Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
era military hospital, in
Northallerton
Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increase ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, England. The
Friarage Hospital
Friarage Hospital is a 189-bed hospital located in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England. The hospital covers a large section of rural North Yorkshire and the Vale of York which amounts to over 120,000 people in . The hospital is run by the Sou ...
now stands where the former hospital once stood.
The site was a once a temporary medical care centre, set up in 1938 in case of bombing casualties in the area, including
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
and
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...
. The
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
(RAF) took over the hospital in 1943 and relinquished it in 1947. The hospital catered specifically for RAF and
Royal Canadian Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
(RCAF) personnel.
History
The hospital was sited on the old Northallerton Workhouse next to Sun Beck. Before that, the site had been occupied by a
Carmelite
, image =
, caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites
, abbreviation = OCarm
, formation = Late 12th century
, founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel
, founding_location = Mount Car ...
friary, from where the modern day hospital would derive its name (The Friarage).
In the late 1930s, eight wooden huts were assembled on the site. These were prepared for casualties of expected bombing runs over areas near ports and industry on the
River Tees
The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...
, though initially, the hospital housed evacuated wounded service personnel from
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.No. 6 Group which were scattered around North Yorkshire. Previous to this, air force casualties were sent to the Army hospital at Catterick, or other RAF hospitals, but no Royal Air Force medical facility existed in the north-eastern area, which prompted the takeover of the facilities in Northallerton.
The hospital needed some work before it could be transferred from civilian to service control. New ambulance bays needed to be constructed and more accommodation blocks were required to house 200 staff, besides the initial 200 beds for injured personnel. An acute shortage of fresh water was a problem as the hospital developed beyond the means of its intended size. At one point in 1943, baths were limited to one-a-week for males and two-a-week for females, but only in of water. Eventually a new pipeline was laid from nearby
Kirby Sigston
Kirby Sigston is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England, approximately east of Northallerton. The village is situated on the Cod Beck river, and the wider parish contains the hamlet of Jeater Houses ...
in October 1943. One of the squadron leaders who worked at the hospital, developed a Mobile Surgical Unit (MSU). This was an ambulance (a Humber Utility Van), with an anaesthetist, a surgeon, a resuscitation officer, a theatre sister and an operating room assistant. The MSU made at least 25 operational runs to aircraft crashes across North Yorkshire, and the timely efforts saved many lives. The MSU also performed surgery at various airfield station sick quarters when it was considered inadvisable to move the patient to the hospital. As the hospital catered largely for personnel from No. 6 Group, (which consisted of 15 RCAF squadrons), it also had a complement of RCAF nursing staff of four medical officers and ten nurses.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Air Force did not possess a medical branch of its own, with that function being undertaken by the
Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps
The Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (RCAMC) was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army.
The Militia Medical Service was established in 1898. It consisted of an Army Medical Service (officers) and an Army Medical Corps (other ranks). ...
. In 1940, a training regime was implemented and by 1943, the RCAF medical branch had nurses at Warrington, Bournemouth, East Grinstead and Northallerton. The large number of RCAF squadrons allocated to bases in North Yorkshire (15 squadrons in all), meant that injured RCAF personnel being admitted to the RAF Hospital in Northallerton, numbered 155 in one month alone in 1944. Serious consideration was given by the Canadian military to the hospital becoming a solely Canadian affair, but the plan was eventually dropped, especially given the resistance by the then director of RAF Medical Services (
Harold Whittingham
Air Marshal Sir Harold Edward Whittingham (3 October 1887 – 16 July 1983) was a British physician notable for a distinguished medical career in the Royal Air Force and contributions to Aviation medicine. After graduating from the University o ...
), who did not want medical services divided.
By July 1944, 450 beds were available, but emergency protocols existed to push this number to 525 if necessary. By 1945, the hospital had 390 beds and was being recommended for return to civilian use. In the last year of the war,
ENSA
The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...
members (
Robert Donat
Friedrich Robert Donat (18 March 1905 – 9 June 1958) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's '' The 39 Steps'' (1935) and ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1939), winning for the latter the Academy Award for ...
,
Bernard Miles
Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE (27 September 190714 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in the City of London since the 17th ce ...
) visited the hospital to entertain the patients, and the hospital chapel was formally opened. Between the peace of 1945, and November 1947, the hospital took on successive convoys of invalided patients and casualties returning from the theatre of war. RAF Hospital Northallerton had at least 44 'convoys' and dealt with 856 returning soldiers, sailors and airmen.
In November 1947, the hospital was returned to civilian use, and in 1948, was renamed the Friarage, in honour of the friary that had once existed on the site. Many of the wooden huts at the hospital, which were constructed from Canadian Oregon and Cedar Pine, remained on site until 1999, when they were finally demolished. With the downgrading of the Duchess of Kent Military Hospital at Catterick Garrison, service personnel returned to the Friarage site as part of the MHDU (Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit).
Commanding officers
*Group Captain W A S Duck (1943 – 1946)
*Air Commodore James Kilpatrick (1946 – 1947)