it unlikely that he was an Ambulance Driver,unless he had been transferred & it is not recorded.

[spingo]

Many thanks for the information, the family insist he was an ambulance driver--but I guess we will never know.

[jhill]

Although I speak only to be corrected, I am aware of only three types of organizations in France and Flanders with ambulance cars (and thus drivers). The first is the Field Ambulance, which was the medical unit under Divisional command (usually three per Division, I believe). These had both horse and motor ambulance cars, but more the latter as the War went on. A Field Ambulance might typically have had six to eight ambulance cars with an appropriate number of drivers. The main job of these cars was to evacuate casualties from the Advanced Dressing Stations to the Main Dressing Stations.

The next type of organization was the Motor Ambulance Convoy, of which typically one was assigned to each Corps. However, they were under Army command, so far as I know. They might have had fifty-odd cars and their main job was to evacuate from the Main Dressing Stations to the Casualty Clearing Stations. For major operations the Field Ambulances were augmented by cars from the M.A.C. as well as other Field Ambulances.

The other ambulance cars in France of which I am aware were those operated by the Red Cross at the major ports. Their job was mainly to take patients from the base hospitals to hospital ships for transport to England. Some women drivers were employed here.

Thus it is difficult to see a place for an ambulance driver with an Infantry Battalion. The closest thing would be the man assigned as driver for the Medical Officer's cart. This was not an ambulance car. It was just a horse drawn cart carrying the Medical Officer's gear.

I would welcome corrections or additions to this analysis.