Injury or casualty records

[rap1943]

I am not sure if this is the correct forum but the topic is pretty much an 'Other' topic so here goes. I did post a similar topic, but with specific reference to my Father, in 'Soldiers' about a week ago. But I am now hoping to capture a wider readership. In trying to find my Father's war record I have come to the conclusion that his record was amongst the 'burnt' ones. I accessed some fiche through the local LDS library here in Melbourne and could find nothing, however I was left thinking that maybe I didn't see all the records. Just a feeling. However I must accept that and try something else. As he had two wounded stripes I got to thinking that maybe there were some seperate records of injuries or casualties. Does anybody know?

Cheers

Bob Pearson

[SPotter]

Bob,

There is a fantastic photograph (can't quote exactly which book I've seen it in though) of loads of filing clerks around a huge set of drawers sorting 'wounded' cards. I'm sure they had a proper name, though don't know what this is. Perhaps a Pal can enlighten us. However, to get to the point, a record card was created EVERY time a soldier was wounded. This would have been a vast undertaking and due to the size of the database created it was most regretably destroyed after the cessation of hostilities. A BIG MISTAKE!!

Regards

Steve

[rap1943]

Thanks Steve for alerting me to the BIG MISTAKE, I guess I can stop thinking about that avenue of research and think of something else. Which leads me to thinking about lists of hospitals (converted big houses etc) that were used. You see, family lore says my Dad was in hospital in Chester at least one of the times he was wounded. Does anyone know of any lists?

Bob

[Sue Light]

Bob

Just a representative selection of these records remain at the National Archives in Class MH 106. Although a tiny percentage of the records, obviously someone might end up being lucky. There are admission and discharge registers for six general hospitals, a stationary hospital, six casualty clearing stations, an ambulance train, one hospital ship [the ‘Assaye’], and four hospitals in the UK.

There are also some medical records relating to 5 regiments/units – the Leicestershire Regiment, Grenadier Guards, Royal Flying Corps, Royal Field Artillery, and Hussars. I recently looked at some of the medical cards for the Leicestershire Regiment – just out of interest, I had no special reason for a search. They are octavo size, and come several hundred to a box – there are several boxes for each unit. The ones I looked at were filed in order of regimental number, but there were a lot of misfiles. There was a card raised at the time of injury or illness, and as some men had more than one card, it seems likely that a new card was raised for each episode. The name of the hospital of admission is written at the top of each card. They contain a good amount of detail as to age, length of service, date of illness/wounding, diagnosis, any surgical treatment, date and time of death, if applicable. For a man evacuated back to the UK, a separate card exists for his admission to the home hospital, or transfer thereafter.

I realise from some of the posts on the forum, how desperate people can be to track wounded men down. I would say that if your man is from one of the above units, and was wounded/ill during service, there is a good chance that a card might exist for him. However, they are not indexed, and it would be extremely difficult to judge which box of cards you would need to look at – if his number was very low, it might be easier. Unless luck was on your side, it could be a very long search indeed – a day or so looking for one card might not be unreasonable. Personally, if my grandfather or uncle had been in one of the above units, I would consider it time well spent. But I have no clue how complete these remaining records are, and presumably a search would need to be judged by a percentage chance of success. If you are not in a position to visit the NA yourself, I would imagine it could be costly!

Sue

[rap1943]

Thanks Sue for your post. My dad was in the KRRC and I can't get to the NA as I'm in Aussie so I guess thats another avenue closed. However I'm sure something else will pop up, it usually does.

Bob