The RAMC Field Ambulances of 1914-1918
The Field Ambulance was a mobile front line medical unit (it was not a vehicle). Most came under command of a Division, and had special responsibility for the care of casualties of one of the Brigades in the Division. Each Division had three Field Ambulances. The theoretical capacity of the Field Ambulance was 150 casualties, but in battle many would simply be overwhelmed by numbers. The Ambulance was responsible for establishing and operating a number of points along the casualty evacuation chain, from the Bearer Relay Posts which were up to 600 yards behind the Regimental Aid Posts, through the Advanced Dressing Station (ADS), to the Main Dressing Station (MDS). It also provided a Walking Wounded Collecting Station, as well as various rest areas and local sick rooms. The Ambulances would usually establish 1 ADS per Brigade, and 1 MDS for the Division.
The Composition of the Field Ambulance
The Field Ambulance was divided into 3 Sections. In turn, those Sections had Stretcher Bearer and Tented subsections. The Field Ambulance was composed of 10 officers and 224 men.
Sanitary Section
A Sanitary Section ( consisting of a Lieutenant or Second-Lieutenant, 2 Sergeants, 2 Corporals, 20 Privates and 1 batman) was added to each Division in early 1915. Its job was to maintain as far as possible clean water supplies, cooking facilities and billets, de-lousing stations and similar facilities. The Sanitary Sections were withdrawn from Divisions and came under Corps or Army control from March 1917 onwards.
As with all other units, the Field Ambulances relied heavily on horses for transport, and had an establishment of 14 riding and 52 draught and pack horses. They worked the 23 wagons, 3 water carts, 3 forage carts, 6 GS wagons, 10 ambulance wagons and the cooks wagon. The Ambulance also had a single bicycle. RAMC officers and men did not carry weapons or ammunition. By the end of 1914, each Field Ambulance also included 7 motor ambulance vehicles. A workshop to maintain them was added to the Division, although in 1916 it was absorbed in the Supply Column.
The tasks undertaken by the Field Ambulances
Thanks to the war diary of No 56 Field Ambulance RAMC, we have an insight into the tasks undertaken by the men of the Ambulance.
The role of the Field Ambulance unit [1]:
The Field Ambulance received men soon after they had been wounded. A wounded man would first be treated at a Regimental Aid Post (RAP), a small and often temporary position near or in the front lines. Here a Medical Officer of the RAMC, with 2 RAMC orderlies and a number of stretcher bearers (who were not RAMC men, but from units of the Division) would carry out first-aid. This might be sufficient treatment to allow the man to carry on or to enable him to pass to the next stage:
An Advanced Dressing Station (ADS) would be established by the Field Ambulance Unit typically 400-600 yards behind the front lines, ideally in a disused building or in tents, and attempt to treat the man or just do enough to ensure he could be passed back to the next point:
The Main Dressing Stations (MDS) were typically a mile further back and casualties would be carried there on horsedrawn or motorised transport. Unlike the RAP and ADS the MDS had the capacity to hold casualties for up to a week and had limited surgical capacity for life-saving operations only.
The seriously wounded would finally be passed back to a Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) situated about 15 miles behind the front lines and finally to hospitals.
The Ambulance was responsible for the Advanced and Main Dressing Stations along the casualty evacuation chain. It also provided a walking wounded collecting station, as well as various rest areas and local sick rooms.
The theoretical capacity of a Field Ambulance was 150 casualties, but in battle many would simply be overwhelmed by numbers and the ideal system outlined above would become chaotic.
When the Division that the Ambulance Unit was attached to was out of the line of combat, the Field Ambulances were allocated special tasks such as treating scabies or other ailments, running a Divisional rest centre, or as a bath unit.
A Field Ambulance Unit usually consisted of 10 officers and 224 bearers, orderlies and cooks.
Neither the officers nor the men carried weapons.
There were usually 3 Field Ambulance units allocated to each infantry Division, 1 per Brigade.
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Welsh Field Ambulances (WFAs) were attached to the 53rd (Welsh) Division.
This Division contained the 158th Brigade (Royal Welch Fusiliers + Hereford Regiments); the 159th Brigade (Cheshire and Royal Welch Regiments) and 160th Brigade (Surrey, Sussex, Kent and Middlesex Regiments).
Various Orders of Battle show that the 3rd WFA was attached to the 158th Brigade.
The 53rd was based in Cambridge from December 1914 and at the end of April was joined by the Home County Regiments that formed the 160th Brigade. When the 53rd Division was complete in May 1915 it moved to Bedford to continue training for a few more months until the order came, on 3rd July, to refit for service in the Mediterranean.
On the 14th July the 3rd Welsh Field Ambulance (10 Officers, 197 Other Ranks, 10 horses and an assortment of 2 and 4 wheel vehicles) on the SS Wiltshire, one of eight transport ships waiting at Devonport to carry the 53rd Division to war.
Photo:
2nd. Welsh Field Ambulance.
