The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist
corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...
in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the
Royal Army Veterinary Corps
The Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC), known as the Army Veterinary Corps (AVC) until it gained the royal prefix on 27 November 1918, is an administrative and operational branch of the British Army responsible for the provision, training and ca ...
, the
Royal Army Dental Corps
The Royal Army Dental Corps (RADC) is a specialist corps in the British Army that provides dental health services to British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace. The corps is a part of the British Army's Army Medical Services.
...
and
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC; known as ''the QAs'') is the nursing branch of the British Army Medical Services.
History
Although an "official" nursing service was not established until 1881, the corps traces its heritage t ...
form the
Army Medical Services
The Army Medical Services (AMS) is the organisation responsible for administering the corps that deliver medical, veterinary, dental and nursing services in the British Army. It is headquartered at the former Staff College, Camberley, near the ...
.
History
![The British Army in Normandy 1944 B5802](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/The_British_Army_in_Normandy_1944_B5802.jpg)
Origins
Medical services in the British armed services date from the formation of the
Standing Regular Army after the
Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
of
Charles II in 1660. Prior to this, from as early as the 13th century there are records of surgeons and physicians being appointed by the English army to attend in times of war;
but this was the first time a career was provided for a Medical Officer (MO), both in peacetime and in war. For much of the next two hundred years, army medical provision was mostly arranged on a
regimental
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...
basis, with each
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
arranging its own hospital facilities and medical supplies. An element of oversight was provided by the appointment of three officials: a
Surgeon-general, a Physician-general and an
Apothecary-general.
Army Medical Board
In 1793 an Army Medical Board was formed (consisting of the Surgeon-general, Physician-general and Inspector of Regimental Infirmaries),
which promoted a more centralised approach drawing on concurrent civilian healthcare practices.
The Board set up five General (as opposed to regimental) Military Hospitals: four in the naval ports of
Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
,
Deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
,
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
and
Gosport
Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...
(
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
), and one (known as York Hospital) in
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
. These hospitals received large numbers of sick and injured soldiers from the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
(so much so that by 1799 additional General Military Hospitals were set up in
Yarmouth
Yarmouth may refer to:
Places Canada
*Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia
**Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
**Municipality of the District of Yarmouth
**Yarmouth (provincial electoral district)
**Yarmouth (electoral district)
* Yarmouth Township, Ontario
*New ...
,
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...
and
Colchester Barracks); the Board, however, was criticised, for both high expenditure and poor management. By the end of the century the Board had been disestablished, and most of the General Hospitals were closed or repurposed not long afterwards. By 1807 the only General Hospitals in operation were York Hospital (which was close to the
Royal Hospital, Chelsea
The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an in ...
, where invalided soldiers were routinely sent for
pension
A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...
assessment) and the hospital at
Parkhurst (which was attached to the army's Invalid Depôt on the Isle of Wight, where soldiers invalided home from service overseas were initially sent).
Army Medical Department
In 1810 the offices of Surgeon-general and Physician-general were abolished and a new Army Medical Department was established, overseen by a board chaired by a Director-General of the Medical Department.
James McGrigor served in this role from 1815 to 1851:
McGrigor, who has been called the Father of Army Medicine, had served as principal medical officer under the
Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
during the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
. During that time he had introduced significant changes in the organisation of the army's medical services, placing them on a far more formal footing:
together with
George Guthrie, he instituted the use of dedicated ambulance wagons to transport the wounded, and set up a series of temporary hospitals (formed of prefabricated huts brought over from Britain) to aid the evacuation of wounded soldiers from the front line.
After the end of the Peninsular War
Fort Pitt in
Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
became the ''de facto'' headquarters of the Army Medical Department (the Invalid Depôt having relocated to Chatham from the Isle of Wight). A General Military Hospital was established on the site, which took on many of the functions (and most of the patients) of the old York Hospital.
The influence of the Director-General grew, and from 1833 he was given sole charge of the Department. That same year the (hitherto separate) Irish Medical Board was merged into the Department, as was the
Ordnance
Ordnance may refer to:
Military and defense
*Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment.
**The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...
Medical Department twenty years later.
The
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
, however, would lay bare the inadequacies of the Army Medical Department (and many others). In 1854 there were only 163 surgeons on the Department's books; the Army had just two ambulance wagons, both of which were left behind in Bulgaria, and it relied for
stretcher bearer
A stretcher-bearer is a person who carries a stretcher, generally with another person at its other end, especially in a war or emergency times when there is a very serious accident or a disaster.
In case of military personnel, for example removi ...
s on the Hospital Conveyance Corps (which was made up of pensioners and others deemed too infirm to fight). Two base hospitals were set up in
Scutari, more than 300 miles from the front. Within weeks of arriving, more than half the British force had been incapacitated by disease (mainly
typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure.
...
,
dysentery
Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
and
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
); and in the space of seven months some 10,000 British servicemen out of a total of 28,000 had died.
The Department after Crimea
In June 1855 a Medical Staff Corps was established (in place of the Hospital Conveyance Corps, which had by then been merged into the
Land Transport Corps). It was formed of nine companies, overseen by a single officer, and had its headquarters at Fort Pitt. The Medical Staff Corps was set up to provide
orderlies
In healthcare, an orderly (also known as a ward assistant, nurse assistant or healthcare assistant) is a hospital attendant whose job consists of assisting medical and nursing staff with various nursing and medical interventions. The highest ...
and stretcher bearers (later it was renamed the Army Hospital Corps, but reverted to its original title in 1884). The officers known as purveyors, who were responsible for medical provisioning, were formed into a separate Purveyors' Department by a Royal Warrant of 1861; nine years later it was merged into the Control Department, and later became part of the
Army Service Corps.
In 1857, in response to the Crimean debacle, a Royal Commission had been appointed for the improvement of sanitary conditions in Army barracks and hospitals; it recommended (among other things) the establishment of an Army Medical School, which was set up in 1860 at
Fort Pitt Hospital before moving in 1863 to the new
Royal Victoria Military Hospital
The Royal Victoria Hospital or Netley Hospital was a large military hospital in Netley, near Southampton, Hampshire, England. Construction started in 1856 at the suggestion of Queen Victoria but its design caused some controversy, chiefly from ...
at
Netley
Netley, officially referred to as Netley Abbey, is a village on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It is situated to the south-east of the city of Southampton, and flanked on one side by the ruins of Netley Abbey and on the other by the Ro ...
outside Southampton.
Netley functioned as a general hospital, but much of the army's medical work continued to be carried out at a regimental level. At the time a regiment of 1,044 men would have a medical staff of one surgeon and two assistants (with an additional assistant being appointed if the regiment was stationed abroad, so as to allow the senior assistant to remain at home with the
companies
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...
appointed to the
depot
Depot ( or ) may refer to:
Places
* Depot, Poland, a village
* Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica
* Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica
* Depot Island Formation, Greenland
Brands and enterprises
* Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...
).
The regimental basis of appointment for MOs continued until 1873, when a coordinated army medical service was set up. To join, a doctor needed to be qualified, single, and aged at least 21, and then undergo a further examination in physiology, surgery, medicine, zoology, botany and physical geography including meteorology, and also to satisfy various other requirements (including having dissected the whole body at least once and having attended 12 midwifery cases); the results were published in three classes by the Army Medical School.
[A E W Miles, ''The Accidental Birth of Military Medicine'', Civic Books, London, 2009 , page 14] In 1884 the medical officers of the Army Medical Department were brought together with the
quartermaster
Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...
s who provided their supplies to form the Army Medical Staff, which was given command of the Medical Staff Corps (which consisted entirely of
other ranks).
Nevertheless, there was much unhappiness in the Army Medical Service in the following years as medical officers did not have military rank but "advantages corresponding to relative military rank" (such as choice of quarters, rates of lodging money, servants, fuel and light, allowances on account of injuries received in action, and pensions and allowances to widows and families). They had inferior pay in India, excessive amounts of Indian and colonial service (being required to serve in India six years at a stretch), and less recognition in honours and awards. They did not have their own identity as did the Army Service Corps, whose officers did have military rank. A number of complaints were published, and the ''
British Medical Journal
''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origi ...
'' campaigned loudly. For over two years from 27 July 1887 there were no recruits to the Army Medical Department. A parliamentary committee reported in 1890, highlighting the doctors' injustices. There was no response from the
Secretary of State for War
The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...
. The
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...
, the
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...
and others redoubled their protests. Eventually, by authority of a royal warrant dated 25 June 1898,
officers
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
and soldiers providing medical services were incorporated into a new body known by its present name, the Royal Army Medical Corps; its first Colonel-in-Chief was
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert; 1 May 185016 January 1942), was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He served as Gov ...
.
[
]
The Corps in the 20th century
The RAMC began to develop during the Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...
of 1899–1902. The Corps itself lost 743 officers and 6130 soldiers in the war. However, far more of them, and thousands more of the sick and wounded they treated, would have died if it had not been for the civilian doctors working in South Africa as volunteers—such as Sir Frederick Treves
Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet (15 February 1853 – 7 December 1923), was a prominent British surgeon, and an expert in anatomy. Treves was renowned for his surgical treatment of appendicitis, and is credited with saving the life of Ed ...
, Sir George Makins
Sir George Henry Makins (3 November 1853 – 2 November 1933) was an English surgeon.
He was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, the son of George Hogarth Makins, MRCS, and educated at The King's School, Gloucester, St Thomas' Hospital and Ha ...
, Sir Howard Henry Tooth
Howard Henry Tooth (1856–1925) was a British neurologist and one of the discoverers of Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease.
Early life and education
Dr. Tooth was born on 22 April 1856 to Frederick Tooth of Hove, Sussex, England. He attended Ru ...
and Professor Alexander Ogston
Sir Alexander Ogston MD CM LLD (19 April 1844 – 1 February 1929) was a British surgeon, famous for his discovery of '' Staphylococcus''.
Life
Ogston was the eldest son of Amelia Cadenhead and her husband Prof. Francis Ogston (1803 ...
—who, having seen how unprepared to deal with epidemics the RAMC and the Army itself were, decided that a radical reform was needed. Chief among them was Alfred Fripp, who had been chosen by the Imperial Yeomanry
The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but su ...
Hospital Committee to order all the necessary materials and medical personnel, and oversee the setting-up of a private hospital at Deelfontein to cater, initially, for 520 'sick and wounded.' The contrast between the smooth working of the IYH at Deelfontein with the chaos of the RAMC hospitals, where an enteric epidemic had overwhelmed the staff, led to questions in Parliament, mainly by William Burdett-Coutts
William Lehman Ashmead Bartlett Burdett-Coutts (20 January 1851 – 28 July 1921), born William Lehman Ashmead-Bartlett, was an American-born British Conservative politician and social climber who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1921 ...
. In July 1901 the first meeting of the Committee of Reform took place, with all the aforementioned civilian experts, plus Sir Edwin Cooper Perry
Sir Edwin Cooper Perry, GCVO (1856-1938) was a physician and medical administrator who became Vice-Chancellor of the University of London. He played a significant part in the foundation of the College of Nursing, now the Royal College of Nursing, i ...
, making up half the number; the rest were Army men, and included Alfred Keogh
Lieutenant-General Sir Alfred Henry Keogh, (3 July 1857 – 30 July 1936) was a medical doctor in the British Army. He served as Director-General Army Medical Services twice; from 1905 to 1910 and 1914 to 1918.
Early life
Keogh was born in D ...
, whom the new Secretary of State for War, St John Brodrick
William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton, KP, PC, DL (14 December 185613 February 1942), styled as St John Brodrick until 1907 and as Viscount Midleton between 1907 and 1920, was a British Conservative and Irish Unionist Alli ...
, later Earl of Midleton, appointed Chairman of this Committee and the subsequent Advisory Committee. Neither would have met so soon—if at all—but for Fripp's concern to limit unnecessary suffering, and for his ten years' friendship with the new King, Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
. Fripp showed him his plans for reform and the King made sure that they were not shelved by his government. Part of his plan was to move the Netley Hospital
The Royal Victoria Hospital or Netley Hospital was a large military hospital in Netley, near Southampton, Hampshire, England. Construction started in 1856 at the suggestion of Queen Victoria but its design caused some controversy, chiefly from F ...
and Medical School to a Thames-side site at Millbank
Millbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico and south of Westminster. Millbank is known as the location of major government offices, Burberry headquarters, the Millb ...
, London. Cooper Perry
Sir Edwin Cooper Perry, GCVO (1856-1938) was a physician and medical administrator who became Vice-Chancellor of the University of London. He played a significant part in the foundation of the College of Nursing, now the Royal College of Nursing, i ...
, Fripp's colleague from Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre.
...
, was instrumental in making this happen, as well as using his formidable talents as an organizer in other services for the Reform Committee. Fripp and Cooper Perry were knighted for their services to the RAMC Committee of Reform in 1903.
During the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the corps reached its apogee both in size and experience. The two people in charge of the RAMC in the Great War were Arthur Sloggett
Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Thomas Sloggett, (24 November 1857 – 27 November 1929) was a doctor and British Army officer. He served as Director General Army Medical Services in 1914 and Director-General ...
, the senior RAMC officer seconded to the IYH in Deelfontein who acquiesced in all Fripp's surprising innovations, and Alfred Keogh
Lieutenant-General Sir Alfred Henry Keogh, (3 July 1857 – 30 July 1936) was a medical doctor in the British Army. He served as Director-General Army Medical Services twice; from 1905 to 1910 and 1914 to 1918.
Early life
Keogh was born in D ...
, whom Fripp recommended to Brodrick as an RAMC man well-regarded when Registrar of No.3 General Hospital in Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
. Its main base was for long the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital
The Queen Alexandra Military Hospital (QAMH) opened in July 1905. It was constructed immediately to the north of the Tate Britain (across a side-street) adjacent to the River Thames on the borders of the neighbourhoods of Millbank and Pimlico, W ...
at Millbank, London (now closed). It set up a network of military general hospitals around the United Kingdom and established clinics and hospitals in countries where there were British troops. Major-General Sir William Macpherson of the RAMC wrote the official ''Medical History of the War'' (HMSO 1922).
Before the 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 ...
, RAMC recruits were required to be at least tall, and could enlist up to 30 years of age. They initially enlisted for seven years with the colours, and a further five years with the reserve, or three years and nine years. They trained for six months at the RAMC Depot, Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Church Crookham
Queen Elizabeth Barracks was a military installation at Church Crookham, Hampshire, England.
History
The barracks, which were originally known as Boyce Barracks after Major William Wallace Boyce, DSO, RAMC, were built as a training depot for th ...
, before proceeding to specialist trade training. The RAMC Depot moved from Church Crookham to Keogh Barracks
Keogh Barracks is a military installation on Mytchett Place Road, Mytchett, Surrey, England.
History
The barracks were commissioned to accommodate the Army School of Hygiene and are named after Sir Alfred Keogh, a former Director-General of Ar ...
in Mytchett
Mytchett is a village in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. It is to the east of Farnborough (in Hampshire), the nearest town. Much of the village dates from the first half of the twen ...
in 1964.
RAMC general hospitals in the First World War
The corps established a network of home-country military hospitals for military casualties during the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The hospitals were managed by Territorial Force
The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...
personnel and were headquartered as follows:
London Command
*1st London General Hospital: St Gabriel's College, Lambeth
*2nd London General Hospital: St Mark's College, Chelsea
*3rd London General Hospital: Royal Victoria Patriotic Building
The Royal Victoria Patriotic Building is a large Victorian building in a Gothic Revival style combining Scottish Baronial and French Châteauesque. It is located off Trinity Road in Wandsworth, London. It was built in 1859 as the Royal Victori ...
*4th London General Hospital: King's College Hospital
King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed by K ...
*5th London General Hospital: St Thomas' Hospital
St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...
Eastern Command
*1st Eastern General Hospital: on former Cambridge University cricket field
*2nd Eastern General Hospital: Brighton Grammar School
, motto_translation = Let us keep pursuing better things
, city = Brighton
, state = Victoria
, zipcode = 3186
, country = Australia
, coordinates ...
Northern Command
*1st Northern General Hospital: Armstrong College, Newcastle upon Tyne
*2nd Northern General Hospital: Leeds Pupil Teacher College
*3rd Northern General Hospital: City of Sheffield Training College
*4th Northern General Hospital: Lincoln Christ's Hospital School
Lincoln Christ's Hospital School is an English state secondary school with academy status located in Wragby Road in Lincoln. It was established in 1974, taking over the pupils and many of the staff of the older Lincoln Grammar School and Chris ...
*5th Northern General Hospital: Leicestershire and Rutland County Asylum Administration Building
Western Command
*1st Western General Hospital: Fazakerley Hospital, Liverpool
*2nd Western General Hospital: Central Higher Grade School, Manchester
*3rd Western General Hospital: Cardiff Royal Infirmary
Cardiff Royal Infirmary ( cy, Ysbyty Brenhinol Caerdydd) (also known as the CRI or YBC) is a hospital in central Cardiff, Wales. It is managed by the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
History
The hospital has its origins in the Cardiff ...
Southern Command
*1st Southern General Hospital: The Aston Webb Building, University of Birmingham
*2nd Southern General Hospital: Memorial Wing, Bristol Royal Infirmary together with Southmead Hospital
Southmead Hospital is a large public National Health Service hospital, situated in the area of Southmead, though in Horfield ward, in the northern suburbs of Bristol, England. It is part of the North Bristol NHS Trust. The 800-bed Brunel Buildi ...
*3rd Southern General Hospital: Oxford University Examination Schools together with Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...
*4th Southern General Hospital: Salisbury Road Schools, Plymouth
*5th Southern General Hospital: Girls Secondary School, Fawcett Road, Portsmouth
Scottish Command
*1st Scottish General Hospital: Aberdeen High School for Girls
Harlaw Academy is a six-year comprehensive secondary school situated 200 yards from the junction of Union Street and Holburn Street in the centre of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is directly adjacent to St Margaret's School for Girls. The academy dra ...
*2nd Scottish General Hospital: Craigleith Hospital and Poorhouse
*3rd Scottish General Hospital: Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow
*4th Scottish General Hospital: Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow[
]
Current facilities
The military medical services are now a tri-service body, with the hospital facilities of Army, 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 ...
and Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
combined. The main hospital facility is now the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham is a major, 1,215 bed, tertiary NHS and military hospital in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, situated very close to the University of Birmingham. The hospital, which cost £545 million to construct ...
, a joint military-National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
centre. The majority of injured service personnel were treated in Selly Oak Hospital
Selly Oak Hospital was situated in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham, England. Previously managed by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the hospital closed in 2011.
History Origins
The site was originally selected for th ...
in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
prior to the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital's opening. There was press coverage critical of the standard of care during the surge of UK military commitments in the years following the second invasion of Iraq, but it was later reported that the care provided to injured troops had significantly improved.
Queen Alexandra Hospital
The Queen Alexandra Hospital (commonly known as QA Hospital, QAH or simply QA) is a large NHS hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Located in Cosham, it is run by Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust and has a Ministry of Defence Hospital U ...
in Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, Derriford Hospital
Derriford Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Plymouth, England. The hospital serves Plymouth and nearby areas of Devon and Cornwall. It also provides tertiary cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery and renal transplant surgery for the whol ...
in Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, 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 ...
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 ...
(near Catterick Garrison
Catterick Garrison is a major garrison and military town south of Richmond, North Yorkshire, England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world, with a population of around 13,000 in 2017 and covering over 2,400 acres (about 10& ...
) and Frimley Park Hospital
Frimley Park Hospital is a large general hospital in Frimley, Surrey. It is managed by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, and houses a private wing.
History
Frimley Park Hospital was opened to provide a full range of acute services to patie ...
(near Aldershot Garrison
Aldershot Garrison, also known as Aldershot Military Town, is a major garrison in South East England, between Aldershot and Farnborough in Hampshire. The garrison was established when the War Department bought a large area of land near the villa ...
) also have military hospital units attached to them but they do not treat operational casualties.
Current units
*22 Field Hospital
*34 Field Hospital
*201 (Northern) Field Hospital
201 (Northern) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve of the British Army.
History
The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of 1st (Northern) General Hospital, ...
*202 (Midlands) Field Hospital
202 (Midlands) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve of the British Army.
History
The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of 147th (South Midland) Field Ambu ...
*203 (Welsh) Field Hospital
203 (Welsh) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve of the British Army, based in Wales. History
The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of 3rd (Western) Gener ...
* 204 (North Irish) Field Hospital
*205 (Scottish) Field Hospital
205 (Scottish) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve of the British Army.
History
The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of ...
*207 (Manchester) Field Hospital
207 (Manchester) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve of the British Army.
History
The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of ...
* 208 (Liverpool) Field Hospital
*212 (Yorkshire) Field Hospital
212 (Yorkshire) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve of the British Army.
History
The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of 146th (West Riding and Midland ...
* 243 (The Wessex) Field Hospital
* 256 (City of London) Field Hospital
* 1 Armoured Medical Regiment
* 2 Medical Regiment
*3 Medical Regiment
3 Medical Regiment, is a unit of the British Army's Royal Army Medical Corps.
History
3 Medical Regiment was formed in 2000 following the 1998 Strategic Defence Review. The Regiment was formed from 3 squadrons: A (12) Medical Squadron, B (16) ...
*4 Armoured Medical Regiment
*5 Armoured Medical Regiment
*16 Medical Regiment
*225 (Scottish) Medical Regiment
* 253 (North Irish) Medical Regiment
*254 (East of England) Medical Regiment
254 (East of England) Medical Regiment, Royal Army Medical Corps, is a regiment of the British Army Reserve. The regiment, based in East Anglia, is part of the Army Medical Services (AMS) and specialises in providing pre-hospital care.
Histor ...
*306 Hospital Support Regiment
* 335 Medical Evacuation Regiment
*Medical Operational Support Group
Insignia
The RAMC has its own distinctive insignia:
*Dark blue beret
A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre.
Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret remains ...
, the default Army colour worn by units without distinctive coloured berets. The exceptions are members of 16 Medical Regiment, who wear the maroon beret
The maroon beret in a military configuration has been an international symbol of airborne forces since the Second World War. It was first officially introduced by the British Army in 1942, at the direction of Major-General Frederick "Boy" B ...
, 225 Scottish General Support Medical Regiment (previously Field Ambulance) and members of 205 (Scottish) Field Hospital, who wear the traditional Scottish Tam o' Shanter headdress with Corps badge on tartan backing, and medical personnel attached to field units with distinctive coloured berets, who usually wear the beret of that unit (e.g. maroon for The Parachute Regiment and sky blue for the Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps:
* Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army
* Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941)
* United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...
). There is also a small attachment to Special Forces, the Medical Support Unit (MSU) who wear the sandy beret of the SAS.[
*]Cap badge
A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as w ...
depicting the Rod of Asclepius
In Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius (⚕; grc, Ράβδος του Ασκληπιού, , sometimes also spelled Asklepios), also known as the Staff of Aesculapius and as the asklepian, is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god A ...
, surmounted by a crown, enclosed within a laurel wreath, with the regimental motto ''In Arduis Fidelis'' ("Faithful in Adversity") in a scroll beneath. The cap badge is worn 1 inch above the left eye on the beret. The cap badge of the other ranks must also be backed by an oval patch of dull cherry-red coloured cloth measuring 3.81 cm (1.5 inches) wide and 6.35 cm (2.5 inches) high sewn directly to the beret.[
]
Colonels-in-Chief
Colonels-in-Chief have been:
* FM Arthur William Patrick Albert, 1st Duke of Connaught & Strathearn KG, KT, KP, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO, GBE, VD, TD (1919–1942)
* Queen Mary LG, GCVO, GBE, GCSI (1942–1953)
* Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...
LG, LT, CI, GCVO, GBE, CC, ONZ, CD (1953–2002)
* The Duke of Gloucester
Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...
KG, GCVO (2003–present)
Order of precedence
Officer ranks
Gallantry awards
Since the Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
was instituted in 1856 there have been 27 Victoria Crosses and two bars awarded to army medical personnel. A bar, indicating a subsequent award of a second Victoria Cross, has only ever been awarded three times, two of them to medical officers. Twenty-three of these Victoria Crosses are on display in the Army Medical Services Museum
The Museum of Military Medicine, formerly the Army Medical Services Museum (AMS Museum), is located in Keogh Barracks, on Mytchett Place Road, Mytchett, Surrey, England.
History
The museum is based on the "Mytchett Collection", a collection of ...
. The corps also has one recipient of both the Victoria Cross and the Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...
. One officer was awarded the George Cross
The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...
in the Second World War. A young member of the corps, Private Michelle Norris, became the first woman to be awarded the Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries.
The MC i ...
following her actions in Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
on 11 June 2006.
One VC is in existence that is not counted in any official records. In 1856, Queen Victoria laid a Victoria Cross beneath the foundation stone of the Royal Victoria Military Hospital, Netley. When the hospital was demolished in 1966, the VC, known as "The Netley VC", was retrieved and is now on display in the Army Medical Services Museum.[
]
Trades and careers in the 21st century
RAMC officer careers:
* Doctor (Medical Officer)
*Pharmacist
A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...
*Physiotherapist
Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...
*Environmental Health Officer
Environmental Health Officers (also known as Public Health Inspectors or Environmental Health Practitioners) are responsible for carrying out measures for protecting public health, including administering and enforcing legislation related to enviro ...
*Medical Support Officer {{unsourced, date=December 2021
The term Medical Support Officer is the name given to Commissioned Officers within the British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed For ...
*Clinical Psychologist
Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...
*Technical
Technical may refer to:
* Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle
* Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data
* Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...
Officer – Biomedical Scientist A biomedical scientist is a scientist trained in biology, particularly in the context of medical laboratory sciences or laboratory medicine. These scientists work to gain knowledge on the main principles of how the human body works and to find new w ...
/Radiographer
Radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, diagnostic radiographers and medical radiation technologists are healthcare professionals who specialize in the imaging of human anatomy for the diagnosis and treatment of pathology. Radi ...
/Clinical Physiologist
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...
/ Operating Department Practitioner
Practitioner may refer to:
*Health practitioner
*Justice and public safety practitioner
*Legal practitioner
*Medical practitioner
*Mental health professional or practitioner
*Theatre practitioner
Spiritual Practitioner
*Solitary practitioner in ...
RAMC soldier trades:
* Clinical Physiologist
* Combat Medical Technician
*Registered Paramedic
A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research.
Not all ambulance personnel are p ...
* Operating Department Practitioner
*Pharmacy Technician
A pharmacy technician performs pharmacy-related functions, working collaboratively with a licensed pharmacist. Training, certification, licensing, and actual practice of pharmacy technicians varies not only worldwide but in some countries regional ...
*Environmental Health
Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment affecting human health. In order to effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements that must be met in ...
Technician
A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skill and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles.
Specialisation
The term technician covers many different speciali ...
*Biomedical Scientist A biomedical scientist is a scientist trained in biology, particularly in the context of medical laboratory sciences or laboratory medicine. These scientists work to gain knowledge on the main principles of how the human body works and to find new w ...
*Radiographer
Radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, diagnostic radiographers and medical radiation technologists are healthcare professionals who specialize in the imaging of human anatomy for the diagnosis and treatment of pathology. Radi ...
Military abbreviations applicable to the Medical Corps
Within the military, Medical officers could occupy a number of roles that were dependent on experience, rank and location. Within military documentation, numerous abbreviations were used to identify these roles, of which the following are among the most common.
Journal
Since 1903, the corps has published an academic journal titled the ''Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps'' (''JRAMC''). Its stated aim is to "publish high quality research, reviews and case reports, as well as other invited articles, which pertain to the practice of military medicine in its broadest sense".[ Submissions are accepted from serving members of all ranks, as well as academics from outside the military. Initially a monthly publication, it is currently published quarterly by ]BMJ
''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origina ...
on behalf of the RAMC Association.
Museum
The Museum of Military Medicine
The Museum of Military Medicine, formerly the Army Medical Services Museum (AMS Museum), is located in Keogh Barracks, on Mytchett Place Road, Mytchett, Surrey, England.
History
The museum is based on the "Mytchett Collection", a collection of ...
is based at Keogh Barracks in Mytchett
Mytchett is a village in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. It is to the east of Farnborough (in Hampshire), the nearest town. Much of the village dates from the first half of the twen ...
in Surrey.
Band
From 1898 to 1984, the RAMC maintained a staff band in its ranks. The earliest record of music in the RAMC was in the 1880s when a Corporal
Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...
of the Medical Staff Corps was sent to Kneller Hall
Kneller Hall is a Grade II listed mansion in Whitton, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It housed the Royal Military School of Music, training musicians for the British Army, which acquired the building in the mid-19th century. I ...
to be trained as a bugler. It was founded officially in 1898, with official permission for the band being given by the Duke of Connaught
Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that was granted on 24 May 1874 by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to her third son, Prince Arthur. At the same time, he was also ...
, first Colonel-in Chief of the RAMC. In 1902, the band had reached a stature to where it could take part in the Coronation Procession of King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
. On 1 January 1939, the RAMC Band was taken over by the Army Council and was officially recognised as a state sponsored band. In 1962, Derek Waterhouse became the first official drum major to be appointed to the band. It was disbanded in 1984, being one of the first to go in the as a result of the restructuring of the Army. It is today retained in the Army Medical Services Band.
Notable personnel
* :Royal Army Medical Corps officers
* :Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers
See also
* Combat medic
A combat medic, or healthcare specialist, is responsible for providing emergency medical treatment at a point of wounding in a combat or training environment, as well as primary care and health protection and evacuation from a point of injury ...
References
Further reading
* Blair, J.S.G. ''Centenary History of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 1898–1998''. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1998.
* Brereton, F.S. ''The Great War and the RAMC.'' London: Constable, 1919.
* Leneman, Leah. "Medical Women at War, 1914–1918." ''Medical History'' (1994) 38#2 pp: 160–177
online
* Lovegrove, P. ''Not Least in the Crusade.'' A Short History of the RAMC. Gale and Polden
Gale and Polden was a British printer and publisher. Founded in Brompton, near Chatham, Kent in 1868, the business subsequently moved to Aldershot, where they were based until closure in November 1981 after the company had been bought by media m ...
, 1955.
* Miles, A. E. W. ''The Accidental Birth of Military Medicine: The Origins of the Royal Army Medical Corps'', Civic Books, 2009
Primary sources
* Oram, A.R. ''An Army Doctor's Story: Memoirs of Brigadier A.R. Oram 1891–1966'', published in paperback and on Kindle 2013
External links
*
Army Medical Services Museum
RAMC Association
Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps
*
;Other links
– ''Daily Telegraph'' obituary
– documentary about 202 Field Hospital during Operation Telic
Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...
{{The British Army
British administrative corps
Camberley
Corps of the British Army in World War II
Health in Surrey
Medical units and formations of the British Army
Army medical administrative corps
Military units and formations established in 1898
Organisations based in Surrey
1898 establishments in the United Kingdom