Canadian Doctors Volunteer for Serbia

[DrBourgeault]

Servian (Serbian) Royal Legation in London sent a letter to Sir Lomer Gouin, the premier of Quebec, asking for the names of Canadian doctors who would volunteer for service in the hospitals of Servia.  The following appeared in  the Canadian Medical Association Journal of 1915 April ; 5(4): Pg 351.    

The Province newspaper of 3 May 1915 in Vancouver, BC reported that 11 doctors were accepted.  My great grandfather, Dr. Victor Bourgeault, at the age of 52 was one of them.  Dr. Irma Le Vasseur, the very first female doctor in the provice of Quebec and founder of Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal was another.

It is my understanding that this volunteer service was under the auspices of the Red Cross.  Ship manifests indicate he departed from Montreal on the SS Corsican, Allan Line (No. 124191) on 22 May 1915 arriving in Glasgow on 1 June 1915 (possibly Liverpool on 2 June 1915).  After a short stay in England he departed for Belgrade via Salonika.  It is thought they arrived in Serbia mid-June.  Upon arrival in Belgrade he was deployed to the field.  First to Obrenovatz for 2 mos. then  Prescevo for 4 mos.  Upon the fall of Serbia in the fall of 1915, he and three doctors (Dr. Airla Waters of St. John’s, Quebec, Dr. J.H. Albiny (later the first Minister of Health for the province of Quebec), and Dr. Haukey (an American) walked a reported near 400 km in 'rapid retreat on the heals of the Serbian Army in dire conditions' to the shores of the Adriatic, was picked up by an Italian war ship, and transported to Rome arriving shortly before Christmas 1915.  It is unknown how he got to Paris.  Upon arrival in Paris, and being a bilingual Francophone he was seconded by the Canadian Army Medical Corp and posted to the No.4 Canadian Stationary Hospital (elevated to the No. 8 Canadian General Hospital) in Sainte-Cloud/Paris, FR on the grounds of a horse race track.  This hospital was under special managment agreement between Britain (Canada) and France.  It was primarily a surgical hospital treating French troops from France and its colonies.  It is difficult to find detailed information on this hospital likely because of its unique status.

Is it possible to:

1. Identify the ship on which he sailed from England to Serbia?  If so, do ship manifests exist?
2. Identify the hospitals to which he was deployed?
3. obtain a map showing the layout of the wards or huts built to house the No. 8 Canadian General Hospital? And
4. were ships destined for Saloniki required to first stop in the Port of Moudros on the island of Lemnos to support of the Gallipoli campaign.

Sincerely,

Maureen

[seaJane]

These may be of interest:

Mackenzie JJ, Mackenzie KC. No.4 Canadian Hospital: the letters of Professor J.J. Mackenzie from the Salonika Front, with a memoir by his wife Kathleen Cuffe Mackenzie. Toronto: Macmillan, 1933.

Duffus M. Battlefront nurses of WWI: the Canadian Army Medical Corps in England, France and Salonika, 1914-1919. Victoria, BC.: Town and Gown Press, 2009.

Toman C. ‘’A loyal body of Empire citizens’: military nurses and identity at Lemnos and Salonika, 1915-17.’ In: Place and practice in Canadian nursing history. Stuart ME, Elliott J, Toman C (eds). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2008, pp. 8-24.

Toman C. Sister soldiers of the Great War: the nurses of the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2016.

I haven't been able to track down online copies but, depending on your location, you may be able to obtain them via inter-library loan.

seaJane

[DrBourgeault]

Thank you for your response.

[alf mcm]

Welcome to the forum.

  The War Diaries for 8 Canadian General Hospital can be downloaded free, at present, once you register with TNA. These might include layouts of the hospital.

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/5b5eb9aafcae434ebc2172f568003715

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/f98e6f2663a545d7aad640c0bc9c55dd

Regards,

Alf McM

[alf mcm]

Maureen,

  Victor's CAMC service records are available and can be downloaded here for free;-  https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=55919

Only the first page appears on the screen, so click on the underlined coloured text in the middle of the page to download a pdf of his service recors. This will take a few seconds. There is quite a lot of detail in the records, and it seems he was originally posted to 4 Stationary Hospital {British}, and not 4 Canadaian Stationary Hospital. The was diary for 4 Sationary Hospital is here;- https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_col=200&_hb=tna&_q=wo+95%2F+"4+stationary+hospital"

You will now have plenty to read, but come back to us if you have any particular queries.

Regards,

Alf McM

[MaureenE]

Maureen,

For general background information about medical volunteers in Serbia, there are many accounts linked from the FIBIS Fibiwiki page Salonika, including accounts of the terrible retreat to the coast.

https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Salonica_and_the_Balkans_(First_World_War)

In respect of the Canadian hospital in Paris, there might be something in the official Canadian Medical history linked within

Official History of The Canadian Forces in the Great War, 1914-1919 Scroll to various volumes, including The Medical Services. Canadian Forces website.

(another) Maureen

[DrBourgeault]

Contrary to response, War Diary records indicate that on 08 July 1916 No. 4 Canadian Stationary Hospital was elevated to No. 8 Canadian General Hospital.  This hospital was located at the Hippodrome de Saint-Cloud, a grass Thoroughbred horse-racing course in Saint-Cloud/Paris that continues to have the address 'rue du Camp Canadien' in gratitude. As medical personnel were primarily francophone Canadians, British authorities offered this unit to the French government on a shared management agreement between Canada and France.  The hospital initially treated francophone troops from France and its colonies.