MILITARY HOSPITALS

AUXILIARY HOSPITALS DURING WW1

As wounded servicemen began to arrive back in England in great numbers, the British Red Cross and other organisations established auxiliary hospitals to ease the pressure on the large military hospitals.   Thanks to the improved reorganisation of the Army Medical Service by Sir Alfred Keogh (1857-1936), who had been its Director General  from 1905 to 1910, the country was in a better position to establish these.  Keogh had also been responsible for establishing the Territorial Force (TF) in 1911.  He was reappointed as Director General of the Army Medical Service at the outbreak of WW1.

Keogh's far-sighted policy in ear-marking public buildings for use as hospitals in times of war proved crucial.  Twenty-five large buildings had been chosen throughout the United Kingdom, four of which were in London.  Although these auxiliary general hospitals were primarily intended to meet the needs of the Territorial Force, they were also ready to receive patients from the regular British Army.  Each was intended to accommodate 520 patients.  The auxiliary hospitals were attached to central military hospitals and the patients remained under military control.  

The auxiliary hospitals included a first tier of large auxiliary general hospitals and a wider tier of smaller premises volunteered for war service.  Over 5000 buildings in England were offered free of charge to the War Office. They varied greatly in size: town halls, recreation halls, elementary schools, infirmaries, portions of general hospitals, large and small private houses in London and elsewhere, even cottages, garages and stables.  Not all were suitable for hospital purposes.  Auxiliary hospitals were classified as Class A (those who took cot cases, i.e. the bedridden, from military hospitals) and Class B (for convalescent and ambulant patients).  Specialised units were also set up for shell-shocked and neurasthenic patients. Some 352 auxiliary military hospitals were established in the London district.  

The staff of an auxiliary hospital included a commandant (who was in charge of the hospital, but not the medical and nursing services), a quartermaster, a matron and members of the local Voluntary Aid Detachment who had been trained in first aid and home nursing.  Medical care was provided voluntarily as needed by the local doctors.  Discipline was less strict in the smaller hospitals than in a military hospital and the surroundings more homely.

The rates paid to auxiliary hospitals for military patients were not the same.  In January 1915 the standard maximum rate for the great majority was 3 shillings (15p) a day per occupied bed, but no payment was given for unoccupied beds.  By 1918 this had risen to 3s 3d (16p) a day, with 6d (2.5p) paid per unoccupied bed.  However, the increase was quite inadequate in view of the inflated cost of food, and auxiliary hospitals had to rely on voluntary public donations.  Some private auxiliary hospitals did not receive such capitation grants.

In April 1915 the War Office announced that it was not proposed to accept any further offers of private houses for auxiliary hospitals or convalescent homes, as a sufficient number of large military hospitals had been established.

MILITARY AND AUXILIARY HOSPITALS IN LONDON AND SURROUNDING COUNTIES

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A SHORT ILLUSTRATIVE TIMELINE
OF THE GREAT WAR 1914 -1918

from the perspective of the British Home Front

1914
June	28	Sarajevo - Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated
July	28	Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
August	1	Germany declares war on Russia
	3	Germany declares war on France
	4	Germany invades Belgium. Britain declares war on Germany. The Army had 386,000 troops.
	5	Austria declares war on Russia
	10	London:  Olympia becomes a concentration camp
	12	Britain and France declare war on Austria. Austria invades Serbia.
	15	Eastern Front:  Russia invades East Prussia
	17	Western Front:  British Expeditionary Force (BEF) lands in France
	23	Japan enters the war against Germany
	23-31	Western Front:  BEF retreats from Mons with heavy casualties
	24	Austrian attackers are expelled from Serbia
	25-27	Belgium:  Louvain is destroyed by German troops
	28	North Sea:  British battlecruisers sink three German cruisers in Heligoland Bight
September	9	Britain:  825,000 in Army, call for 500,000 more
	14	Western Front: Battle of the Marne - German advance halted, Paris saved
	22	North Sea:  three British cruisers torpedoed
October	4	London:  first bombing raid
	19	Britain:  pubs close at 10 p.m. instead of 11 p.m.
	20	Western Front:  First Battle of Ypres begins
	31	Russia declares war on Turkey.  By 5th November at war with Britain and France as well.
November	1	Southern Pacific:  German flotilla under Spee sinks two British cruisers off Coronel in Chile.  All 1,600 British killed.
	3	North Sea:  German ships bombard Yarmouth
	5	Middle East:  UK annexes Cyprus
	7	China:  Japanese capture Tsingtao from the Germans
	11	Western Front:  stalemate from the North Sea to Switzerland
	17	Britain:  £350m War Loan.  Income tax doubled.  War costs £1m a day.
	22	Western Front:  First Battle of Ypres ends.  30,000 British dead in the war so far.
	26	Britain: HMS Bulwark blows up at Sheerness.  700 dead.
December	11	South Atlantic:  Battle of the Falklands.  Four of Spee's German cruisers sunk - end of distant waters conflict.
	16	Middle East:  Britain declares Egypt a Protectorate. North Sea:  German bombardment of east coast towns.
1915
January	1	Britain:  Wimbledon championships to be suspended for the duration. North Sea:  battleship HMS Formidable torpedoed.
	7	Britain:  Thames Valley floods - Windsor Castle an island
	19	Britain:  Zeppelin raid on Norfolk - over 20 dead
	24	North Sea:  Battle of the Dogger Bank.  German battlecruiser Blucher sunk.
	30	Irish Sea:  three British merchant ships torpedoed
February	3	Middle East:  Turkish advance towards Egypt soon rebuffed
	4	Britain:  casualties to date = 104,000
	16	Levant:  bombardment of Dardanelles forts by British fleet begins
	18	Germany:  Olympic Games planned for Berlin in 1916 are cancelled. Britain:  German blockade begins.
	26	Scotland:  Clydeside armament workers strike for higher pay
March	10	Western Front:  British take Neuve Chapelle
	11	North Sea:  HMS Bayano sunk off Scotland.  200 dead.
	14	Pacific Ocean:  German battleship Dresden sunk by the British
	18	Levant:  Advance up the Dardanelles by 16 British and French battleships.  Mines sink three, seven more are damaged.
April	22	Western Front: launch of spring offensive at Ypres.  First German chlorine gas attacks at Ypres.
	26	Middle East:  first landings at Gallipoli
May	3	Britain:  war is costing £2.1m a day
	7	Atlantic Ocean: Lusitania is torpedoed. 1,400 dead.
	10	London:  first Zeppelin raid
	22	Britain:  train crash near Gretna Green leaves 158 dead
	23	Italy declares war on Austria and attacks unsuccessfully in the First Battle of the Isonzo (of twelve!)
	25	Britain:  coalition government formed "to finish the war successfully"
	27	Britain:  HM Auxiliary Ship Irene explodes at Sheerness.  270 dead.
June	6	Germany:  Kaiser announces that passenger ships will not be attacked
	8	Western Front:  British pilot awarded Victoria Cross for downing a Zeppelin over Belgium
	9	Britain:  Ministry of Munitions established
	28	Atlantic Ocean:  liner Armenian torpedoed off Cornwall
July	3	Britain:  war costs £3m a day
	5	Britain: conscription plans denied
	9	Africa:  German Southwest Africa (Angola) surrenders
	13	Britain:  all industrial disputes must be referred to the Board of Trade before any strike action
	15	South Wales:  200,000 miners strike for higher pay
	20	Britain:   330,995 casualties. South Wales:  coal dispute provisionally settled
August	4	Eastern Front:  Germans enter Warsaw
	19	Atlantic Ocean:  British liner Arabic sunk
	21	Britain: 381,983 casualties
	25	South Wales:  miners refuse settlement
September	18	Britain:  war costs £3.5m a day. Germany:  Kaiser again assures that no neutral or passanger ships will be attacked.
	25	Western Front:  autumn offensives - the British at Loos in Flanders, the French at Vimy Ridge and in Champagne (all unsuccessful).  8,000 British casualties.
October	12	Brussels:  nurse Edith Cavell executed by the Germans.  10,000 attend memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral on 28th.
	21	Balkans:  British and French troops land at Salonika to assist Serbia
November	1	Western Front:  now 1,000,000 British troops
	9	Britain:  casualties now 510,230
December	15	Western Front:  Haig replaces French as British commander
	20	Middle East:  Gallipoli expedition abandoned.  90,000 men evacuated by 8th January.
	30	Mediterranean:  P&O liner Persia torpedoed.  400 dead.
1916
January	1	Britain:  up to 2,000,000 more women in the workforce compared to a year ago
	6	Britain:  Parliament votes for conscription
	13	Britain:  miners vote overwhelmingly against conscription
	23	London:  British Museum and Natural History Museum to close for the duration
February	6	Germany:  government accepts full liability for the sinking of the Lusitania
	21	Britain:  new war loan of £420m proposed. Western Front:  Germans begin assaults on French forts at Verdun.
March	2	Britain:  Military Service Act comes into force - conscription
	18	Eastern Front:  Russians (1,500,000 men) attack towards Vilna against 1,000,000 Germans and Austrians, but are soon repulsed
	28	Scotland:  ringleaders of Clydeside armament workers' strike arrested
April	25	Britain:  first Anzac Day commemoration of Gallipoli landings. Ireland:  Easter Rising in Dublin - 1,305 casualties by the end.
	29	Middle East:  British division surrenders to the Turks at Kut-el-Amara in Mesopotamia (Iraq).  10,000 prisoners. 4,000 died in captivity.
May	12	Ireland:  James Connolly the last of the seven Irish rebels to be executed
	15	Ireland:  Roger Casement on trial for treason
	23	Britain:  new war loan of £300m. Total so far £2,382m.
	30	North Sea:  Battle of Jutland.  British lose seven major ships, 6,907 men. Germans lose three major ships, 2,545 men.  Last major naval engagement of the war.
June	4	Eastern Front:  Russians overwhelm Austrian troops, advancing 40 miles or more - one million Russian casualties over the summer campaign.
	7	North Sea:  Lord Kitchener, Secretary for War, lost at sea when HMS Hampshire mined off the Orkneys, with no survivors
July	1	Western Front:  Somme offensive begins
	6	London:  Queen Mary opens South London Hospital for Women. Britain:  Lloyd George succeeds Kitchener as Secretary for War.
	11	Western Front:  last German assault at Verdun repulsed
August	3	Ireland:  Roger Casement hanged (in London)
	27	Romania enters the war as an ally of Russia, invades Hungary
	31	Western Front: British casualties in August were 127,000 - a fifth of the total so far
September	15	Western Front:  first use of 'tanks' in battle on the Somme
October	2	London:  Queen Mary opens women's extensions to London School of Medicine
	7	Western Front:  Allies break through along ten miles of the Somme front
	14	Western Front: 2nd Battle of Verdun begins - French advance on four-mile front
	31	Western Front:  British casualties for the last three months are 350,000 - 40% of the total so far
November	2	Western Front:  Germans withdraw from Verdun
	11	America:  US President Wilson re-elected
	21	Austria:  Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef dies at 86
	29	Western Front:  Somme offensive concluded - seven miles gained, casualties 600,000 Allies, 650,000 Germans
December	3	Western Front:  French replace General Joffre by General Nivelle following failure on the Somme
	5	Eastern Front:  Germans take Bucharest, occupy most of Romania - 310,000 Romanian casualties so far
	7	Britain:  Lloyd George succeeds Asquith as Prime Minister
	15	Western Front:  French assault at Verdun regains most of ground lost since February.  Deaths at Verdun - 364,000 Allies, 338,000 Germans.
	30	Russia:  controversial monk Rasputin assassinated
1917
January	1	Mediterranean:  Cunard liner Ivernia torpedoed - 153 dead
	11	Britain:  war now costing £5.7m a day
	19	London:  explosion of Venesta munitions works - 69 dead
	25	Atlantic Ocean: liner Laurentic mined - 350 dead
February	1	Germany:  navy recommences unrestricted submarine warfare against merchant shipping
	3	Mediterranean:  American ship Housatonic sunk off Sicily.  US breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany.
	25	Atlantic Ocean:  liner Laconia torpedoed - 30 dead
	26	Britain:  latest war loan raises £1,000m from 5m people
March	1	America: 'Zimmermann telegram' - German overtures to Mexico for alliance against America, intercepted by British intelligence and published in the US
	11	Middle East:  British take Baghdad
	16	Russia:  Czar abdicates, Provisional Government in charge
	18	Western Front:  Germans take up new fortified positions - the Hindenberg Line
	20	Atlantic Ocean: British hospital ship Asturias torpedoed in English Channel
	27	Middle East:  British army defeats Turks at Gaza
April	6	America declares war on Germany, subsequently on Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria
	11	Western Front: start of Arras offensive - British and Canadians advance three miles, taking Vimy Ridge
	16	Russia:  Lenin arrives at Petrograd in sealed train. Western Front:  French attack at Chemin des Dames on the Aisne blunted - four-mile gain, 29,000 prisoners, but 130,000 casualties, with 29,000 killed.
	17	Atlantic Ocean:  British hospital ships Donegal and Lanfranc sunk in the English Channel - 75 dead
	19	Atlantic Ocean: USS Mongolia sinks German submarine in the English Channel - first American combat
	23	Western Front:  assaults at Arras resume, but battle is stalemated
	28	Atlantic Ocean:  convoy system introduced
May	4	Mediterranean: British transport Transylvania torpedoed - 413 dead. Western Front:  mutinies begin in French army
	13	London: bus drivers strike
	18	America: conscription introduced
June	7	Western Front:  British offensive south of Ypres successful - 500 tons of explosives detonated in mines under German lines, which are heard in England
	14	London: first aircraft bombing raid - 100 dead in East End
	22	Greece: pro-German King Constantine forced to abdicate
	26	Britain:  King George V changes names - Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor, Battenberg to Mountbatten
	27	Western Front:  first American troops arrive in France
July	16	Russia:  Bolshevik uprising in Petrograd suppressed - Lenin flees
	24	Britain:  war now costing £7m a day
	26	Western Front:  Germans break through French lines at the River Aisne
	31	Western Front:  3rd Battle of Ypres (Passchendale) begins
August	20	Western Front:  French break through 11 miles of German lines at Verdun
	30	Russia: Czar and family sent to Tobolsk in Siberia
September	3	Britain: air raids in Thames estuary - 108 dead
	17	Eastern Front:  Germans take Riga and advance towards Petrograd
October	12	Western Front:  Anzacs attack in 1st Battle of Passchendale
	15	France: German spy Mata Hari executed in Paris
	23	Western Front: French attack advances three miles in four days at the Chemin des Dames
	24	Italian Front: Germans and Austrians attack in the 12th (last) Battle of the Isonzo, advancing 80 miles in 11 days
	26	Western Front:  Canadians attack in 2nd Battle of Passchendale - over 15,000 casualties
	27	Western Front:  American troops in first action
	31	Middle East:  British take Beersheba in Palestine. Italian Front:  Italian army collapses at Caporetto in NE Italy - 10,000 dead.
November	3	Italian Front: Italians retreat beyond River Piave, leaving 275,000 prisoners
	6	Western Front:  Canadians take Passchendale
	7	Russia:  Bolsheviks overthrow Russian Provisional Government
	9	Britain:  Foreign Secretary Balfour issues Declaration regarding a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine
	16	Russia:  Bolsheviks take Moscow
	17	North Sea:  German battleships engage British battlecruiser squadron near Heligoland
	18	Middle East:  British take Jaffa
	20	Western Front:  Battle of Cambrai - 324 British tanks advance four miles, though part of the German lines hold out, and a later counterattack nearly restores the status quo
December	9	Middle East:  British take Jerusalem
	10	Norway:  Nobel Peace Prize to the International Committee of the Red Cross
	22	Brest-Litovsk:  peace negotiations open between Germany and Russia
1918
January	9	Washington:   US President Wilson defines his 14 Points - a broad declaration of war aims
	28	Russia:  The Red Army is formed. Germany:  strikes by a million industrial workers
Febuary	6	Britain:  married women over 30 get the vote
	9	Germany agrees peace with Ukraine
	20	Eastern Front:  armistice terminated - Germans advancing towards Petrograd
	21	Middle East:  Australians take Jericho
	27	Britain:  hospital ship Glenart Castle torpedoed in Bristol Channel
March	3	Brest-Litovsk:  Russia signs humiliating peace treaty with Germany
	5	Moscow declared new Russian capital
	13	Britain:  'Tank Week' raises £138m war savings - making over £570m in the past six months
	21	Western Front:  3,000,000 Germans break through near Arras, advancing up to 40 miles in two weeks
	26	Western Front:  General Foch becomes Allied commander-in-chief in France
April	1	Britain:  Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service merged as the Royal Air Force
	13	Western Front:  Germans break Allied lines around Ypres - 400,000 Allied casualties in three weeks. Finland: Germans enter Helsinki.
	21	Western Front:  'Red Baron' von Richthofen shot down and killed
	23	Belgium:  British raids on submarine bases at Zeebrugge and Ostend
May	2	Finland:  nationalist forces expel Russian army - Finland now a German vassal
	10	Belgium:  raid to blockade Ostend harbour ends in failure
	29	Western Front:  Germans take Soissons and their advance approaches Rheims
June	14	Western front:  Allies counterattack
	18	Britain:  further war loan of £500m requested
	19	Britain:  general rationing announced
	22	Western Front:  German advance halted 45 miles from Paris
	26	Russia:  civil war threatens - British occupy Murmansk
	30	Western Front:  British claim 4,102 aeroplanes destroyed, against (only) 1,213 British
July	1	Britain:  armaments factory explodes in the Midlands - 100 dead
	6	France:  Spanish flu at epidemic levels - sickness blunting army activities
	15	Western Front:  German offensive advances four miles across the Marne
	16	Russia:  ex-Czar Nicholas, family and entourage executed in Ekaterinburg
	18	Western Front:  Allied counterattack drives Germans back across the Marne - 25,000 prisoners
August	1	Britain:  new war loan request for £700m
	2	Russia:  British land 1,500 men at Archangel to support a new Eastern Front against Germany
	6	France:  General Foch promoted to Marshal
	8	Western Front:  German front collapses following massive tank attack around Amiens.  Allies recover most of ground lost in spring offensive - 30,000 prisoners
September	11	France:  French war costs FF138bn so far
	12	Western Front: first all-American attack clears major salient south of Verdun
	24	Middle East:  British take Haifa, Acre and Es-Salt
	26	Western Front:  123 Allied Divisions assault the Hindenburg Line
	30	Western Front:  German forces retreat through Belgium. Britain:  Spanish flu now serious. Middle East:  Allenby's British forces in Palestine have 75,000 Turkish prisoners and advanced 350 miles. Bulgaria capitulates to the Allies
October	1	Middle East:  Arab and Australian forces (not forgetting Colonel El Awrence!) take Damascus
	6	Scotland: US troopship collides with another liner - 430 dead. Balkans:  provisional government formed in 'Yugoslavia'.
	7	Middle East:  British take Beirut and Sidon. Poland declares independence
	9	Irish Sea:  mailboat Leinster torpedoed in the Irish Sea - 587 dead
	17	Hungary declares independence from the Hapsburgs
	23	Britain:  flu closes many schools
	24	Italian Front:  Battle of Vittorio Veneto - Italians cross the Piave and pursue Austrians across their borders in a week
	26	Britain:  London has 2,225 flu deaths in a week
	28	Czechoslovakia:  republic declared
	30	Turkey surrenders. Germany:  High Seas Fleet crews mutiny, refuse to sail
	31	Germany appeals for armistice
November	1	Hungary declares independence
	3	Austria signs armistice
	4	Italian Front:  Italians recognise Austrian surrender, having taken 300,000 prisoners
	6	Western Front:  Germans withdraw across the Meuse
	9	Germany:  Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates, republic declared
	10	Germany: ex-Kaiser flees to The Netherlands with 20 carriages of luggage
	11	Austria:  Emperor Karl abdicates, republic declared. Western Front:  Germans sign armistice.  Hostilities cease at 'the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month' (Treaty of Versailles signed on 23rd June 1919).
	12	Britain:  new war loan of £700m - total war debt now £7,100m
	15	Britain:  Victory Day
	17	America: war death toll of 53,000 exceeded by flu deaths
	19	Britain:  war casualties 3m. with nearly 1m dead
	21	North Sea:  German High Seas Fleet surrenders to British in Firth of Forth (scuttled on 21st June 1919 in Scapa Flow)
	25	Britain:  Parliament lifts many war restrictions, then is dissolved for General Election