CCS locations; Dozinghem & Lozinghem

[TEW]

Just discovered another original source typo in the 1923 Ministry of Pensions letter which gives dates and locations for CCSs.

 

They give 4, 22, 23, 32, 47 & 61 CCS located in Lozinghem at various times. Dozinghem is not listed in their locations at all.

 

However:

4 CCS arrived Dozinghem 17/6/1917. Opened 6/7/1917.

32 CCS arrived Lozinghem 13th-15th Aug 1918.Opened 30/8/1918

47 CCS arrived Dozinghem 19/6/1917. Opened 30/6/1917.

61 CCS arrived Dozinghem 5/6/1917. Opened 12/6/1917.

 

Don't have any diaries for 22 or 23 at present.

TEW

 

Edited

22 CCS started move to Lozinghem 4/4/1918. Opened 12/4/1918. Shelling forced move to Pernes 9/5/1918

23 CCS arrived Lozinghem 6/9/1915. Opened 20/9/1915. Closed 11/5/18, opened in Anvin 19/5/1918.

 

Diaries for 22 are odd, the CO Maj W R P Goodwin DSO kept a CCS diary in Army Book 152 of usual admissions etc WO95/253/1 but there are the 'normal' format diaries as well covering the same period, WO95/253/2 - 253/5.

 

Diary for 23 CCS (WO95/253/6) also has pages from 33 CCS for 21/8/1915 - 31/10/1915, have informed TNA.

TEW

Edited 27 September , 2016 by TEW
Additional information

[geluveld]

Two different places.

 

Dozinghem is near the priory of St Sixtus, near to Poperinge.

(Google maps, type Dozinghem cemetery, Poperinge and it will show up)

In fact it forms part of 3 other hospitals, named 'as local villages'.

The others are Mendinghem and and Bandagham.

All 3 have a medical term in the first part (to doze, to mend, to bandage) to point out their specialty.

 

Lozinghem is in fact an existing French town, in the northern part of France.  With the village of Pernes not very far from that.

 

So no typo :-)

[TEW]

The original source has typos.

 

This is from the alphabetical listing for L. Supposedly, Lozinghem was the location for the above CCSs. But only Nos. 22, 23 & 32 were located at Lozinghem during the war, the others were located at Dozinghem which is not listed in the original source at all.

 

There are numerous other typos in the original source.

Interesting that their place names have a medical connection but I doubt they were chosen for that reason.

TEW

[David_Underdown]

Weren't Dozinghem, Mendinghem and Bandaghem originally nicknames made up by Tommies due to the presence of medical units, and creating "authentically" Flemish looking names?

[TEW]

Perhaps there is something to this. Can't find Dozinghem, Mendinghem and Bandaghem marked on trench maps. And no towns near the cemeteries by those names on google maps.

 

Lozinghem is a real town, perhaps that started the trend. May have to track down the first use of Dozinghem, Mendinghem and Bandaghem in CCS diaries. Those RAMC officers liked things like MDSs named Guys & Barts.

 

Looks like 46 CCS who were located at 'Mendinghem' from July 1916 don't use the term, they give the location as Proven. But 64 CCS arrived at 'Mendinghem' June 1916. LLT has them at Proven AND Mendinghem in 1916 but one and the same!

 

I see TLLT page on CCSs has been updated to show some of the made up names, Needinghem is another. In fact most of the made up names seem to be based around Proven probably part of a group of CCS.

 

TEW

[David_Underdown]

Here it is on the CWGC page for Mendinghem Military Cemetery http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/50500/MENDINGHEM MILITARY CEMETERY

 

Mendinghem, like Dozinghem and Bandaghem, were the popular names given by the troops to groups of casualty clearing stations posted to this area during the First World War.

[Guest SteveChase]

I too ran into  Needinghem and, of course, could not find it on Google Earth.

[suesalter1]

Mendingham, Dozinghem and Bandaghem were all near Proven and have cemeteries attached to the sites. Have been looking for plans for the sites, particularly Mendinghem, which was the largest, I think. Talbot House in Poperinge have some on their displays, but weren't very forthcoming when I asked where they got them from. 

 

Anybody have any ideas where I could try??

[TEW]

Not seen any plans in the relevant CCS diaries. The only other place would be DMS diaries, in this case 2nd Army until Dec 1917. I've looked through those and not seen any plans for CCSs. There are lists of 'Appendices removed and filed under -'. These lists are scattered throughout the diaries and are not always legible so I may not have seen all these lists but none so far seem to mention plans.

 

Plus, I don't know where the appendices that were detached and filed under (usually 19a ?) were then kept or if they still exist at TNA under another series EG Maps and Plans.

TEW

[suesalter1]

Oh well, destined never to find them then!

 

Edited 19 February , 2017 by suesalter1

[gmac101]

I have a copy of the book "The Great War seen from the air, in Flanders Fields 1914-1918". It has an aerial photo of the Mendinghem CCS.  You can clearly see the tents, central building with the Red Cross painted on it, the vehicle park and cemetery.  The book also has pictures of the cemetery a photo of Dr Harvey Cushing and his staff. He was an American Neurosurgeon who worked at the 46th CCS.  There is an extract from his diary where he mentions the various 'hems as an example of Tommies sense of humour.  Noting that Mendinghem was originally called " Endighem"but that was seen as a bit much.  There is also a lovely pencil sketch of the interior of the tents by C W Allen alias Ubique. Hope this is helpful. 

 

Gavin

[suesalter1]

Hi Gavin,

 

Now that is helpful, thanks! I had already downloaded Dr Harvey Cushing's journal and there is a description of the CCS there, but he was there in 1917, whereas I'm really interested in 1916 when my great-uncle was there. I'm trying to establish the route back from where he was wounded to the CCS. Did he arrive by train or road or even canal?

 

Is the book still available to buy?

 

Sue.

[suesalter1]

Found the book on Amazon priced at £40.00!! Wow, bit pricey, but is it worth the money, I wonder?

 

[TEW]

Sue,

 

If you give me the battalion your great-uncle was with and maybe his name/number It may be possible to determine his route of evacuation from the field to the CCS (Mendinghem?). All depends on available 'Medical Arrangements' and/or plans which maybe in Field Ambulance, ADMS, DDMS or DMS diaries which I have access to.

 

Arriving by Canal seems unlikely to me.

 

Talbot House may have constructed a plan of Mendinghem from the aerial photo described by Gavin, I can't think of any other likely source.

 

TEW

[suesalter1]

My great-uncle was Pte Arthur Price. 13th Battalion RWF, no 16083. He was wounded in a trench raid on the evening of 12th October 1916. I think he may have been treated at Essex Farm ADS, before being moved to 46 CCS Mendinghem. He died from wounds the next day and was buried on the 14th October, which happened to his 28th birthday. He was only the 4th person to be buried in the cemetery, which indicates it had only been opened. In a letter home to his parents, his brother Tom wondered how he had lived long enough to survive the journey to Mendinghem, which has always made me question the route taken. I believe there was a railway which ran to the CCS, which is more likely than road.

 

Sue.

[gmac101]

If he was treated at Mendinghem then he would have arrived by road or rail not canal.  Mendinghem lay next to a rail junction, but it also had a vehicle pool and you can just see a collection parked outside in the photo (which was taken in 1918 BTW)

 

This map http://maps.nls.uk/view/101464879  shows Proven, near the top, eastern half about 2/3rds from the western side of the map.  Mendinghem is the hospital marked to the NW of Proven near the "E"

 

Is the book worth it?  Its about 350 pages of aerial photographs with detailed descriptions often with annotated tracing paper overlays to help you identify features described in the text, often the aerial photo is accompanied with more conventional photographs of the details. Each photo is described in an amount of detail and carefully located in the landscape so you can find where it was taken.  It covers the war from beginning to end with more emphasis on the end as more photographs were taken as the war progressed.  The photos come from all the parties archives and it was written by two Belgians I believe, so its not just focused on the British but the German lines and support infrastructure as well as the Belgian held part of the line.  I bought it accompany a family trip to trace my great great uncles eight days on the front line in April/May 1915 and the five photos I used from it really brought things to life.  It's a great work of scholarship I think (but I'm not a historian) and I also think it highlights that aerial photography is  a bit of an untapped resource in the study of WW1

 

I hope that helps you decide to press the Amazon button

 

Gavin

 

 

  

 

 

[TEW]

Sue,

 

I'll have a more in depth look later but in the meantime I can say that 46 CCS opened for reception on 5/10/16 for sick and wounded of 8 Corps and cases evacuated from field ambulances stationed at Wormhoudt, Herzeele and Watou.

 

12/10/1916 shows 25 admissions.

14/10/1916 shows 3 deaths.

 

Between 5/10/16 and 14/10/16 the dairy shows 8 deaths in total.

 

There's no real indication how the wounded/sick arrived at the CCS but on 11/10/1916 they tested the rails with an Ambulance Train which seems to have been intended for removing the wounded from the CCS.

 

The 8 Corps DDMS diary has a 'Medical Situation' dated week ending 15/10/1916, the previous one dated 8/10/1916 shows no change to locations.

 

 

Essex Farm was located in C.25.a but the 2 ADSs in C.19.c are just a little to the north. In fact the ADS at C.19.c.4.1 is so close perhaps that is the location for Essex Farm ADS.

 

From the above it seems 129 Field Ambulance were running three stations, their diary gives their location as A.23.c.2.9 which they call Hospital. They seem to differentiate between deaths or admissions to 'Hospital' and the ADS. On 12/10/1916 they have 6? ORs admitted to Hospital (presumably A.23.c.2.9). Nothing noted for the ADS.

 

There should be more in other diaries, later.

TEW

[TEW]

Sue,

 

I've been through diaries for 129 & 131 Field Ambulances, 38 Div. ADMS, 8 Corps DDMS, 2nd Army DMS and 13 Battalion RWF.

 

In short, there are no details for methods of evacuation from the field to either MDS or ADS or from those to Mendinghem. Nor are there any details given as to why a man may be evacuated to EG an MDS rather than the ADS. Sometimes specific types of wounds are evacuated to a specialist unit.

 

Also note from the attachment in post#17 that;

129 Field Ambulance are running a MDS and an ADS (NB, 2 grid refs given for the ADS)

131 Field Ambulance are also running a MDS and an ADS.

 

131 FA seem concerned with the 12th Oct being payday and had one case of meningitis on the 13th Oct.

 

The raid by the 13/RWF on the night of the 12th Oct had C.14.a.45.20 as its objective and the ADS run by 129 FA is the closest to that location (still not clear why 2 grid refs circa 300 yards apart are given for one ADS).

 

The diary for 129 FA shows a significant increase in wounded admitted on the 13th Oct, 28 ORs and 27 ORs evacuated to CCS. The DMS diary says that the increase circa 13th Oct is due to the number of raids carried out. The problem is that the 129 FA do not differentiate between wounded at the MDS at A.23.c.2.9 or wounded at the ADS in C19.c.

 

Lastly, according to the Essex Farm website I'd give a grid ref. of C.19.c.3.0 - C.19.c.3.3 for the ADS. 129 FA give C.19.c.4.1 & C.19.c.2.6 for their ADS. It is very close and it's unlikely there would be 2 ADSs so close. None of the diaries mention Essex Farm by name but I'd guess 129 FA must have been at Essex Farm and at the MDS some 15Km to the NW.

 

Price was actually the 3rd person buried in Mendighem, the entry for Hurrell is wrong, he died in Jan 1918 but is listed as Jan 1916.

 

TEW

[suesalter1]

Well, thanks for this, but now I'm totally confused! Are you saying wounded were in the hands of the 129 FA and probably used Essex Farm as their ADS. I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with all the abbreviations you mentioned. MDS = Medical Dressing Station?

 

Also, rather concerned when you say my Great-uncle was the 3rd to be buried. His grave reference is I.A.4.and his headstone is definitely the fourth one in the row. Been there several times.

 

Sue.

[pioneecorps]

Hello Sue, my great uncle, CSM Harry Howells also buried in Mendinghem Military Cemetery, he died of wounds on the 5th of June 1917, I've visited his grave many times. I will God willing, be at his grave side on the 5th of June this year, I will be doing this trip on my own this time, as my wife not well.

[TEW]

Sue,

 

ADS = Advanced Dressing Station. Closer to the front line.

MDS = Main Dressing Station. Further back and better equipped.

 

Price was with 38th Welsh Division and the Medical Units of the 38th Welsh Division were 129, 130 and 131 Field Ambulances.

 

The medical arrangements at the time was that a field ambulance manned the ADS and MDS for a period of time and then swopped with another field ambulance.

While the 38th Welsh Division were in the front line, 38th Welsh Division field ambulances were manning both the MDS and ADS which were specifically for 38th Division men.

 

Using the attachment in post#17 and reading the diaries for the three 38th Welsh Division Field Ambulances (129, 130, & 131) I'm certain that 129 Field Ambulance is the relevant one as they were running the 38th Welsh Division's ADS and MDS at the time.

 

The complicated parts to this are:

1. 129 Field Ambulance were simultaneously running three separate medical stations, an MDS a long way back and an ADS split between two locations.
2. The ADS split between two locations might include Essex Farm. Perhaps it's just poor map referencing.
3. The 28 men (including Price) treated by 129 Field Ambulance on the 13th Oct might have been treated at the MDS or the split ADS before going to the CCS.

There simply is not enough documentary evidence to be more definite. However, moving a wounded man back to the MDS circa 15Km back seems unlikely so my feeling is that he would have been treated initially at the split ADS (at or near Essex Farm) before being moved back to 46 CCS probably by train and/or motor ambulance, car or horse wagon.

 

The map below gives the various locations.

 

As to the burials in Mendinghem, Price is the 4th one on the CWGC list by date and the 1st man has the wrong date on CWGC. That made me think Price was the 3rd man but having had another look I agree with what you say about the grave sequence.

TEW

[suesalter1]

Thanks for making this clearer, TEW. Much appreciated.

 

Sue.

[Bramble]

Following the fate of Private Edmund Charles Crook of Dawlish and Exeter I found a ref in the UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects that he died of wounds at 23 CCS on 12 April 1918 and is buried at Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais. The CWGC site tells of burials here of those dying at 23 CCS Lozinghem. 

What I can not find is what happened to Edmund Charles Crook, Private 44386 of the 11th Battalion of the South Wales Borderers after the 11th Bn disbanded on 31/1/1918. If anyone can point me in the right direction I will be grateful.

Dawlish WW1 project  www.dawlishww1.org.uk

[TEW]

Well it does seem a bit odd that CWGC, Soldiers Effects, SDGW give his unit at death as 11 SWB when they had dis-banded. His medal roll only gives 11 SWB as well.

 

I was swaying to the idea that a move to the 10 SWB was most likely but that doesn't seem to hold water.

 

Diaries for 38th Div (General Staff & ADMS) don't give many clues other than the ADMS only mentions the CCS group at Gezaincourt in April 1918, fair way off from Lapugnoy.

 

Perhaps he hadn't actually been transfered to a new unit at the time of his death and was still administratively 11 SWB.

 

CWGC seem to have 38 men of the 11 SWB commemorated following the disbandment, some into Sept 1918.

 

I can check some diaries at home and see if I can determine why a man might be sent to 23 CCS in April 1918 but it's not looking like 38 Division.

TEW

[TEW]

I had a look at some of the medal rolls for the other men who are listed on Soldiers' Effects and CWGC as being with 11th SWB at time of death following the disbandment.

 

They all have a note in the remarks column stating their final unit was the 2nd Entrenching Battalion. These battalions soaked up the excess of men after the number of battalions in a brigade was reduced from 4 to 3 following the disbandments. Entrenching Battalions were operating at Corps level rather than division or regiment.

 

Crook's Medal Roll has the same remark, I missed it yesterday

 

There is a diary at TNA for the 2nd Entrenching Battalion which Ancestry don't have so if you want it it would be £3.50. It would at least say where they were at the time of his death.

 

As far as 23 CCS is concerned they were receiving wounded and gassed from the 1st Army Front from 9/4/18 to at least the end of the month. Just to give an idea of the admissions;

9/4/18 = 604

10/4/18 = 754

11/4/18 = 680

12/4/18 = 931

 

1st Army in April 1918 comprised the following Corps; I, XI, XIII, XV & XVII which equates to 18 divisions excluding the Corps Troops. Just to give an example of the confusion that can occur the Chief Medical Officer for XI Corps listed 3rd & 61st divisions as being under his wing 11/4/1918 whereas the DMS of 1st Army says they were not!

 

TEW