No. 11 Casualty Clearing Station, No. 28 Ambulance Train - Nov 1916

[Guest]

Hello everyone

 

Hoping for some assistance to find more of my great grandfather's story. I have obtained from Forces War Records a summary from the Military Hospitals Admissions and Discharges Registers. The index number of his admission was T11541.

 

Private Samuel Taylor (service number 9070) of the 11th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in the 37th Division, was transferred to the sick convoy with myalgia on 21st Nov 1916, and on the same day transferred from No. 11 Casualty Clearing Station (I believe at that time located in Varennes) to the No. 28 Ambulance Train.

 

His service and pension records have not survived. His medal index card shows he also served in the Labour Corps. Presuming he was not redeployed to the 11th Battalion after his illness and instead went to them.

 

I am wondering if there is any way to find out where he went on the Ambulance Train, whether there would be any hospital records surviving, or a way to find out when he went the Labour Corps after his recovery and where that would likely have been?

 

Is that feasible? If so, where can I find this information?

 

Thanks for any advice!

 

Regards

Samantha

[TEW]

11 CCS were at Varennes. Their dairy for the 21st Nov says they admitted 330 and evacuated on the same afternoon several cases to hospital train.

 

They had only just opened for reception and were alternating intake with No. 4 CCS which means had 11 CCS been full and he was admitted to 4 CCS you wouldn't have the Forces War Record information.

 

There is a diary for 28 Ambulance Train which will probably give totals of men lying, sitting, wounded or sick and the train's destination. It will cost £3.45 and it may not help beyond giving the town/city it went to which may have had many hospitals.

TEW

[sotonmate]

Samantha

 

I recently did a study of some Ambulance Train War Dairies and can confirm TEWs comment that they only gave numbers of casualties, collecting points (viz, stops on their circular routes to Base Hospitals,ports) and destination(s). I get the impression that there would have been a schedule provided by each loading station which was passed on to the destination authority at unloading. But, I have never seen one !

 

TEW

 

I should post here for your benefit an amusing comment from WO95/4134 (AT12) early on in the rail operations. The "Captain I/C Trains" , Brit RAMC, writes "French drivers are not good - they don't understand the vacuum system on Westinghouse brakes" as there seemed to be a lot of jolting early on !

Well , maybe not so amusing for the customers.

Edited 29 March , 2017 by sotonmate

[Guest]

Thank you so much both of you for your replies. I will try the Ambulance Train diary...it may give me a smidgin more detail than I have right now. Every little bit helps!

 

Regards

Samantha