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First World War Voluntary Aid Detachments and Auxiliary Hospitals in Kent

Mags Erwin and Kate Haynes

 

The outbreak of the First World War 1 on 4th August 1914 prompted the British Red Cross to form a Joint War Committee with the Order of St John because the military authorities were ill prepared for a war that would produce a large number of casualties. Throughout the war more than 2.5 million casualties were transferred back to the UK, mostly through Southampton and Dover. This number was so huge that the authorities were dependant on civilian involvement in the care of the sick and wounded to compensate for the shortcomings of the military medical service. Initially both of these organisations not only worked together but also pooled their resources and funds. An important aspect of the Committee’s efforts during the war was the organisation of auxiliary hospitals. These hospitals included a first tier of large general hospitals but a wider tier of smaller premises also volunteered for war service. Over 5000 buildings in England were offered free of charge to the War Office. These varied greatly in size: town halls, recreation halls, schools, infirmaries, portions of general hospitals, large and small private houses and even cottages, garages or stables!

 

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Image: Trinity Hall, Church Street, Sittingbourne, former VAD hospital. An example of a smaller VAD hospital. (creative commons license)

 

Not all of these were suitable for hospital purposes. Auxiliary hospitals were classified as Class A (those that took cot cases, i.e. the bedridden, from general hospitals) and Class B (for convalescent and ambulant patients). There were also specialised units for shell-shocked and neurological patients. As the demand for hospital beds increased existing pre-war asylums and sanatoriums were converted for military use. Military hospitals were also established in hutted army camps on land either on existing army bases or acquired nearby.


The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) system was actually founded in 1909 under the auspices of the Red Cross and the Order of St John. By the summer of 1914 there were over 2,500 VAD units in Britain and of the 74,000 members at least two-thirds were female. At the outbreak of hostilities VAD members immediately offered their services but the Red Cross was reluctant to allow civilian women a role in overseas hospitals. Most of the volunteers were from the middle and upper classes who they felt would be unaccustomed to hardship and traditional hospital discipline. The military authorities were adamant that VADs should not serve on the front line in a nursing capacity. Initially, VADs were only allowed to serve as canteen workers or cooks. However, after 3 members were caught under fire and then pressed into emergency hospital service, it was admitted that they had acquitted themselves well. Following this incident in France, female volunteers over the age of 23 and with more than 3 months hospital experience were accepted for overseas service. At home most of the auxiliary hospitals were staffed by VAD nurses.


For the first 6 months of the war the majority of wounded arriving in Kent were Belgian soldiers and refugees who had been evacuated via Ostend following the fall of Antwerp. An estimated 1500 patients were received into Kent VAD hospitals on 14th/15th October 1914, with a further 300 by the end of the month. Although Southampton was the main disembarkation port, on average Dover handled more patients. It was estimated that Dover received 1,293,345 patients compared to 1,317,638 coming in through Southampton. In the face of such a large number of casualties the military and civilian authorities could not cope.


As soon as wounded men arrived at the ports from abroad they were assessed in Red Cross temporary hospitals before being dispersed throughout the country. There were over 300 auxiliary hospitals in Kent alone ranging from large existing military hospitals such as the Infantry and Cavalry Barracks in Canterbury (over 2000 beds) to the Parish Room in Allhallows (12 beds). Homeville hospital in Headcorn was an 18 bed Class B establishment set up in a private house. They were staffed by:-

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Image: Dane John House (now called Chantry Hall), former VAD hospital, Canterbury (creative commons license)

1.a Commandant who was in charge of the hospital except for the medical and nursing services


2.a Quartermaster who was responsible for the receipt, custody and issue of articles in the provisions store


3.a Matron who directed the nursing staff


4.members of the local Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) who were trained in first aid and home nursing.

 

Some of the military hospitals in Kent were run by the Canadian, American, Australian and New Zealand medical authorities as their home countries were too far away for the immediate transportation of casualties. The Canadians took over the administration of Shorncliffe Military Hospital as well as several other establishments in Ramsgate, Folkestone and Walmer. The Australians used Orchard Military Convalescent Hospital in Dartford from August 1916 and the Americans were based at the Upper Southern Hospital also in Dartford. However, following an aerial raid on Chatham House in Ramsgate on 22nd August 1917, when 2 people were killed and 5 wounded, the Canadians withdrew their hospitals from the Isle of Thanet. The personnel and patients were evacuated to Buxton and Bexhill for safety. Subsequently, the War Office decided that VAD hospitals in Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Margate would also close because of air raid danger. The last convoy train arrived on 21st September 1917 carrying 203 patients to a VAD hospital in the Isle of Thanet.  Many of the VAD establishments in Kent continued to care for patients after the end of the war in 1918. It would also appear that there were many more military hospitals, private auxiliary hospitals and convalescent homes in the county than those officially under the VAD umbrella. Some of these establishments were only used for a limited period of time before they were considered either too small or inconvenient. However, it may be concluded that the military authorities depended heavily on the VAD hospitals, especially those in Kent after they had acquitted themselves so well following the Belgian evacuation in October 1914. It must also be stated that although men were the leaders of the VAD organisation at county level, it was invariably women commandants who ran the hospitals.

 

This study has been limited to the boundaries of modern Kent and so does not include areas such as Bromley, Chislehurst etc that originally formed part of the Kent auxiliary hospitals system. This article is the product of a joint venture between Kent HER team and its volunteers who in 2016 and 2017 created HER records for more than 300 hospitals in the county and researched their history. This has only been possible because of the work of other researchers. In particular the authors would like to acknowledge the pioneering work of Hazel Basford on whose research this project has drawn.