RAMC soldier behind the lines

[dtcoulson]

I have a question about soldiers who served in the RAMC at field hospitals well behind the front lines and never participated in any of the combat at the front lines.

My grandfather was such a man. In no way am I suggesting that his work was inferior to that of the front-line soldier, and neither am I questioning his courage, hard work and patriotism. But it occurs to me that others at the time might have held those kinds of prejudices.

Some years ago a relative of mine visited the town where my grandfather lived before and after the war and met up with some distant cousins still living there. They visited the town's memorial stone which listed the names of the soldiers from the town that had enlisted and gone to war, including those who survived and came home. These local cousins said they had been told by their parents that this man - an uncle and grand-uncle to them - should not have been included in this list. They did not know why.

Now I can think of a few alternative reasons for why they may have been told this, but the one I want to ask you about is this: was there any kind of prejudice or contempt shown to the soldiers who worked in 'safe' positions behind the lines, and would this extend to not wanting to include them on a list of soldiers representing a town? Is there evidence of this in any surviving documents from the period?

The alternative explanation (and the one I prefer) is that my grandfather was not born in this town but moved to it as a young man shortly before the outbreak of war. Quite possibly he was regarded as an outsider to those that had spent their childhood there. Maybe there was some resentment that he should be thought of as 'from' this town.

We could imagine all kinds of things, so I am not asking you to speculate.
I would like to know if there is documented evidence to support either of these explanations.

-DC

[Ashtone]

This book was published in 2019 and may be of interest to you:

An Equal Burden: The Men of the Royal Army Medical Corps in the First World War (OUP, 2019)
Author: Jessica Meyer

"Though they were not professional medical caregivers, they were called upon to provide urgent medical care and, as non-combatants, were forbidden from carrying weapons. It additionally explores the gendered status of these men within the medical, military, and cultural hierarchies of a society engaged in total war. Through close readings of official documents, personal papers, and cultural representations, Meyer argues that the ranks of the RAMC formed a space in which non-commissioned servicemen, through their many roles, defined and redefined medical caregiving as men's work in wartime".

On a personal note, I have a relative who served with the RAMC from 1900 into the 1920s. My family always spoke of him with pride and admiration. He even took a bullet in 1916, so it [RAMC] wasn't a "safe" position. I believe nearly 7,000 RAMC personnel died during WW1. My relative fortunately survived, and returned to the Western Front.

[farmeroman]

What are the reasons why a man would choose (and be accepted) or be forced to serve in the RAMC rather than the regular army? Was being a conscientious objector a valid reason? Or a relatively minor physical disability or weakness?

[Ashtone]

Looks like my relative went into the RAMC due to height requirements. According to his 1900 attestation record he was only 5 feet 2 inches, and weighed 7 stone. His height would've been considered too short for any form of combatant service.

[AllanUK]

Without 'other ranks' in the RAMC, many more front line soldiers would have died. All men that served in the Great War were brave.

[Rena]

My grandfather and three of his brothers-in-law were in the RAMC.

Two of their army records  still survive.  These show that they all joined the RAMC in 1911.  When they would have attended the local army barracks for a couple of hours a week where they were given first aid training and what to expect as a medical attendant in the battlefield.   During that war poisonous gas was used and on one occasion my grandfather was sheltering from the bombing in a farmhouse which was then attacked by gas.  He was subsequently sent back to the UK for treatment. The record does not say whether the farmhouse was used as a hospital or whether they were using it briefly as a shelter

His record also shows that prior to WWI his unit were sent up to Newcastle for a fortnight's special training.

Wikipedia gives a precis of the RAMC 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Army_Medical_Corps

P.S.  Whilst he was recuperating he was sent home for a short period and was given a card that stated he was a serving personnel on sick leave - he also carried a red feather.

Men who were considered cowards were given a white feather.

[dtcoulson]

I never suggested it was a 'safe' assignment for all RAMC. There were RAMC at the front line, in ambulance teams moving to and from the front line, in field hospitals well behind the front line and in home hospitals in the UK. Clearly, some assignments were safer than others. My curiosity is entirely to do with the circumstances of my grandfather who was at a field hospital on the coast of France.

Thank you for the book reference. It looks to be the same as the online text I was reading in the last half hour. According to this author, there was a great deal of mockery of the RAMC soldiers across the board.

These town memorial stones erected after the war were presumably designed and approved by town council (in whatever form that takes). This means that the dedication text on the stone and the selection criteria for names differed from town to town. That may have led to controversy over which names qualified and which did not. That's what I'm interested in finding out. Did it ever happen that a town council decided against engraving RAMC names on one of these monuments?

We could broaden the discussion to include other corps. Examples that come to mind would be military police, secretarial staff and drivers and mechanics in the ASC. Where did they stand in this process? If there was a cutoff line, what was it?

-DC

[dtcoulson]

Just catching up on the replies.

Some interesting (though off-topic) points have emerged.

- Some people were RAMC before and after and throughout the war, doing training that might only have required a few hours a week (Thank you, Rena). It occurs to me that my granddad may have been in the RAMC before the war and still working at his factory job in the pre-war years, which may explain why he was sent to France in the first detachment in 1914.

- Physical characteristics such as height and weight determined whether a man would go to the regular forces or to alternatives such as the RAMC. My family are short and therefore this may have been a consideration for my grandfather, over and above any preferences he may have had.

- That there was a 'feather' system of identification. I'd like to hear more about this if you have info.

Rena, my grandfather was from South Shields and very likely part of that Newcastle training process you mentioned. Can you give me more info or point me to online resources?

Thanks all
-DC

[farmeroman]

Looks like my relative went into the RAMC due to height requirements. According to his 1900 attestation record he was only 5 feet 2 inches, and weighed 7 stone. His height would've been considered too short for any form of combatant service.

According to his discharge certificate my grandfather was 5' 7", so well above the minimum height.