philg Posted 16 February , 2006 Share Posted 16 February , 2006 I'm a bit confused about the role of my Great uncle, Philip Curran. My family have told me that he was an ambulance driver in the war and I've recently discovered his medal card which shows he was actually in the Army Service Corps and entered France on 1st June 1915. I've also recently discovered that he was with the 7th Field Ambulance. What does this mean? What is the 7th Field Ambulance and can I trace their movements? thanks Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 16 February , 2006 Share Posted 16 February , 2006 F.A. Drivers were most usually ASC Men on attachment,as were their Mechanics,etc; 7th Field Ambulance,would have been the RAMC {FA} establishment part of 7th Brigade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSMMo Posted 16 February , 2006 Share Posted 16 February , 2006 According to the Nominal Roll I have, there were two kinds of drivers in the RGA unit I'm researching - 'Gunners as Drivers' and 'ASC' Drivers. Is it possible that the Field Ambulance people (and others) used ASC men as drivers? Mike Morrison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Tom Posted 16 February , 2006 Share Posted 16 February , 2006 Hello, I expect it was applicable to WW1 as it was in WW2. Remember the film 'Ice Cold in Alex' Field Ambulances consist of a medical element and a transport element. The comander is a RAMC officer. The transport provided by ASC or in WW2 RASC. Old Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 16 February , 2006 Share Posted 16 February , 2006 There is a complete definition of the establishment of a Field Ambulance on this site. It explicitly defines the ASC component of the Ambulance. http://www.1914-1918.net/whatfieldamb.htm 7th FA was part of the order of battle of 3rd Division: http://www.1914-1918.net/3div.htm Strictly speaking it was not part of 7th Infantry Brigade was was attached to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 16 February , 2006 Share Posted 16 February , 2006 there were two kinds of drivers in the RGA unit I'm researching - 'Gunners as Drivers' and 'ASC' Drivers. Artillery drivers were in the main Horsemen,"Driving from the saddle",as it where,ASC Drivers were in the main Motor Vehicle drivers,driving Motor Ambulances & in the case of Royal Garrison Artillery,Ammunition trucks & Motorised AA Guns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treetop Posted 16 February , 2006 Share Posted 16 February , 2006 Artillery drivers were in the main Horsemen,"Driving from the saddle",as it where,ASC Drivers were in the main Motor Vehicle drivers Just out of curiousity Harry would I be right in assuming that drivers of horse drawn carriages would be in demand at the start of the war? I was puzzled to see my GF join up in Dec 1914 with A.S.C after his 4th child was born and sent to France as early as Jan 1915 when many other volunteers seemed to need 6 months training and family men were held in reserve according to some reports. He was eventually killed in action by an incoming shell pulling a gun carriage up to the front. Although he enlisted in Sunderland he is recorded as joing up in Woolwich and gives me the impression of undue haste to get him out there for his horse driving skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KONDOA Posted 16 February , 2006 Share Posted 16 February , 2006 There were many purely horse companies of the ASC as there were motorised etc. There was a high demand for drivers (horse) in 1914 for both the artillery and ASC which in some cases slowed up the full establishment of some New Army units. In the event many older men ended up in this role. Roop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony N Posted 17 February , 2006 Share Posted 17 February , 2006 Hello, I expect it was applicable to WW1 as it was in WW2. Remember the film 'Ice Cold in Alex' Field Ambulances consist of a medical element and a transport element. The comander is a RAMC officer. The transport provided by ASC or in WW2 RASC. Old Tom Just on a side note, of my 6 years and 4 days with the RCT (modern day ASC well, not quite, it's the RLC now), 3 of those years were spent with the RAMC as MT attached. So we were still being posted to the medics in the 1980s. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philg Posted 17 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 17 February , 2006 Ok, so that clears things up a bit. He joined the ASC at enlistment and was assigned to the MT unit (motorised or mechanical transport?)it says MT on his AVL entry. Then probably due to his driving qualifications was assigned as an ambulance driver to the field ambulance attachment of the 7th infantry. Sound right? So if I want to know where he was I need to look at the 7th infantry movements. thanks a lot Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KONDOA Posted 17 February , 2006 Share Posted 17 February , 2006 Not necessarily, why not look in the 7th Field Ambulance War Diary at the NA. WO 95/152 Divisional Troops: 7 Field Ambulance 1919 Nov. - 1920 Feb. WO 95/1406 Divisional Troops: 7 Field Ambulance 1914 Aug. - 1919 Oct. WO 95/3920 7 British Field Ambulance 1914 Aug. - 1915 Dec. WO 95/5102 7 British Field Ambulance 1916 Jan. - 1917 Apr. Roop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 17 February , 2006 Share Posted 17 February , 2006 then probably due to his driving qualifications was assigned as an ambulance driver to the field ambulance Not necessarily. Read the link I gave above. There were many ASC men with a Field Ambulance, in several different (non driving) roles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philg Posted 18 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 18 February , 2006 For some reason Chris I can't get those links to work?? But he was defintely an ambulance driver according to my aunty, but that was all we knew until very recently. I was just curious to know how he came to be one and I now have a better idea. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treetop Posted 19 February , 2006 Share Posted 19 February , 2006 There was a high demand for drivers (horse) in 1914 for both the artillery and ASC which in some cases slowed up the full establishment of some New Army units. In the event many older men ended up in this role. thanks for this,explains a little more,he was 32 at enlistment with 4 young kids.GM never really recovered and widow with young family struggled in 'land fit for soldiers' after the war. Such is life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petestarling Posted 19 February , 2006 Share Posted 19 February , 2006 I'm a bit confused about the role of my Great uncle, Philip Curran. My family have told me that he was an ambulance driver in the war and I've recently discovered his medal card which shows he was actually in the Army Service Corps and entered France on 1st June 1915. I've also recently discovered that he was with the 7th Field Ambulance. What does this mean? What is the 7th Field Ambulance and can I trace their movements? thanks Phil Phil The Field Ambulance was the basic field medical unit of the RAMC. It evacuated and treated casualties between the RAP via their dressing stations to the Casualty Clearing Stations. It was Horse drawn, that is the ambulances and the equipment waggons were all pulled by horses hence the need for quite a few ASC men in the unit. 7th Field Ambulance War Diary is in the National Archives under classification WO95/1406. There will be a day to day account of the unit and its movements. Pete Starling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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