Experiences of a Battle Casualty at El Alamein By Capt. J. C. Bishop, M.C., RAMC

Experiences of a Battle Casualty at El Alamein By Capt. J. C. Bishop, M.C., RAMC

THESE notes are written in the hope that they may be an encouragement to members of the R.A.M.C. by showing from personal experiences how satisfactory is the scheme for evacuation and treatment of battle casualties. They are compiled from memory some six months after the recorded events took place, so that accuracy of some of the minor details cannot be guaranteed, but I am satisfied that there are no major mis-statements of facts.

As Regimental Medical Officer to a Battalion of the Royal Tank Regiment, I was returning to my unit headquarters in my Daimler Scout Car after taking two casualties to the A.D.S. a few miles west of El Alamein at 08.30 hours on November 3, 1942. I noticed about twenty Stukas in the sky and at the same time a formation of our fighters appeared so, from the security of my scout car, I settled down to enjoy a good air battle.

I saw some bombs falling and thought, from previous experience, that I was in a safe spot when suddenly my left arm went numb and I had a sharp pain in my stomach; I was not really conscious of any explosion. My driver, who had been hit in the leg and the head, noticed that the car had caught fire and so we decided to evacuate it, scrambled out and lay on the ground a few yards away. I do not know even now where the bombs fell but at least one of them must have been within a few yards of the car. Unfortunately an ammunition truck about twenty-five yards away had also caught fire and the ammunition began to explode.

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