The Crimson Field - BBC drama series

[Guest]

I am lost, adrift. What is there to do at 9 pm tonight now that TCF has finished!

What's wrong with watching it again on iPlayer, and having a second look at any errors, and adding to the thread. Alternatively, you could spend the hour, going over my posts, and finding any errors there; either way, plenty to be going on with?

Mike

[seaJane]

I am lost, adrift. What is there to do at 9 pm tonight now that TCF has finished!

Wander down to Poole Harbour and look for a yacht called Multiplex and say hi to my other half.

[seaJane]

Wander down to Poole Harbour and look for a yacht called Multiplex and say hi to my other half.

Ah, scrub round that. They have engine trouble...

[Ghazala]

Ah, scrub round that. They have engine trouble...

Who? Your other half? lol.

[seaJane]

Yep - with the yacht. Despite having just had the engines serviced :rolls eyes some more: (sorry I realise we are getting off the topic).

[BJanman]

For those of you who might not have seen this : Sue Light giving a talk 'No Task Too Great: VADs in the Great War'

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N4fJY73Q_Uw

Love this

Thanks for posting a link Caryl

[auchonvillerssomme]

It was a good, the BBC would have been better off showing Sue's talk.

[NigelS]

The director Mike Leigh's views on historical accuracy in films & TV dramas Cannes Film Festival 2014: Mike Leigh warns audiences not to complain about historical inaccuracies in today's (19th May )Telegraph

NigelS

[David Filsell]

I think when Leigh's concerned its a horse of a different kettle of fish. He's a proper director not a tv numpty

[Indefatigable]

Perhaps Leigh has read the criticsm of TCF on this site!!

[David Filsell]

Ah, good thought. Lash him to the mast.

[Steven Broomfield]

The director Mike Leigh's views on historical accuracy in films & TV dramas Cannes Film Festival 2014: Mike Leigh warns audiences not to complain about historical inaccuracies in today's (19th May )Telegraph

NigelS

Bl++dy H+ll, Nigel - I'll stop bothering to ponder posting snippets from the Tottygraph since you seem always to beat me to it!

Interesting article, though: I, for one, could have forgiven the subject of this thread a lot had it been in any way believable.

[squirrel]

TCF managed to get the look and the language wrong - DA didn't manage much better in places...I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with being "socially insecure" as that smug g*t Lord Fellowes says.

[kenneth505]

Here's a great story that 5 sharp eyed researchers at the Univ. of Leeds uncovered:

http://www.historyextra.com/news/sex-and-love/revealed-british-first-world-war-officer-who-married-nurse-who-wanted-him-dead

If this had shown up in TCF we'd still be howling, until of course, we determine it had a basis in fact.

[johnboy]

Yipee, it's now out on DVD.

[Moonraker]

Yipee, it's now out on DVD.

It's my birthday today and no-one gave it me for a present.

Moonraker

[johnboy]

A belated happy birthday and a happy new year!

[Moonraker]

This is one of those serious questions that the TCF prompts, so the series can't be all bad. With speculation that there might be a second series, or even a series of series through to the end of the war, how likely was it that a hospital of the type featured would be in the same place for so long and what would the staff turnover have been?

Moonraker

[catfishmo]

This is one of those serious questions that the TCF prompts, so the series can't be all bad. With speculation that there might be a second series, or even a series of series through to the end of the war, how likely was it that a hospital of the type featured would be in the same place for so long and what would the staff turnover have been?

Moonraker

I suppose it all depends on what 'type' of hospital it is. They repeatedly referred to it as a Field Hospital of which (officially) there was no such thing. That terminology seems to suggest a Casualty Clearing Station except that there were no VADs at CCSs, and the head Sister there was not referred to as a Matron but as the 'Head Sister' so technically, it can't be a CCS.

VADs were at base hospitals which contradicts their touts that the hospital was 'so near the Front'. In one of the trailers, I recall a guy with his leg blown off, moaning in pain with blood everywhere. That sort of new, raw injury would suggest 'near the front' which would be a CCS. I don't think a man in that condition would ever have been sent down the line to a base hospital even during the Somme or Passchendaele when they sent every possible man down the line and often straight on to England because the CCSs were so overwhelmed.

As far a length of stay, In 1915, Sisters at a CCS were supposed to be there only 3 months, then rotate back to a base hospital for a time. Later the time was extended to 6 months, but it seems like I saw an account of a Sister who was at one for 9 months.

In either case, Sisters and VADs stationed at base hospitals were moved around fairly frequently--often with only an hour or two of notice. Sisters were moved to other hospitals, to CCSs, and to ambulance trains (and I guess to barges and hospital ships). VADs were moved among hospitals. I think it would have been unheard of for the same group of VADs and a matron to all remain at the same facility for more than a year.

CCSs as a facility could remain in the same place for quite a long time if the front line was stable. It was fairly common for the Sisters to plant flowers and a garden. Other times, they moved frequently depending on the movement of the front line or the intensity of fighting in an area. CCSs were often in groups of two or three clustered around a railhead. If the casualties were light for a time in a quiet area, the 'extra' CCSs may pack up and move on.

Base hospitals (Boulogne, Rouen, etc) were much more permanent--mostly always expanding. General hospitals, I am not so sure about. Perhaps Sue will add her expertise to the topic.

~Ginger

Edited 24 May , 2014 by catfishmo

[Sue Light]

The hospital in TCF is supposed to be a British General Hospital, and based on No.26 General Hospital at Etaples. As for the rest of the programme, what might be right, what fits in and what doesn't, there is no rhyme or reason to it. Because the writer has so little background knowledge of the hospitals, where they were and how they were run, there is really no point at all in even attempting to fit fact to fiction. And that's a criticism of the programme, not for asking the question! Most of the story lines could never and would never have happened in real life.

Sue

[kenneth505]

Presuming the series is renewed is there any hope the writers will try and incorporate more meaningful plots then the teenagers in love stories they've been giving us?

[johnboy]

If it is a follow on series then it will continue with the story lines.

[Steven Broomfield]

Presuming the series is renewed is there any hope the writers will try and incorporate more meaningful plots then the teenagers in love stories they've been giving us?

Doubtful: if they employ the same writers, directors and cast then what need is there to change? Leopards and spots, old boy. Leopards and spots.

[catfishmo]

I know it is a little late in the game, but I just got access to see the show. For the sake of future researchers interested in the accuracy or inaccuracy of the show, I thought I would chronicle a few of my observations: good, bad, and things that made me say humm... (as in, I doubt it was that way, but I am unsure)

The good:

-Boulogne arrival: Nearly all nurses and VADs going to France disembarked in Boulogne. It was also very common for them to be transported by ambulance to their post if it was fairly close by.

-Field Card/”Blighty ticket”: Men deemed needing long recovery were sent back to England. Each wounded soldier was issued a field card which gave information about him (name, rank, etc). Every man wanted a 'Blighty ticket' meaning he was going not just to another medical facility overseas but back to England. (However, I believe all Field Medical Cards were torn out of a big book. The card was torn out and attached to a button on the soldier's uniform, and his info/where he was being sent was recorded in the big book. )

-Toes in the incinerator: While bodies were buried, amputated limbs were generally burned.

The bad:

-VADs in street clothes: As has already been mentioned, VADs traveled in uniform (they had a regulation coat and hat for outdoor wear). They were instructed that they need not bring civilian clothes at all going overseas.

-Luggage: They would have had much more luggage. There was a long list of bulky items each VAD was required to bring-- teapot, tripod washstand, folding chair, etc

-VAD touts her skill at bandaging: In all the accounts I read, only the most experienced VADs were allowed to bandage wounds. They often helped a Sister or did minor ones if they were very experienced, but I can not imagine a 'fresh' VAD thinking it was one of her best skills. (However, VADs did do fomentations as the dialog mentioned)

-VADs as volunteers: The show continually refers to the VADs a volunteers. As Sue has already mentioned, VADs working overseas were not mere volunteers, they were paid.

-Nurses alone with enlisted men: Flora goes traipsing after orderly Peter in the woods—VADs were strictly forbidden to go out alone with enlisted men. There were accounts of nurses/VADs being denied permission even to go out with a brother.

-Kiss: A VAD kissing a soldier (especially in public) would have resulted in her being sent home immediately.

-Mixed company dining/b-day party: Off-duty male and female staff were generally separated. Each had their own mess tent/hall, and generally private celebrations were also segregated.

Hmmmm <raised eyebrow>

-Bell tent for four people: The only account I read (by Olive Dent) of nurses/VADs in bell tents said there were 2 to a tent, and it was still very crowded. They made shelving, desks, and other 'furniture' out of discarded boxes. They were essentially 'camping' for months and thus tried to make their tents as homey and comfortable as possible.

-VAD washing bandages: None of the accounts I read had VADs or nurses doing laundry. When mentioned, it was done by hired French women.

-Wounded men in dressing gown: This makes me say 'humm'. Only because I don't know where they would have gotten it from. I don't think it was part of hospital 'pyjama outfit' and they certainly wouldn't have had it in their kitbag when the arrived at the hospital.

-Matron censoring mail: All mail was censored, but I'm not sure the Matron had a part in that. Chaplain's often did it.

-“Nurse, he's waking up”: The men generally referred to VADs and Sisters as 'Sister' not 'nurse' (The term 'Sister' was technically a title of recognition given to a trained, professional nurse. It irritated 'real' Sisters that the men used the term indiscriminately with VADs.)

-Burial: Although it was customary to bury general enlisted men wrapped in a blanket (no casket), I thought they were buried 2 to a grave, not a mass grave, unless drastic conditions (hurried burial, danger to men digging graves, weather, etc) prohibited the norm.

-Hospital bed set up: The show often had shots of the wards with the beds arranged with the headboard of one bed butted against the footboard of another. I can't recall seeing any photos of that sort of set up. Generally the beds were lined up in long rows, side by side, with a 'aisle' between each bed (giving nurses access to either side of the patient), and all the footboards were towards the center of the tent or hut.

All in all I was entertained by the show just as I am entertained by other TV dramas, even if believability must be suspended a bit due to its inaccuracies.

~Ginger

[Steven Broomfield]

I am informed by younger daughter (who seems to read the right magazines) that the Beeb had intended to run a series for each year of the centenary commemorations, but are currently reviewing the whole sorry affair.