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Remembered Today:

From Wounding to Hospital in Blighty-How Long?


mark holden

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I have a general question regarding the approximate time it took a soldier to get from the Battlefield to a Hospital in UK. I realise lots of factors might affect this, nature and severity of wounds, availability of transport etc, but a rough guide would be useful. My query relates to a Soldier who died of wounds in Nottingham in March 1917 and who was awarded an MM which was gazetted posthumously about six weeks later. I am trying to ascertain a time frame for the action which earned him the MM.

Thanks

Mark

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Could be as quick as 48 hours or even less. It really depends on whether he was held at a base hospital for any length of time before being evacuated to the UK.

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Mark

Wifes G/Father was wounded 1430hrs Sept 25th 1916 when tank D7 was destroyed. Arrived hospital in Bristol 0730 30th September. Hope this helps.

Lancer

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Depending on the severity of the injury, he may have been held at a CCS before going to a base hospital and subsequent journey to UK.

I have researched one casualty who was badly wounded and stayed at a CCS for week, then a base hospital where he was on the "dangerously ill" list for a week after an amputation and then a further week there before coming back to a hospital in London.

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Hi Mark, here's another example. One of my uncles:

1st March '17. Shot and wounded during a trench raid.

1st March '17. Picked up by Field Ambulance & taken to (I think) 6th CCS.

2nd March '17. Was in 1st Canadian general hospital in Etaples.

9th March '17. Sent to England.

11th March '17. (This is the next date mentioned) 2nd Western General Hospital, Manchester.

There are probably way too many contributing factors to really get a true average time.

Kind regards

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Another factor to be taken into consideration is when he was wounded. If there were a lot of casualties in a short period availability of spaces on medical transportation could become a delaying factor for some.

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There isn't really any point in generalising on transfer periods - at that time, men with fractured femurs were being retained in France for 3 months until they could travel without being attached to traction - otherwise their risk of drowning if a ship was mined or torpedoed was enormous. So 48 hours, or 14 weeks or so - without a service record it could be any period at all.

Sue

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