Convalescent Camps - Command Depots - were they the same thing?

[monkstown]

Convalescent Camps - Command Depots - were they the same thing?

Thanks

[kenf48]

 

4 hours ago, monkstown said:

Convalescent Camps - Command Depots - were they the same thing?

Thanks

The greatest distinction was that convalescent depots were in theatre, whereas Command Depots were in the UK.

Command Depots were created towards the end of 1915 for men who were unfit to be included in reinforcement drafts.  Ordinarily they would be on the Depot strength of their regiment and posted to reserve units. Men were sent there if after being released from hospital they would be unlikely to be fit for front line duty for at least three months.  The idea was to keep these men out of hospital and introduce a graduated system of fitness exercises to build them up for active service. They were formed in each of the Home Commands, hence the name but by 1918 there were twenty Command Depots (Medical Service General History Volume 1 pp 91-2)

Convalescent Depots fulfilled a similar function but as the war progressed there was a reluctance to send all but the most seriously injured/ill  to the UK.  One convalescent depot accompanied the BEF in 1914 as above its objective was to keep soldiers out of hospital.  By 1918 there were seventeen Depots in France, including one for Australians and one for Indian troops (ibid Vol.II pp 84 et seq)

[monkstown]

Thank you so much.