michaeldr Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January The mono-wheel stretcher carrier. from Welcome, & also to be seen here https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.24864609 Has anyone come across a reference to these being used at Gallipoli (as suggested by the Welcome & JSTOR links above)? If they were unsuitable for Macedonia then I can't imagine them be of much use on the terrain of Gallipoli quote:- “Various types of mono-wheel stretcher carriers were devised, mostly from old cycle or motor-cycle wheels. These were useful in economizing energy and personnel in France when used in evacuation trenches against the walls of which they could be supported when at rest, but, they had disadvantages for use in open country where they were difficult to balance when loaded and very apt to skid, particularly on the sloping mud tracks in Macedonia. The fact that the Director of Medical Services, Salonika Force, included twelve in the transport of each Field Ambulance was due to the efficient way in which these contrivances were demonstrated at the exhibition already referred to, and as the result of an over-optimistic report rendered to the D.M.S. by a Field Ambulance Commander.” [from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/003591573102401238] Thanks in advance, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 12 January Author Share Posted 12 January Wheeled stretcher carriers are covered on pages 579 to 589 of History of the Great War based on Official Documents – Medical Services General History, Vol. IV, but with no mention (as far as I can see) of the mono-wheeled variety ever being used at Gallipoli https://archive.org/details/medicalservicesg04macp/page/578/mode/2up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alantwo Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January Hi Michael I haven't come across the mono-wheeled stretcher carrier at Gallipoli. The best I can offer is a list of equipment the 26th CCS had at Lemnos in preparation for their move to Gallipoli. Given the detail, I think 'wheeled stretchers' probably would have been mentioned. "Stores to extent of about 4 tons stocked ready to move, in accordance with secret letter from GHQ dated 25/7/15. Equipment taken in list below : - Stretchers 150. Surgical & Medical Panniers 4. Median Companions & Surgical Haversacks 12. Water Bottles 12. Operating table 1. Fracture box 1. Reserve dressing boxes 4. Case Shell dressings 1. Bales of dressings, bandages etc. 4. Blankets 200. Waterproof sheets 100. General Service panniers (full) 3. Tents (circular) 6. Camp kettles 20. Operating tent 1. Flag and poles, lamps etc., 4 latrines screens, night stools, urinals etc., Paraffin, cresol, chloride of lime and calcium carbide. (?) tools and butchers instruments. Same evening telegram from DDMS, reference GHQ, letter instructing unit to embark from Australian Pier at 11." I hope that helps. Kind regards Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 12 January Author Share Posted 12 January Thanks for checking this Alan (I was hoping the subject would catch your expert eye), and thanks for the above list of stores: fascinating. Also interesting that this unit eventually (per the LLT) went on to Salonika, where there was mention of mono-wheeled stretchers. Thanks again, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January (edited) I will have a look at Gaskell on the Royal Naval Division arrangements at Gallipoli and see if anything is mentioned, but I suspect they would have taken the usual naval Neil-Robertson stretchers with them. Edited 17 January by seaJane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aconnolly Posted 15 January Share Posted 15 January General reference on page 45 of Vol IV of the Med History says: "Wheeled stretcher carriers of various kinds and designs were used" No further definition of the various kinds but raises possibility mono-wheeled type could have been attempted. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 16 January Share Posted 16 January (edited) Finally got round to looking up Sir Arthur Gaskell's series of articles: "Other additional stores not shown on the organization table were the Neil Robertson stretchers and the monocycle stretcher carrier. The former is well known and is described in the official book, "First-Aid in the Royal Navy." It proved invaluable in bringing seriously wounded cases down the cliffs at Anzac. The latter ingeniously devised by one of the Royal Naval Division chaplains, the Rev. - Close, from suggestions supplied to him by the Assistant Director of Medical Services, relieved very greatly the arduous work of the bearers in carrying loaded stretchers down the long narrow communicating trenches." Gaskell, A. Official history of the medical unit of the Royal Naval Division from its inception to the evacuation of Gallipoli. [pt 2]. Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service, vol. 11, no. 4 (1925), p. 279. Regards, seaJane Edited 16 January by seaJane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 17 January Author Share Posted 17 January (edited) That's great SJ. Thank you so much for that ref. [see https://archive.org/details/JRNMSVOL11Images/page/n294/mode/1up?q=+monocycle+&view=theater ] I now have to admit that Anzac was the last place I would of thought of as being suitable for this type of stretcher/vehicle Michael Edited 17 January by michaeldr add link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 17 January Author Share Posted 17 January 3 hours ago, michaeldr said: I now have to admit that Anzac was the last place I would of thought of as being suitable for this type of stretcher/vehicle I may well have mis-read Gaskell here; I now think it probable that the stretcher which he referred to as having 'proved invaluable' at Anzac was the Robertson (not the Close mono-wheel) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 17 January Author Share Posted 17 January (edited) Reverend Richard Bevill Middleton Close, RND, was attached to their 2nd Field Ambulance during 1915. Gaskell also refers to the mono-wheel stretcher in his report of 14/8/15 found in WO95/4290 “Also, some sort of single wheeled stretcher carrier would lighten the work of the bearers very much and such a carrier has been devised by the Rev. Close and has proved most useful.” [as quoted in Len Sellers' magazine R.N.D., p.1640] Edited 17 January by michaeldr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 17 January Share Posted 17 January I think you have that right, M. There are other references to stretchers and ambulance stretchers scattered all through the articles in question, but that is the only one that specifies mono-wheeled. However there is mention of bicycle wheels on a stretcher and I'll check that one too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 19 January Share Posted 19 January "Two bicycle-wheeled stretcher runners, borrowed from Lieutenant Colonel Humphreys of the casualty clearing station, proved very valuable for bringing cases from the dressing station to the clearing station." Ibid., pt. 3, vol. 12, no. 1 (Winter 1926), p. 55. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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