John Broom - Faithful in Adversity: The Royal Army Medical Corps in the Second World War

FAITHFUL IN ADVERSITY

To my children, Rosa, Sophia and David, who each follow in their paternal grandfathers footsteps in different ways. And Dawn, who helps me connect the past to the present.

First published in Great Britain in 2019 by

PEN AND SWORD MILITARY

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Yorkshire Philadelphia

Copyright John Broom, 2019

ISBN 978 1 52674 955 0

eISBN 978 1 52674 956 7

Mobi ISBN 978 1 52674 957 4

The right of John Broom to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Pen & Sword Books Limited incorporates the imprints of Atlas, Archaeology, Aviation, Discovery, Family History, Fiction, History, Maritime, Military, Military Classics, Politics, Select, Transport, True Crime, Air World, Frontline Publishing, Leo Cooper, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing, The Praetorian Press, Wharncliffe Local History, Wharncliffe Transport, Wharncliffe True Crime and White Owl.

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact

PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED

47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England

E-mail:

Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

Or

PEN AND SWORD BOOKS

1950 Lawrence Rd, Havertown, PA 19083, USA

E-mail:

Website: www.penandswordbooks.com

I would like to thank the following relatives of men who served in the for permission to quote from material held in private family collections: Claire Adler, David Adler, Richard Bradley, Vera Cannell, Michael Cayley, Norah Chown, Sheila Cox, Margaret Ellerington, Michael Haine, Julie Harden-Wells, Sheila Howell, Richard Jevons, Stuart Jebbitt, Laura Kitson, Michael Lacey, Cathy Larwood, Chris Manning, Paul Morrell, Theo Quant, Joseph Ritson, Derek Thorley, Rosie Tobin, Kay Turton, Richard Watts and Joan Willetts.

I was privileged to be able to use material directly provided by the following veterans of the Second World War: Ronald Dickinson, Ruggles Fisher, Bill Frankland and Walter Hart.

I acknowledge the permission of Neil Barber to quote from the memoirs of Captain David Tibbs; and Elizabeth Coward and William Earl to quote from Blood and Bandages .

Anne Wickes at the Second World War Experience Centre, Wetherby, has been unfailingly efficient and supportive in the provision of materials from the excellent archive housed there.

Thanks also to Robert McIntosh of the Museum of Military Medicine for permission to reproduce the image from the No. 224 Field Ambulance History.

If I have inadvertently failed to acknowledge any copyright holders in this edition of the book, I shall be glad to rectify this omission in future printings.

To Linne Matthews, Laura Hirst and Jonathan Wright at Pen & Sword, who between them bring encouragement, discipline, creativity and organisation to the writing process.

Assistant Director of Medical Services

Advanced Dressing Station

Army Medical Department

Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps

Air Raid Precautions

British Expeditionary Force

British General Hospital

British Medical Association

Brigade Medical Unit

Casualty Collection Point

Casualty Clearing Station

Central Medical War Committee

Deputy Assistant Director of Medical Services

Deputy Director Medical Services

Distinguished Service Order

amphibious transport vehicle

Field Ambulance

Field Dressing Station

Field Surgical Unit

Field Transfusion Unit

Imperial War Museums

Kings Shropshire Light Infantry

landing craft tank

MAC Motor Ambulance Convoy

Main Dressing Station

medical officer

non-commissioned officer

prisoner of war

Queen Alexandras Imperial Military Nursing Service

Royal Air Force

Royal Army Medical Corps

Royal Army Ordnance Corps

Regimental Aid Post

Royal Army Service Corps

Regimental Medical Officer

RN Royal Navy

Regimental Sergeant Major

returned to unit

Second World War Experience Centre

Voluntary Aid Detachment

Territorial Army

The National Archives

United States Army Air Forces

Walking Wounded Collecting Post

Charles Quant of No. 58 General Hospital with Hypo the dog. (Courtesy of the Quant family)

Frank Turton of No. 132 Field Ambulance. (Courtesy of Kay Turton)

John Broom of No. 7 Light Field Ambulance and No. 2 Light Field Ambulance. (Authors collection)

Geoffrey Haine of No. 34 General Hospital and No. 49 Field Surgical Unit. (Courtesy of Michael Haine)

A tented Surgical Theatre of No. 49 FSU. (Courtesy of Michael Haine)

Notes taken during initial training in 1939 by Ron Dickinson. (Courtesy of Ron Dickinson)

Ron Dickinson of No. 11 Field Ambulance. (Courtesy of Ron Dickinson)

RAMC Parachute Units volunteer poster. (Authors collection)

Forde Cayley of No. 11 General Hospital. (Courtesy of Michael Cayley)

Stanley Cross of No. 150 Field Ambulance. (Courtesy of Shelia Cox)

George Mussared, an early casualty of the war, forever remembered by his loving family. (Courtesy of Laura Kitson)

Alex Bremner of No. 183 Field Ambulance. (Courtesy of Second World War Experience Centre)

Staff of No. 49 Field Surgical Unit. (Courtesy of Michael Haine)

A Tobruk plaster, an adaptation of a Thomas splint, stabilising a leg fracture during transportation. (Authors collection)

An ambulance under attack in the desert. (Authors collection)

A Regimental Aid Post in Libya. (Authors collection)

Charles Warner (centre) operating on a wounded man in Libya. (Courtesy of Second World War Experience Centre)

Paul Watts of No. 6 Light Field Ambulance. (Courtesy of Richard Watts)

Norman Jevons. (Courtesy of Richard Jevons)

The Red Cross brassard, which probably saved Norman Jevons life. (Courtesy of Richard Jevons)

Paul Adler of 13th Nyasa Battalion, Kings African Rifles and No. 6 Field Ambulance, with his wife, Margaret. (Courtesy of Paul Adler)

Bert Swingler of No. 93 General Hospital. (Courtesy of Joan Willetts)

& 24. Sketches made by Arthur Atkin of No. 140 Field Ambulance. (Authors collection)

Fred Cannell of No. 9 General Hospital. (Courtesy of Vera Cannell)

Christmas celebrations 1945 at No. 9 General Hospital, Ranchi. (Courtesy of Vera Cannell)

Tom Leak, whose hopes of an early release as a were dashed.

Desmond Whyte of No. 11 Field Ambulance. (Authors collection)

a & b. David Jebbitt of No. 181 Airlanding Field Ambulance, before and after a year as a PoW. (Courtesy of Stuart Jebbitt)

& 31. Ink drawings created by Gerald Hitchcock of No. 198 Field Ambulance during his time as a prisoner of the Japanese. (Courtesy of Second World War Experience Centre)

David Paton, Medical Officer with No. 2 Commando Unit. (Authors collection)

Engraving from Red Devils , an account of No. 224 (Parachute) Field Ambulance in Normandy. (Courtesy of the Museum of Military Medicine)

Casualty evacuation by jeep over Caen Canal, 1944. (Authors collection)

Jim Whitaker of No. 203 Field Ambulance. (Courtesy of Second World War Experience Centre)