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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

2nd Field Ambulance


battle of loos

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Good evening,

 

I wish to know the route of :
2nd Field Ambulance


which units were handled by this ambulance?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Kind regards

 

Michel
 

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good mornng,

 

Thank you very much for your reply.
I see that this ambulance was deployed for the battle of Loos.

 

Kind regards.


Michel

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The war diaries can be downloaded for £3.50 each at the national Archives here (the top 7 on the page).

 

If you have an Ancestry subscription the whole diary (895 pages) is here:

 

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/60779/43112_1258_0-00000?backurl=&ssrc=&backlabel=Return

 

This will tell you where it was and when but except in rare mentions won't tell you which units they dealt with.  The FA belonged to 1st Division so primarily it would be the units of that division but they would have received casualties for other nearby units of other divisons on occasion.  For a fuller picture, the war diary (2 diaries) of the 1st Division Assistant Director Medical Services should be read also.

 

Is there a particular time /date/query you are trying to answer?

 

Max

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Following on from Max's info. Initially the plan was that a field ambulance dealt with troops from its corresponding infantry brigade. So, 2FA = 2 Infantry Brigade of 1st division (Scroll down).

 

However, sometimes a FA would assist one of its sister FAs so they may have assisted with 1st or 3rd Infantry Brigades wounded. Not forgetting that 1st division also had divisional troops, artillery, RE and mounted troops.

 

Circa June 1916 Deputy Directors Medical Services (DDMS) started to manage all the FAs within his Corps which could be 3-4 divisions or 9-12 Field Ambulances.

Corps Main Dressing Station = CMDS

Corps Walking Wounded Collecting Point = CWWCP, sometimes known as Walking Wounded Post, or Station so CWWP, CWWS

Corps Rest Station = CRS

 

Hypothetically 2 FA could find themselves running one of these Corps units and in Jan 1917 be treating men from 1, 15, 48, or 50 Division plus corresponding RE, Artillery etc.

 

They may even find themselves split up so a tent sub-division working a divisional Advanced Dressing Station = ADS while bearer sub-division evacuating from battlefield to ADS or back to CCS.

TEW

 

 

 

 

 

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TEW's information is most valuable as it emphasises that a Field Ambulance was often not all together in one place .  The diary over the period of the Battle of Loos has detailed records of where different elements of the unit were located. For example, for the start of the battle, the FA moved on 25 September to two schools at Verquin and provided men to Advanced Bearer posts at Le Rutoire Farm and to a Divisional Advanced Dressing Station at Philosophe. On 29 September the unit moved to the nunnery at Philosophe and again provided men to other places. Further moves took place during the battle.

 

The ADMS diary for the period has tables of the number of sick and wounded treated by the FAs of the division.  The sick and wounded of 1st Division and those of other divisions (all together) are listed separately.  The numbers are remarkably similar, for example, 1435 soldiers of 1st Division were wounded and 1211 soldiers of other divisions. There is no record of individual units.

 

Max 

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Good evening,

 

Thank you very much for your valuable information. :w00t::thumbsup:


I am not registered on  "ancestry ".

 

Kind regards.

 

:poppy:

 

Michel

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The war diaries are available to be downloaded from the National Archives for £3.50 each.  https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_ep=2 field ambulance&_nq1=welsh&_cr=WO 95&_dss=range&_ro=any&_p=1900&_st=adv  You can select the dates you want if you don't want them all.

 

The Assistant Director Medical Services 1st Division has 16 diaries here https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_aq=assistant director Medical&_ep=1 division&_cr=WO 95&_dss=range&_ro=any&_p=1900&_st=adv but again you could select the dates you want.

 

Max

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