Guide to the Collections held by the Royal Army Medical Corps (as filmed by the AJCP), 1863-1987

 

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Collection context

Summary

Collection number:
M2566-M2569
Creator:
Royal Army Medical Corps
Extent:
125 items
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Papers 1915-1917 of Lieut. Col. M. Dunning relating to campaigns in Dardanelles and Middle East.

Notes 1943-1945 of Brigadier L.R.S. Macfarlane concerning treatment of amoebic dysentery among prisoners of war in Thailand.

Papers 1940-1944 of Major General Sir Percy Tomlinson, referring to Australian and New Zealand casualties, medical units and hospitals in Middle East and Western Desert.

Papers 1941-1954 of Brigadier Julian Taylor relating to his service as consulting surgeon, Malaya Command, and at the Prisoners-of-War Camp in Changi.

Papers July-September 1915 of Lieut. Col. G.J.S. Archer relating to the 40th Field Ambulance at Gallipoli.

Reports 1942-1945 relating to the Japanese occupation of Malaya and Singapore.

Diaries 1914-1915 of Private A. Horrocks kept while serving in Egypt, referring to problems with Australian troops.

Medical reports 1943-1945 concerning Changi POW Camp.

Papers concerning radioactive contamination of the crew of fishing boat Fukuryu Maru after hydrogen bomb testing at Bikini Atoll in 1954.

Reminiscences of Irish soldier Private Arthur Morgan and Australian soldier Corporal Cockfield while serving at Gallipoli in 1915.

Diaries 1901-1946 of Lieut. Col. John G. Bell with entries relating to his service at Gallipoli, Singapore and Malaya.

Papers 1923-1948 of WO Edward F. Doughty relating to his service in Far East and imprisonment at Changi.

Account by Sgt Major John A. Cox of service with RAMC in 1939-1945, including visits to Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland.

Biographical / Historical:

Following the formation of the Standing Regular Army in 1660, each regiment of infantry and cavalry had a regimental surgeon and his assistant. The office of surgeon-general was created in 1664, but it was not until the Peninsular Campaign of 1808-14 that medical services were organised on a more formal basis. Sir James McGrigor, who was director-general of the medical department from 1815 to 1851, instituted a number of reforms, including the inauguration of medical reports from all medical stations, assistance to widows and orphans of medical officers, research into all aspects of army health, and an improved system of selecting men seeking commissions into the medical services.

Despite these reforms, the Crimean War showed that the medical organisation was unsuited to a modern war. Regimental surgeons held no military rank and had no trained staff. There was public outrage over the deaths through disease of thousands of soldiers in the Crimean War. In response, the War Office established a Medical Staff Corps in 1855. The regimental basis of appointment of surgeons ended in 1873 and an Army medical school was set up in 1863. However, medical officers still lacked the advantages that came with military rank, including inferior pay in India, a limited choice of quarters, rates, and less recognition in honours and awards. Recruiting to the medical department dwindled and there was strong criticism by the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Physicians and a parliamentary inquiry in 1890. The War office resisted change, but finally in 1898 the Medical Staff (officers) and the Medical Staff Corps (non-commissioned officers and soldiers) were amalgamated into the Royal Army Medical Corps. Medical officers were granted the same rank structure as the rest of the Army and assumed full administrative responsibility.

The Royal Army Medical Corps was headed by a director-general with the rank of lieutenant-general. The Army Medical Directorate, established in 1904, had departments dealing with (i) the recruitment, training and placement of medical personnel (ii) medical and surgical treatment, hospital organisation and hygiene and sanitation (iii) medical supplies and medical boards (iv) nursing service. In 1919 separate directorates were set up for hygiene and pathology.

The Corps expanded greatly during World War I: by 1918 there were 13,000 officers and 154,000 other ranks. In World War II, many medical personnel were taken prisoner, as they remained with wounded soldiers, including doctors and assistants captured after the fall of Singapore in 1942.

Reference: R. Drew. Roll of officers in the Royal Army Medical Corps, 1898-1960, London, 1968.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:

Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.

Permission to publish these papers or any part thereof must be sought from The Contemporary Medical Archives Centre. Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, Euston Road, London.

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: