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[Medic7922]

Just out of intrest, was there any Officer or Soldier flown out of France or Flanders to the UK after sustaining a Blighty one, I am not very up on the RFC/RAF during the First world War so am not sure if aircraft where shipped over or flown back and forth.

[Adrian Roberts]

Maybe someone could dig up an example of this happening, but it wouldn't have been official practice. Most aircraft were two-seaters so to use them in this way would be inefficient; the large bombers such as the O/400 had cross-bracing wires all down the fuselage inside so you couldn't sit many people inside. It wasn't until 1922 with the Vickers Vernon that the RAF had a casevac-capable aircraft.

If it happened at all in WW1 it would be a case of an officer getting a mate of his to help him jump the queue for the ferry.

[centurion]

The first recorded case of a British air casevac was a trooper in the Camel corps flown out to hospital in the Middle East in 1917. What would have been a 3 day journey was reduced to 45 minutes. I think that this guy was seated in the observer's cockpit but there were examples of stretchers being strapped to the wing of a BE 2 to get caualties out. However nothing like this in France.

The French had some modified Dorand II Bombers that could carry either two stretchers or one stretcher and an air nurse in the fuselage behind the pilot. These were certainly in use from April 1918 (and possibly earlier) and employed on casevac at the Battle of Amiens. Whether they ever carried any British wounded I wouldn't know.

[Doc2]

The first recorded case of a British air casevac was a trooper in the Camel corps flown out to hospital in the Middle East in 1917. What would have been a 3 day journey was reduced to 45 minutes. I think that this guy was seated in the observer's cockpit but there were examples of stretchers being strapped to the wing of a BE 2 to get caualties out. However nothing like this in France.

The French had some modified Dorand II Bombers that could carry either two stretchers or one stretcher and an air nurse in the fuselage behind the pilot. These were certainly in use from April 1918 (and possibly earlier) and employed on casevac at the Battle of Amiens. Whether they ever carried any British wounded I wouldn't know.

Can you give me any references on the BE2 with litters on the wings? Haven't seen that one. A DH-9 was used in the inter-war period by the Brits. I am away from home right now, so don't have my references, but I have a lot on that one if you are interested.

The Dorand AR-2 Conversions were used in only a limited way-- In November 1917 they were used in a demonstration on the Amiens front, and carried either two real or two simulated patients-- the records are unclear. They were not used after that during the war. They would carry only two litters-- NO provision was ever made for carrying a nurse. If you have any more info on their ACTUAL use after April 1918, I would certainly appreciate some references, as I have never seen that mentioned before. Again, I have info at home-- if you need more details on these early air ambulances, please PM me. Doc2

[centurion]

Doc2

Let me come back to you on this - I'll have to do some pulling out of stuff from my archives (grand name for pile of filing boxes in the corner of my library). In the mean time the following accounts appear in a number of places (with slight variations). You may have them but they may be of interest to others.

"In the course of the Austro-Hungarian offensive and the retreating of the Serbian military, the French and Serbian pilots succeeded to stop the movements and intentions of the enemy. This information was very valuable to Serbian Military Command, who were retreating under the constant and strong pressure of the enemy who also was helped by the Bulgarian Army. The plan for retreating was that the soldiers together with the civilians would go through Albania and Montenegro, all the way to the Adriatic Sea. In the course of the retreat, the French and Serbian pilots did the first operation of carrying the injured soldiers with aircraft. The French-Serbian pilots had also organized the maintenance of the connection with the units retreating through Albanian coast to Drac and Valona."

"During World War I, evacuation by air ambulance was very limited; however, air ambulance design made significant progress during this time. A French medical officer first adapted military planes for use as air ambulances by inserting two patients side by side into the fuselage behind the pilot’s cockpit. The first actual evacuation of wounded in airplanes equipped for patient movement took place in Flanders in April 1918. The aircraft used for the air ambulance was a modified Dorand II.

The United States began to use airplanes as air ambulances for evacuating the injured from the battlefield in World War I but found this difficult, as the planes were not designed for patient airlift. The fuselages were too small to accommodate stretchers, and open cockpits exposed patients to the elements. As a result, the US Army Medical Corps used airplanes primarily not as air ambulances, but rather to transport flight surgeons to the site of airplane accidents to assist in the ground transportation of casualties.

By war’s end, however, the US Army realized the serious need to transport patients by air. In 1918, a Curtiss JN-4 Jenny biplane was converted into an air ambulance; the rear cockpit was modified to accommodate a standard Army stretcher carrying an injured person in a semireclined seat. Because of tis modification, the US Army was able to transport patients by airplane for the first time. This success led to an order directing all military airfields to have an air ambulance."

[Doc2]

Doc2

Let me come back to you on this - I'll have to do some pulling out of stuff from my archives (grand name for pile of filing boxes in the corner of my library). In the mean time the following accounts appear in a number of places (with slight variations). You may have them but they may be of interest to others.

"In the course of the Austro-Hungarian offensive and the retreating of the Serbian military, the French and Serbian pilots succeeded to stop the movements and intentions of the enemy. This information was very valuable to Serbian Military Command, who were retreating under the constant and strong pressure of the enemy who also was helped by the Bulgarian Army. The plan for retreating was that the soldiers together with the civilians would go through Albania and Montenegro, all the way to the Adriatic Sea. In the course of the retreat, the French and Serbian pilots did the first operation of carrying the injured soldiers with aircraft. The French-Serbian pilots had also organized the maintenance of the connection with the units retreating through Albanian coast to Drac and Valona."

"During World War I, evacuation by air ambulance was very limited; however, air ambulance design made significant progress during this time. A French medical officer first adapted military planes for use as air ambulances by inserting two patients side by side into the fuselage behind the pilot’s cockpit. The first actual evacuation of wounded in airplanes equipped for patient movement took place in Flanders in April 1918. The aircraft used for the air ambulance was a modified Dorand II.

The United States began to use airplanes as air ambulances for evacuating the injured from the battlefield in World War I but found this difficult, as the planes were not designed for patient airlift. The fuselages were too small to accommodate stretchers, and open cockpits exposed patients to the elements. As a result, the US Army Medical Corps used airplanes primarily not as air ambulances, but rather to transport flight surgeons to the site of airplane accidents to assist in the ground transportation of casualties.

By war’s end, however, the US Army realized the serious need to transport patients by air. In 1918, a Curtiss JN-4 Jenny biplane was converted into an air ambulance; the rear cockpit was modified to accommodate a standard Army stretcher carrying an injured person in a semireclined seat. Because of tis modification, the US Army was able to transport patients by airplane for the first time. This success led to an order directing all military airfields to have an air ambulance."

Centurian, thanks for that-- I'd appreciate references, please, when you have a chance. As stated, this is not quite accurate-- there were some ad-hoc evacuations in the Balkans, specifically 15 casualties carried from Mitrovitza to Prizrend starting on 16 November 1915 using Farman FV-b aircraft, and then later flown from Prizrend to Vallona. The first patient to be so evacuated was Lt Stefanik of the Serbian Air Force, who was vomiting blood. However, this was really in support of a retreat, and was simply getting the patients out before they could be captured. It was not moving them specifically for medical care. I do have several near-contemporaneous reports of this activity.

The US, so far as I can document, NEVER used an air ambulance "for evacuating the injured from the battlefield in World War I". In fact, on one of the occasions in which this concept was discussed, the Baltimore Sun (a newspaper) shot down the concept by baldly stating that "the hazard of being severely wounded was sufficient without the additional hazard of transportation by Airplane...." The US did, as stated, use the JN-4 and JN-6 (and an occasional Curtiss R-4) in providing crash rescue support at various air fields in the USA, beginning in Fev]bruary 1918. None of these were ever sent overseas. All the conversions were made locally, and were not to any standard pattern (though the patterns used at Gerstner and Ellington Fields was copied by several other bases). I have identified at least 4-5 different variations used in this period, and have photos of most.

The Dorand AR-2 conversions (by Dr. Chassaing) could carry two patients, but they were carried in a two-tier setting, not side by side as stated. This is clearly shown in some of the test photos of the aircraft which I have. If there is any real documentation of use in combat "after April 1918", I would greatly appreciate the references, as the only use I have ever been able to document was a Moulin Laffeuxon 6 November 1917, after which they were withdrawn from the front. Dr. Chassaing had two of these aircraft in operation during the evacuation of Flanders in April 1918, but permission for him to operate was withdrawn due to the intensity of the fighting and the aircraft were withdrawn-- I can find no documentation that any patients were carried in 1918, and the official French history of aviation in WWI says clearly that no such evacuations took place--- If you have any good references, I would love to prove them wrong. The first planned and organised air evacuation system seems to have been the French one used during the Rif Wars of the post-WWI era. The Breguet XIV-Tbis limousines used between the wars were the first to allow side-by-side carriage.

Dr. DeMooy, the Dutch Surgeon General, did propose a side-by-side ambulance in an early (1908) sketch, but this airplane was apparently never built.

The Brits used a couple of converted DH-9s to provide evacuation for "Z" Force in Somalia in 1920.

I am always looking for good references on early airplane ambulances, as I have been working on researching this area for over 20 years, and still find that some of the periods are poorly documented. Anything you have will be gratefully accepted. Doc2

[auchonvillerssomme]

This is the site containing some of the references

http://www.olive-drab.com/od_medical_evac_fixedwing_ww1.php

[Doc2]

This is the site containing some of the references

http://www.olive-drab.com/od_medical_evac_fixedwing_ww1.php

Thanks, I am familiar with that site. Unfortunately, it is not too good as a historical reference, as it contains a few historical inaccuracies (e.g. DH-4s with side by side patients-- they were up and down). I keep looking for primary reference sources on this subject, rather than such derivative sources. -- any assistance will be appreciated. Doc2