Castality Abbreviation

[Martin Lepley]

Hi there,

In a Battalion war diary (extract below - NA - WO-95-1505-1_3) it uses an abbreviation I cannot read. Can anyone understand where the 1 OR when to?

 

Thanks

 

[Promenade]

Field Ambulance

[Martin Lepley]

That makes sense. Thanks. The 4 who went to the Casualty Clearing Station. Would they not take the field ambulance?

 

[Martin Lepley]

This one seems odd also:

2 Wounded, 8 to CSS, 5 to Field ambulance.  I would have thought they would have all been taken via field ambulance to the CSS via the other Dressing stations. etc.

 

[horatio2]

I think you misunderstand what a Field Ambulance is. From the LLT - "The Field Ambulance was a mobile front line medical unit (it was not a vehicle), manned by troops of the Royal Army Medical Corps."

Edited 29 May , 2020 by horatio2

[Martin Lepley]

I thought the route to evacuation was :

RAP (Regimental Aid Post)

ADS (Advance Dressing Station)

MDS (Main Dressing Station)

CSS (Casualty Clearing Station)

Base (General or Stationary Hospital)

 

So, the Diary mentions Wounded, FA, and CSS. I wonder what the difference was

 

 

 

[TullochArd]

14 minutes ago, Martin Lepley said:

That makes sense. Thanks. The 4 who went to the Casualty Clearing Station. Would they not take the field ambulance?

 

 

"The Field Ambulance was a mobile front line medical unit (it was not a vehicle) ……"

 

Full Great War period detail at:

 

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/the-evacuation-chain-for-wounded-and-sick-soldiers/field-ambulances-in-the-first-world-war/

 

Regards

 

Ian

Edited 29 May , 2020 by TullochArd

[TEW]

A field ambulance as a unit could be doing a lot of different tasks. Supplying stretcher bearers to assist the RMO at the RAP. Organising the route and methodology for evacuation from RAP to the rear, whether that's to ADS, MDS, DCS, WWCS, other variants of collecting stations etc. There may be relay posts where normal stretcher is replaced by wheeled stretcher and quite a few variations in the overall scheme. They could be using HAW or MAW (horse/motor ambulance wagons) to evac along part of the route or be using cars, lorries, buses, carts on loan with/without drivers from other units, trolley lines, light railway etc

They would also be manning the ADS, MDS, DCS, WWCS and would be responsible for filtering troops for evac to CCS or to DCS or handing them over to APM if needed!.

They sometimes worked in conjunction with MACs (motor ambulance convoy) who had a fleet of vehicles for evac either to ADS etc or from ADS etc back to CCS.

 

It can get even more complex when a FA is actually based at a CCS site and is running one of their units from there.

TEW