War Diaries Talk

Medical Supplies

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    This is the second page of a three-page set of orders pertaining to setting up an Advanced Dressing Station prior to the operations we now know as the Battle of Loos. The first paragraph talks about maintaining a "sufficient reserve" of various medical supplies at the A.D.S., which strikes me as rather vague.

    Were there any guidelines for the expected quantities of various supplies that might be used up during major operations? Or did the medical officers just have to rely on their own or their C.O.'s experience? My own personal tendency would be to way overstock on the just-in-case theory, but how would these men know how much is enough?

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  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    Cynthia, when tagging the 2nd Div: 100 Field Ambulance I think I recall the Author sending back medical equipment back, with the remark that the items had never been used throughout this war, for which he gave a list. He also made some wry comments in this diary one of them being on receiving new recruits, he commented that "they seemed unfit and did not look as if they could carry stretchers more than 100 yards".

    Many interesting photographs regarding medical supplies in ww1. Look out for the photograph of the dogs with gas masks outfitted to carry medical supplies and were trained to roam the battlefields and find wounded soldiers.
    Link: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Medical+supplies+ww1&rlz=1C1DSGL_enGB426GB426&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ve

    Also article regarding the RAMC in the Great War. Link: http://www.ramc-ww1.com/chain_of_evacuation.php Having tagged Field Ambulance Diaries – the 2 links make a very interesting read.

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  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    Thanks, Marie! I haven't had a chance to look at the links just yet, but I'll be sure to check them out.

    The poor C.O. of the 1st F. A. had a really rough time after the Battle of Loos. It seemed that the higher command of the R.A.M.C. couldn't get its act together. He kept getting orders to set up the hospital in places where there was no possible space available, and in one case he was told to set up in a school that didn't actually exist! And he was ordered to pack up the hospital and then unpack it again the next morning without going anywhere.

    I think he was also getting the runaround from the Town Major in his area, who was less than helpful. None of the billets he suggested were acceptable to the C.O. He finally took his own interpreter along and found some he considered to be decent, but not good.

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    That's an interesting question and to be honest I'm not entirely sure what the answer is! Certainly Advanced Dressing Stations at this stage of the war were not geared up for any sort of advanced surgery - the MO carried a basic surgical kit, but only for use in the most urgent of cases. As can be seen from the list of supplies they mention, the focus was primarily on patching men up and either sending them back to their units or off to one of the casualty clearing stations further back.

    The sorts of items they required would have been reasonably bulky - dressings, splits, etc. - so I assume they were limited by what they could carry with the transport provided them. Each of the ADSs would have had horse-drawn ambulances and possible one or two motor ambulances too, which could have been used for resupply as well as evacuation.

    That said, they were intended to be set up in reasonably well-prepared positions, schools and similar buildings (although in practice this wasn't always the case), so that implies the ability to store a reasonable amount of supplies.

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  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    I didn't think about the fact that the ambulance wagons and cars could be used to bring supplies up to the dressing stations. That makes it seem less overwhelming to organize rather than having to manage it all from the start.

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Yes, although I'm sure they would still have wanted enough supplies to deal with a mass influx of casualties once the first assaults had gone in. I can imagine the level of supplies they felt they needed will have changed significantly as the war progressed from the early stages.

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  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    Thanks, Rob. Your comment has clarified what my own first thought was: How did they estimate the number of casualties before an assault? I suppose they just had to rely on their own experience or that of those higher up in the chain or with more experience.

    My reading on the war seems to indicate that the top command had a habit of underestimating casualties and overestimating how successful an assault would be, which I imagine could complicate the whole situation.

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    It would be very interesting, and no doubt disturbing, to compare what the perception of 'acceptable losses' was at senior command level alongside the expectations of medical units on the ground. Unfortunately, the diaries don't contain much of that sort of information, although some of the Field Ambulance COs haven't held back in their criticism of the army's organisation in more general terms.

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  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    The CO of this ambulance had all kinds of conflicting orders following the Battle of Loos. I mentioned just some of them a few posts ago. I wondered if it had anything to do with the politics at the high command going on at that point, with General Haig maneuvering to get French ousted. Maybe the various officers in between the top ranks and the division level medical services were all trying to be sure they were on the correct side of that internal conflict? And issuing conflicting orders in the meantime.

    Marie, those photos pretty stunning. I thought that a couple of those kits look for all the world more like woodworking kits than medical supplies!

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist in response to cyngast's comment.

    I was wondering what the cause of all that confusion was too! It certainly sounds like a case of different people trying to assert their authority over the unit. I'm not actually sure how many other senior officers left with French - perhaps the younger blood was sensing its opportunity here.

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