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WWII History: The following article describes the Royal Army Medical Corps personnel who were attached to the two British airborne divisions. It covers the formation, history, equipment, and order of battle for these units. |
The Royal Army Medical Corps
of the British Airborne
By: Neal M. - British 3rd Parachute Bde.
Equipment photos by Elheran F.
While the exploits of Red Devils of the British Airborne in World War II are justly famous, the courageous part played by the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) units assigned to the airborne forces may sometimes be under-appreciated. Physicians, orderlies, and nurses of the RAMC received the same tough training as other airborne forces and experienced nearly the same rate of casualties as combatant forces.
However, the RAMC volunteers often faced a difficult choice that fighting soldiers would never have to make. On several occasions, RAMC soldiers volunteered to remain behind with their wounded brethren when all hope was lost in battle, keeping their comrades alive until capture was inevitable. It took a different kind of courage to face enemy imprisonment rather than abandon one's friends to certain death. This act of courage was displayed on several occasions from North Africa to Holland.
Brigadier A.A. Eagger CBE TD MB ChB
(Photo: N. Cherry)
The medical staff of the British Airborne were true pioneers in the emergency care of airborne troops. Instructed by Winston Churchill to form an airborne fighting arm in 1940, commander General Browning of the 1st Airborne Division chose his first medical officer wisely: Brigadier Arthur Eagger. Eagger developed the doctrine of care of airborne wounded from scratch. Given the limited amount of medical supplies that could be carried on a combat drop, Eagger had to develop new techniques for accomplishing care of wounded in the field--without any possibility of evacuation "behind the lines" for complicated medical procedures.
Early on, it was found that casualties could be expected right on the drop zone before combat began--medical orderlies had to be prepared to deal with trauma cases right away. Eagger put together plans for splitting up his forces between glider and parachute brigades, so that vehicles and other heavy equipment could be brought in by glider. But he also helped develop techniques for squeezing basic hospital equipment into parachutists' kit so that surgical facilities could be set up in any area. Many of the packing techniques for delicate medical equipment such as plasma bottles and oxygen cylinders were nothing short of ingenious, although the straw bales and wicker baskets he helped develop seem quaint now. His advances earned him Bronze Star from the U.S. Army, whose paratroopers adopted many of Eagger's ideas--and saved many lives along the way.
An Airborne Jeep modified to carry three stretchers.
The core unit of the airborne RAMC was the Parachute Field Ambulance, made up of 180 men. These were organized in a headquarters of 35 men and four sections of 20 each. Airlanding Field Ambulances were carried by gliders and were allowed the luxury of an extra section. In most cases, one Parachute Field Ambulance would be assigned to each Para Brigade (i.e., 3 battalions). (The 224th Para Field Ambulance was attached to the 3rd Parachute Brigade of the 6th Division, the unit reenacted by the NWHA.) The HQ section had most of the officers and was made up of two surgical teams responsible for setting up a forward hospital.
The Field Ambulance Sections were dispersed among the battalions and were made up almost entirely of Other Ranks (OR's/enlisted) who had emergency medical training. Unlike their American counterparts, these professionals were more commonly referred to as "medical orderlies" or "orderlies" rather than "medics." RAMC OR's who received training to assist in surgery were given the title "nurse," or "nursing orderlies," which didn't carry the same connotation it would had have among the Americans!
King George inspects medical personnel of the
6th Airborne Division.
Perhaps the most famous Airborne Field Ambulance is the 16th Parachute Field Ambulance, which was the very first Airborne medical unit attached to the 1st Airborne Division. The 16th was attached to the 1st Para Brigade and served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, and with great distinction in Arnhem.
One exploit of the 16th is well worth recounting. Most historians will recognize the name of Lt. Colonel John Frost. No. 2 Section of the 16th was assigned to Frost's Second Battalion for an airborne assault on the airfield at Depienne in Northern Africa in November of 1943. Coordination with the British 6th Armored Division was scheduled for 1 Dec., but was cancelled, forcing a withdrawal from far behind enemy lines.
Frost had 150 casualties who could not be moved, but local Arabs were strongly pro-Nazi and would almost certainly kill the wounded before German troops could arrive and capture them. Twelve orderlies from the 16th volunteered to stay behind and protect the wounded--and were POW's until the end of the war.
Corporal W. S. Ducker treats a wounded soldier
from an Ost Battalion in Normandy.
Observers of period photographs will quickly notice that British orderlies are usually armed with pistols. It is a mistaken assumption that the Geneva Convention forbade medics from carrying weapons--they were only forbidden from using their weapons in a combatant or offensive role while on medical duty. Obviously, the line between using a weapon in self-defense and using one to attack the enemy can depend on one's perspective, and the U.S. Army strictly prevented its medical personnel from carrying arms to avoid the potential for misunderstanding. Judging from published accounts, however, it would seem that the British orderlies tore off their Red Cross armbands during firefights and assumed a combatant role far more frequently than American medics.
RAMC personnel chat with their pilots
before the Normandy drop.
Not all RAMC orderlies were armed. A core of Quaker pacifists volunteered for the RAMC and served with distinction. Primarily bomb disposal experts who had volunteered for dangerous duty during the Battle of Britain, they were not needed when the air raids became few and far between. Because of their religious beliefs, Quakers were restricted from advancing above the rank of Private, but many were decorated for bravery during battle. Others joined the airborne RAMC for the extra shilling a day received over standard army wages--about 5 pence or 8 American cents!
RAMC Recruiting Poster:
'Volunteer for the Parachute Medical Services.
There is a place for you.
Your CO. will forward your application.'
It is particularly sad to note that a group of unarmed Quaker medics were gunned down after D-Day at Benouville Church, the site from which a sniper had caused so much trouble to Major Howard's company at Pegasus Bridge. After the bridge was secured and the link-up was made with Lord Lovat's commandos, a dressing station was set up at the base of the church. A separated German soldier stumbled upon the aid station and gunned down all present with an MP40. The irony is that all the Quaker medics had insisted that they be allowed to treat German wounded in equal measure with the British wounded as a condition of their service.
This church in Benouville was in
sniper range of Pegasus Bridge.
The greatest triumph and tragedy of the Airborne RAMC was the Battle of Market Garden in Arnhem and Oosterbeck, Holland. 181, 133, and 16 Para Field Ambulances dropped with their comrades and dealt with massive shortages of supplies, unit disorganziation, and shockingly heavy casualties. One orderly from 16 Para Field Ambulance used all 60 vials of morphine he had in the space of a single hour after he had made his way to Frost's 2nd Battalion holding Arnhem Bridge.
Medics commandeered civilian ambulances, homes, and recruited Dutch medical personnel to treat both British and German injured. When the battle turned against the British and soldiers began to slip away across the Rhine, the majority of surviving personnel from the three Field Ambulances remained behind to treat the more than 2000 British injured. (Only 13 medics out of 540 Field Ambulance personnel escaped across the Rhine.)
A Surgical Team from 181 Para Field Ambulance near Oosterbeck. Note the presence of chaplain.
To their credit the German forces recognized that the wounded would be better served if they allowed the British medics to treat their own. An "Airborne Hospital" was set up in Apeldoorn under POW control, with supplies such as plasma provided by the Germans. German and British doctors worked side-by-side treating wounded from both sides--it took more than a week to work through the backlog of surgical cases. By the end of the week, the bond between the German and British medics was so strong that the Germans had supplied the British with their own ambulance and driver and allowed them complete freedom of movement in town!Items and Equipment of the Airborne RAMC
British Cap Badge and Titles:
Canadian Cap Badge and Titles:
Identity Card, reproduction:
Shell Dressing Bag:
Doctor's Field Bag:
Field Medical Flask with Aluminum Cup:
Airborne Folding Stretcher:
Shell Dressings and Field Dressings:
The former were carried by the RAMC, the latter were carried in the "Field Dressing Pocket" of the Battledress Trousers. According to British regulation, the field dressing could be taken out of the pocket only with the permission of an officer!
Army Medical Service Brassards:
Wearing this brassard and carrying proper identification were key to claiming noncombatant status in the war zone. While wearing the brassard, any action against enemy soldiers not themselves acting against the laws of war would constitute a serious war crime. Stretcher bearers had a separate brassard and were understood to have only temporary noncombatant status.
Reproduction Aid Station Marker:
SOURCES
Bernarge, Georges. Red Devils in Normandy: 6th Airborne Division. (Bayeux: Heimdal) 2002. Cherry, Niall. Red Berets and Red Crosses: The Story of The Medical Services in the 1st Airborne Division in WWII. (Oosterbeck: R.N. Sigmond) 1998, 1999.
