Official history of the canadian forces in the great war
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| in pursuance of the policy of concentrating hospitals in IV THE SECOND DIVISION 43 areas to serve all needs. After that time, units for the lines of communication were not mobilized with divisions, but came forward from Canada as the general situation re quired. No. 2 Casualty Clearing Station was mobilized in Toronto, February, 1915, under Lieut-Colonel G. S. Ren- nie, and arrived in England April 29; it took over the hospital at Moore Barracks, where it remained until Sep tember 16, when it went to France, arriving at le Havre September 17. The officers were detailed for duty in the various British hospitals in the Havre area until the unit opened at Aire on January 1, 1916, under Lieut. -Colonel J. E. Davey. No. 3 Stationary Hospital was mobilized in London, Ontario, February 17, 1915, under Lieut.-Colonel H. R. Casgrain. It arrived in England April 29, and was de tailed for duty at Moore Barracks in conjunction with the personnel of No. 2 Casualty Clearing Station, where it re mained until sailing for the Mediterranean on August 1, 1916. No. 3 General Hospital was the especial product of McGill University. It was mobilized in Montreal, March 5, 1915, under Colonel H. S. Birkett and arrived in Eng land May 15; it was employed on duty at Moore Bar racks until June 15, upon which date it left for France, arriving June 16, and opened at Camiers on June 19, where it remained until January 5, 1916. No. 4 General Hospital was organized by the Univer sity of Toronto and was mobilized March 25, 1915, under Colonel J. A. Roberts. It arrived in England May 27, and took over the Shorncliffe military hospital, where it remained until October 15th, when it sailed for Salonika and disembarked November 9, receiving patier.ts the same day. 44 MEDICAL SERVICES CHAP. For the first time in any war the universities organized medical units. The example was set by McGill which sent overseas a general hospital in command of the Dean of the medical faculty. Toronto, Queens, Western, Manitoba, Dal- housie, Laval, St. Francis Xavier followed; and in the United States, Harvard, Chicago, and Western Reserve. Two ambulances, Nos. 5 and 6, moved into tents at Otterpool on May 28, and No. 4 to Dibgate. There they remained until September 15, when they entrained for France. This time four and a half months was passed by the 2nd Division in training and waiting for equipment. Ottawa had not yet abandoned the task, and the War Omce had not taken it up to the exclusion of all else, for the War OflSce had other preoccupations. Provision had to be made for medical service alone to a force with a total strength of 3,500,000 men operating in every variety of country and climate. Hospital beds in the kingdom and in various war zones to the number of 637,746 must be equipped and maintained. Medical units of all descriptions numbering 770 had to be mobilized and dispatched to the expeditionary forces. Seventy-five hospital ships or ambu lance transports were being kept in operation, and these brought to English shores 2,655,025 sick and wounded for treatment and disposal between August, 1914, and August, 1920. The personnel for medical services at the time of the armistice amounted to 144,514 ofiicers and other ranks, and all this force must be trained, equipped, and admin istered. 1 To finish the record and explain the delay in com pleting equipment for the 2nd Division, it may be added that the number of medical units mobilized in England for dispatch overseas was 235 field ambulances; 78 casualty clearing stations; 48 motor-ambulance convoys; 63 ambu lance trains; 4 ambulance flotillas; 38 mobile laboratories; IV THE SECOND DIVISION 15 z-ray units; 6 dental units; 126 sanitary sections; 35 depots of medical stores; 41 stationary hospitals; 80 gen eral hospitals, besides convalescent camps. It was August 31 before the transport wagons arrived for the ambulances, to replace the Canadian farm wagons previously supplied. As yet there were no ambulance- wagons, horsed or motor, and no water-carts. The Cana dian water-wagons when full were too heavy to haul; the weight was on the hind wheels ; the whiffle-trees fell on the horses hocks when the strain was released; the brake would give way under pressure of the driver s foot. Horses were arriving all summer in small lots, and the number was now complete. The quality was good, and they were soon trained to their work. A fleet of motor-ambulances arrived under their own power. They were fresh from the shops near Liverpool; the bearings worked badly, and some re pairs were required before they were dispatched with their drivers to France. The following extracts from the war diary of an administrative officer disclose the difficulties the Cana dians had in obtaining equipment, and the difficulties the War Office had in supplying it. Under a reasoned admin istration the Canadians could have had that equipment supplied in their own country, if only the contractors had been brought under control. July 3, 1915. Assistant Director of Remounts in-* spected horses. I drew his attention to difficulty in obtain ing extension pieces for harness for heavy draught horses, and arranged this should be supplied at once from Wool wich. Drew attention to neck yokes being too short for heavy draught horses. Light Bain wagons have no chain attachment; hence, whole weight falls on horse s neck; necessary for these wagons to have chain attachments fitted. July 8. Sent copy of proceedings of board, held in each brigade, on new Oliver equipment to General Carson. Main 46 MEDICAL SERVICES CHAP. faults are: yoke not adjustable; canvas valise tears away from leather braces; pouches unsuitable; waist belt too narrow; entrenching tool heavy and difficult to carry, chafes thighs and bangs about, not bullet proof; colour of equip ment too light. The officer commanding a battalion writes on July 3, " A route march to Saltwood Castle and return was carried but by the battalion in heavy marching order. While the converted Oliver equipment worn is somewhat of an im provement on the old pattern, it was observed to interfere with the men s respiration." In each ambulance the transport section carried arms for purpose of defence. Reports were now prevalent that the rifles were unserviceable. As late as September 8, those sections were paraded to Sandling where workshops had been set up. The breech was enlarged so that the cartridge would fit more loosely. Each man was allowed to fire two shots into a bank of earth, and if the bolt did not jamb, the weapon was declared by the officer in charge to work to perfection. He volunteered the information that the cause of the trouble was the bad quality of the ammuni tion supplied from British stores. At this time Brig.-General J. C. MacDougall, a man in failing health, was in command of the area, and he in spected the medical units on their arrival. Major-General S. B. Steele was in command of the Division. He was held in high esteem by reason of his long public service; but as he was born January 5, 1849, and was now in his sixty- seventh year, he was considered by many on the ground of age alone to be unavailable for more active service. Also, he was suffering from an incurable malady, to which his death was afterward due, and not, as an enthusiastic friend alleged in a provincial legislature, to a broken heart over his failure to be allowed to proceed to France. A heart so easily broken would have found the strain of commanding a division in France even more intolerable. iv THE SECOND DIVISION . 47 Political ties and the bonds of friendship were being loosened in the strain of war. General Steele was replaced by Brig.-General R. E. W. Turner, V.C., who assumed command of the 2nd Division on August 17, and a few days afterwards sent word that he was coming in formally to visit the medical units. A diarist writes that he " spoke with the officers as if they were guests being presented; he said the merest few correct words, and won an instant devotion. He did not appear to inspect the camp nor did he ask a question. But from that moment his hand was felt. It was felt first by the staff who now spoke not for themselves but for the General." On February 25, 1915, it was announced that Colonel J. T. Fotheringham would assume command of the medi cal services of the 2nd Division. The appointment was well received by all ranks and by the public. He had long been in the service; his academic position was assured; his professional status was high; he was trusted as a man of fair mind and generous heart. With the advent of the new divisional commander fresh from France and rich in experience Colonel Fotheringham acquired proper support as head of an important service. During the long summer of 1915 in England, the medi cal services of the 2nd Division received a thorough train ing or rather an education excellent in itself but useless for any immediate purpose and a waste of time; but time had to be wasted whilst the equipment brought from Can ada was being discarded and new equipment supplied. Schools were established. The officers of the three field ambulances were formed into a class to learn land survey ing ; from a professional school-master in a Captain s uniform with staff badges; he carried his black-board with him, and would sell a pencil for a penny, a ruler for six pence, and a graduated scale for a shilling; he would make 48 MEDICAL SERVICES CHAP " a picture of a compass on his board, and the class would repeat the points after he had named them." The wearing of staff badges by nondescript persons diminished the pres tige and authority of the general staff. There were lec tures in horse-mastership to the drivers, all of whom had already learned the art on Canadian farms, and their in struction was made to include the care of mules, elephants, and camels. The brigade and divisional exercises were of inestim able value. Two brigadiers were removed from their com mands. One brigade was ordered to hold a portion of the military canal which extends westward along the inner edge of the Romney marsh at the base of the cliff. The bridges across the canal had been " destroyed," and the heights were held secure. Suddenly all was over. The " enemy " made a feint on the front, but sent his main body beyond holding line; his sappers put their pontoons across the canal, and his force proceeded quietly to the rear. The medi cal units learned the valuable lesson that they are an in tegral part of the army and subject to disaster in common with it. The commanders learned that mistakes fundamen tal and fatal are apparent, and could not now be made with impunity. That summer of 1915 was a delicious holiday for Cana dians who for the first time experienced the beauty and delight of rural England. The diaries hold a suggestion of surprise at such beauty: "Last night we returned to our bivouac in Cranbrook on the great Stour in a level plain intersected by ditches deep with water.. We marched for a mile along a park bordered with hedges and set with noble trees, descending at times into dank hollows dark with spreading branches". iv THE SECOND DIVISION 49 An order had been issued to the medical service, quite contrary to regulations, recommending officers to keep private diaries. The order was made a pretext for much writing, but many of the manuscripts that have come under observation are reminiscent of momentary irritation and private spleen. A few points of light illumine the mass. Thus: In the morning 57 men had instruction in the care of arms. They lay on the grass in a hollow square. Behind is a plantation of trees, the ground covered with flowers. A sheep with two lambs in her shelter is always with us; the place is at the head of a deep valley; a bugler is practising on the hill and a cuckoo in the woods answers him. The official diaries, on the other hand, too often recall a life of desolate routine. The reviews were incessant, but these manoeuvres were obviously political and personal rather than for military reasons. On July 16, the units of the Division marched from six to sixteen miles merely to discover the places assigned to them for the morrow. Of this review a critical diarist supplies a pointed record: Reveille was at five; at seven we moved off. The rain began. We were wet to the skin as great-coats were not worn. The sun shone, and in two hours we were dry. We drew up by units in fields ad joining each other. Nothing happened. At length we were ordered to dismount. The review was over. The reviewing party had entered through a break in the hedge on the right flank and proceeded to the rear. They then passed behind the units on our left, and were concealed from view. We mounted again. A staff officer rode up and said we were to assemble to hear Sir Robert Borden make a speech, which he did a very proper speech. In August a review was held by the Minister of Militia for Mr. Bonar Law in Beechborough Park. The distance |
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