RAMC soldier behind the lines

[jim1]

If he went overseas in 1914 means he was one of 3 types of soldier, a pre-war regular.
a recalled reservist or a Territorial.
So you can rule out a conscientious objector as these men were only identified after conscription.
Had he been TF he would have been awarded the Territorial Force War Medal & this will be reflected
on his medal card.
If he received the 14 Star means he was one of the other 2.
I would agree with the other comments in that he was a vital part of the medical chain & appreciated
by the wounded & would certainly have a rightful place on any War Memorial.

[dtcoulson]

Quite right, Jim. That online doc I've been reading reflects your point nicely: stories of injured soldiers who said they changed their attitudes towards the RAMC when they saw firsthand just how difficult their job was.

I've been able to trace back to the source of the comment. It was a comment made by some of my English second cousins back in the 1990s when another cousin from NZ went over to visit. They said they'd been told by their Dad that the man who is my grandfather should not have his name on that memorial stone. Since the father was born well after WW1 and was born far away from where this monument stands, this opinion must come from his own Dad, my grandfather's younger brother, who would have been resident in that town and would have been old enough to attend the unveiling ceremony back in 1921. It suggests that there was some ill-feeling between the brothers and this lingered long enough to be transmitted down through the next two generations. That's quite a grudge.

But to be fair, there could be dozens of other explanations that none of us are aware of. It may simply have been some kind of joke that got out of hand. But even if it was a friendly taunt, it nevertheless rests on some kind of prejudice that a man from the RAMC was not a real soldier; that's what I find interesting.

We'll never know so I guess there's nothing more to be said on this topic.
Thanks to all that replied.

-DC
 

[Rena]

You're right, we'll never know the full circumstances, indeed the conversation might have referred to somebody else and two stories have got muddled over the years.  If you've seen images of injured soldiers you'll know they had pieces of their faces missing as well as other parts of their bodies, which your ancestor must have seen.
.
Some boys as young as fourteen years old applied and lied about their age, others who had migrated abroad came back to the UK to fight for the land of their birth.  Others joined the army in their new homeland.

I didn't appreciate my own grandfather's time in the RAMC until I learnt he had been a stretcher bearer in front of the Canadian forces at a place known as "Hellfire Corner".   The toll on the horses being shot, injured and killed must have been another nightmare as they galloped or struggled along the road pulling guns and other equipment in the deep clinging mud..  This meant they were defending Ypres,

What civilians don't appreciate is that when a canon makes a loud noise it also means that compressed air is heading towards the target and this can rock the brain inside the hard bony skull and injure the soft tissue - these soldiers will often never be freed from mental problems.

[tonepad]

"What civilians don't appreciate is that when a canon makes a loud noise it also means that compressed air is heading towards the target and this can rock the brain inside the hard bony skull and injure the soft tissue - these soldiers will often never be freed from mental problems."

The statement above is misleading. Compressed air does not travel from a cannon to a target. The injuries referred to are due to an High Explosive artillery round detonating close to a victim. The resulting blast wave causes concussion.


Tony

[Rena]

"What civilians don't appreciate is that when a canon makes a loud noise it also means that compressed air is heading towards the target and this can rock the brain inside the hard bony skull and injure the soft tissue - these soldiers will often never be freed from mental problems."

The statement above is misleading. Compressed air does not travel from a cannon to a target. The injuries referred to are due to an High Explosive artillery round detonating close to a victim. The resulting blast wave causes concussion.


Tony

The soldiers operating the cannons, wear ear defenders these days to protect their hearing.  We learn something new every day and, for instance, now know that the "spent" missiles/bombs that were scattered about the ground after the Iraq war resulted in babies born with imperfections.  The expectant mothers had been touching the metal which the locals later used for their own purposes.
 
There would be no sound and no light if the earth was in a vacuumed bottle.  Sound travels through the air and if you have been under the flight path of an airplane breaking the sound barrier, then you would have heard a very loud "bang". 

I remember sitting in a classroom of my new school.  In walked the headmaster wearing his cloak and mortarboard

"Look how strong I am" he said holding up his arm to show  his biceps.  "I'm holding up 14 lbs per square inch, so why can I hold up my arm without it getting tired and wilting"?

One boy answered "Because there's 14 lbs per square inch all around and holding up your arm sir"

If you visit the youtube pages and search for "shell shock" - you will see what constant loud noises did to soldiers and sailors

[tonepad]

Light can travel in a vacuum.

A vacuum is empty space. There are no molecules of air or anything else in a vacuum. Like all forms of electromagnetic waves, light can travel through empty space, as well as through matter.


Tony

[Rena]

Light can travel in a vacuum.

A vacuum is empty space. There are no molecules of air or anything else in a vacuum. Like all forms of electromagnetic waves, light can travel through empty space, as well as through matter.


Tony

I've just found the same statement online.  This is far different to us being taught that light could only travel via particles of dust.