MH 106 records(First world war representative medical records of servi

[stuannmc]

Hi,

Re: MH 106 Records (War Office: First World War Representative Medical Records of Servicemen)

Just wondering if anyone has looked into these records and how much information there is ?

I am hoping to find information on my Grandfather and Great Uncle and the treatment they received for their injuries.

I live in Melbourne, Aust and hope that someone maybe able to assist me.

With many thanks !!!!!!

Ann

[johnboy]

Their service records, if available, may have medical history/ casualty info.

[Magnumbellum]

Re: MH 106 Records (War Office: First World War Representative Medical Records of Servicemen)

Just wondering if anyone has looked into these records and how much information there is ?

I am hoping to find information on my Grandfather and Great Uncle and the treatment they received for their injuries.

I live in Melbourne, Aust and hope that someone maybe able to assist me.

There is a curiosity about the catalogue reference and title of the item in question which leads me to suspect that it is not what the enquirer is apparently hoping to find, viz the collated medical records of all army personnel of the First World War.

First, the catalogue reference is MH - Ministry of Health, which did not come into existence until 1921, well after the Armistice and demobilisation of most of the soldiers involved.

Second, the Ministry of Health was essentially a successor to, and development of, the Local Government Board, mainly responsible for County, Borough and District Councils, and the Health in its title had more to do with "Public Health" and environmental health than with individual personal health. Moreover, as has been pointed out, individual army medical records have been treated as part of the man's service record, so any passing over of them to the Ministry of Health would have been an odd and complicated business.

Third, the use of "First World War" in the title suggests that the title was given long after the contents were compiled.

Fourth, there is the inclusion of "representative" in the title.

Subject to any further investigation, my provisional guess is that the file is correspondence between the Ministry of Health and the War Office about the Ministry seeking access to a representative sample of WW1 medical records, possibly with a view to assessing provision that might be needed to be made by local authorities.

[Sue Light]

Re: MH 106 Records (War Office: First World War Representative Medical Records of Servicemen)

Just wondering if anyone has looked into these records and how much information there is ?

I am hoping to find information on my Grandfather and Great Uncle and the treatment they received for their injuries.

I have some notes on MH106 on the page below

Medical records in MH106

Sue

[David_Underdown]

Sue's link provides a good simple introduction.

Magnumbellum, if you don't know the provenance of the records, please don't speculate, look at the catalogue description http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C10949. They are in the MH lettercode as they came by way of the Ministry of Pensions which ran veterans' hospitals after the war, and was (unsurprisingly) responsible for war pensions and the records obviously had utility in processing claims. They are representative as only samples of the complete record set were selected for permanent preservation.

[sotonmate]

Ann

A BIG lottery trying to find a relly in MH106 records ! I have read some of them as they relate to Casualty Clearing Stations and whilst there is good info there the representative samples aren't for very many,even if you knew which ones your subjects were taken to !

If you want to post their details it might be possible to find something,there are good finds here often ! Of course,if they are were Australians you may not have such restrictions in the AWM records.

[Chris_Baker]

I head some time ago that the company Forces War Records may be digitising the MH106 files.

[Kath]

Sue,

Would the records for H.M. Hospital Ship ‘Assaye’ be any help in this topic?

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=201044

Kath.

[stuannmc]

Hi and thankyou everyone for your replies. Sorry about the late response, first chance I have had to read the posts.

Sue thankyou once again for your input (you helped me once before with my G/Aunt who was in the TFNS).

I have the war records for both my relatives and it has limited info.

My G/Uncle Eric H Hickie was in the 8th battalion AIF and was injured 'poisoned hand' June 1915(Hospital Mudros) he was then 'wounded in action (no date)' but written down in his records Aug 1915. Sometime during all this, he met my G/Aunt Hilda Musgrave who was in the TFNS and on Hospital ship Mauretania.

They married November 1915 and his residence at the time was 'Queen Alexandra's Hospital Millbank'.....my hope is to try and fill in the gaps and find out a bit more about his injuries.

Thanks once again everyone !!!!

[TEW]

I head some time ago that the company Forces War Records may be digitising the MH106 files.

They seem to have made a start with 51st Field Ambulance records taken from MH106.

Bit confused as to how these can come under the heading;

'Search the Military Hospitals Admissions and Discharge Registers WW1 Collection'

as I can't see how a Field Ambulance record could show which hospital he was admitted to. Surely, these are records of men from the field to a CCS.

TEW