I have transcribed a lot of information from the war diaries of the 11th Field Amb (78 Division). I am shortly going to Austria to trace the final movements of this unit (of which my Dad was a member) after they crossed the border from Italy towards the end of the war. (I have followed their journey through Italy previously, in 2013, and the Austrian "bit" is on my bucket list!). I need some clarification of the terminology used in the diaries. It appears the 11th Field Amb was made up of three groups (apologies, probably not the correct term!): HQ, A Company and B Company. Very often it seems that these were separated and located in different positions. I believe my father was in the HQ group. Can anyone please tell me what the functions of these three groups were and how can I check for sure which of the three my father was in? Thanks.
I recommend that you buy a copy of The Army Medical Services Campaigns - Volume 3 which cover Italy. It will all be in there. I am sure that you know that 11 Fd Amb supported 11 Inf Bde in 78 Inf Div. Regards Frank
From notes that I wrote a long time ago now; "Each Infantry Brigade in an Infantry Division...was supported by its own Field Ambulance. The Field Ambulance consisted of a Headquarters and two Bearer Companies, each of which was divided into three Sections. Each Section could set up a casualty collection post administered by an officer and two nursing orderlies. The Section stretcher-bearers, all RAMC personnel, would then evacuate cases from the RAP (Regimental Aid Post) back to the collection post, either by stretcher or where possible by motor ambulance. The Headquarters of the Field Ambulance would open up an Advanced Dressing Station (ADS), bringing in casualties from the collection posts by motor ambulance. The ADS would provide initial treatment for fractures and wounds, and prepare casualties for evacuation from the Divisional area and onto the Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) found at Corps and above." I think that was mostly sourced from "Medicine and Victory – British Military Medicine in the Second World War – Mark Harrison (Oxford University Press)" The personnel mix within subsections of the Field Ambulance could vary dependent upon actual circumstances. Each of the two Bearer Companies (A and B in your above) had an officer, Sergeant, two nursing orderlies, a batman and 13 stretcher bearers from the RAMC, plus 4 RASC drivers and an ACC cook. Headquarters was huge by comparison, with over 100 all ranks; if you know what trade or duty your father served in then it might be possible to place him somewhere in the structure. Gary
Thank you for that info - very interesting. When he was called up, my father was a salesman for an electrical wholesaler. Somewhere in amongst the 11th Field Amb records at Kew I saw a reference to a medical note written by a doctor where it mentions a clerk who was suffering from severe headaches and the patient's name was my father. Presumably this means he was likely (though not 100% certain) to be one of the HQ men then?
I am off to Austria in about 2 weeks time for 6 days, to explore the Mauthen to Klagenfurt areas and all places in-between, as listed in the 11th Field Amb war diaries and as shown in picture postcards which my father sent to my mother at the end of the war. Does anyone know if there are any special places of interest that I should visit i.e. those with WW2 connections, not just the "touristy" bits? Thanks. Jeff Copy of a photo of Lienz Rathaus is attached. Clearly a wartime photograph!
Hi Jeff, Thought I'd post a couple of photos you may be interested in . The first shows members of A sqn 56th recce who were the first troops from 8th army to enter Austria at Mauthen . The picture is dated 7/5/45 and shows them meeting Dr Meinlander the Burgermeister of Mauthen . In the background you can see there vehicle an m8 greyhound . The 2nd photo is a copy of one of the pages from my fathers war service record . This shows he was admitted to 11th fa on 4/7/44 it doesn't say what for though . This was at the end of the action at Lake Trasimeno just before the 78th infantry division was posted to Egypt for rest and refit . As was pointed out to me by Tony56 it could have been for many reasons including malaria which was a major problem in that area . Cheers Dave
Dave - thank you for your reply. The date of the first picture, 7th May 1945, concurs with my notes from the 11th Field Amb war diaries which has the A Coy arriving in Mauthen on the 8th May to take over German Military Hospitals in the Lienz area. The next day, 9th May, HQ and B Coy arrived in Kotschach and set up in a school which had been a German Military Hospital. This concurs with information that my father put in a picture postcard of Kotschach to my mother where he writes about a school where he is billeted and has drawn an arrowhead in the margin of the photo to indicate where it is. The card is dated 17th July 1945. I hope to find this school when I get there! I think malaria was a big problem. One of the few things that my father talked about from his WW2 experience was getting malaria and how he woke up three or four days later without remembering anything that occurred in that period. He did suffer the occasional night fever for many years after the war.
Hi Jeff, My Father served with the 11 Canadian Fd Amb in NW Europe. I found the following site has RAMC docs in their archive and they can be downloaded. Their site is at: Royal Army Medical Corps Muniments Collection | Wellcome Collection Two of the manuals are shown below. There are other manuals and archival records which may help you. Good Luck.
Hi Jeff, I was wondering if you might be able to tell me where the 11th Field Ambulance was between 4/12/43 and 10/12/43 as my dad was under their care at this time. Best regards - Steve Bell
As Jeff hasn’t signed into the forum for over 10 months I have sent him a message via the forum internal message system to alert him to your post. I can’t guarantee he will respond. Steve
