The Australian Voluntary Hospital was a military hospital staffed by Australian expatriates in England that served on the
Western Front between 1914 and 1916. For most of the first year of the war, although not an Australian Army unit, it was an Australian presence on the Western Front.
Origin
When the
First World War broke out in August 1914, Lady (Rachel) Dudley, the wife of the former
Governor-General of Australia, the
Lord Dudley, decided to create a hospital from Australian doctors and nurses who were in the United Kingdom. There were relatively large numbers of these; while doctors and nurses could be trained in Australia, advanced qualifications still required a trip overseas.[1]
The Australian Voluntary Hospital assembled its personnel and equipment at a camp established on the grounds of the
Ranelagh Club, which had been loaned for the purpose. It departed for France on 29 August 1914 on
Lord Dunraven's yacht "Greta", which had been accepted by the
Admiralty as a transport for medical units,[2] and moved to
Le Havre. Owing to the German advance, the hospital was evacuated to
St Nazaire on 2 September, and reopened there 5 September. The 100-bed hospital was set up in a park under canvas, with a school and house close by rented for various facilities. It began receiving casualties from the
retreat from Mons the next day.[1]
On 26 October 1914, the Australian Voluntary Hospital moved to
Wimereux, where it established a 200-bed hospital. The hospital was well equipped, with motor ambulances donated by organisations in Australia, a pathology laboratory and the only X-ray unit in the area. A day after it opened on 29 October, it began receiving patients from the
First Battle of Ypres.[1] Much of the unit's tents which accommodated the male personnel of the hospital were lost in a blizzard on 11 November 1914, and the men moved to the Golf club house of the Hôtel du Golf et Cosmopolite in Wimereux, which was eventually leased by the hospital, and became its officers' mess.[2]
For a time, the Australian Voluntary Hospital was the only Australian presence on the
Western Front until the arrival of two Mechanical transport companies of the Australian Army Service Corps which reached Rouen on 8 July 1915.[6] Also in July, the senior surgeon and radiologist from the Australian Voluntary Hospital staff joined No. 3 Australian General Hospital, AIF, at Cairo, Egypt.[7] In April 1916, Australian Army units began arriving from the Middle East in large numbers. No. 2 Australian General Hospital, AIF, arrived at Wimereux in June 1916.[8] The Australian Voluntary Hospital was then absorbed into the
British Army as No. 32 Stationary Hospital,[7] with Eames remaining in command.[1] By 1 May 1919, the hospital had treated 73,868 patients.[2]
Gallery
Australian Voluntary Hospital
Ambulances outside the Australian Voluntary Hospital at the Hôtel du Golf et Cosmopolite in Wimereux. The ambulances carry signs indicating their donors, such as the "Red Cross Society, Queensland"
Nursing staff of the Australian Voluntary Hospital. Matron Ida Greaves is at the front, fourth from the left
Staff Nurse May Miles and Captain R. V. MacDonnell tend to a patient
Notes
^
abcdefRay, Pam (April 1991). "A Photographic Record of an Australian Nursing Sister". Journal of the Australian War Memorial (18): 63–65.
ISSN0729-6274.
^
abcdThe History of the Australian Voluntary Hospital, manuscript, pp. 1–7,
Australian War Memorial: 1 DRL 667 12/11/1147