Volume 1

Minutes of evidence taken before the Royal Commission on the War in South Africa.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on the South African War, 1899-1900
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Minutes of evidence taken before the Royal Commission on the War in South Africa. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    very carefully, because the efficient life of a nurse, her life during which she is capable of performing such duties as would be required of her in a campaign, is a comparatively short time, 11255. For so many years ?—Yes, 11256. (Chairman.) Up to what age P—35 or 40 at the latest—Z5 I should think, 11257. (Sir Henry Norman.) You said something about the Army medical officers not having the oppor- tunity of attending women and children, but surely a a great many of them are so employed. There are a large number of women at Aldershot, and in India there are a large number of women with the British regiments, so that the Army doctors must have a certain amount of practice with women and children in accouchements, and so on ?—Insufficient, 11258. (Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal.) Do you think it would be a very great advantage to have medi- _ Gines as far as possible in the concentrated form of cap- sules, pills, and tabloids —I do, especially upon expedi- 485 tions such as were very common in South Africa, where for weeks they were cut off from their base. 11259, They are much less subject to being destroyed ? —They are much less subject to damage or deterioration. 11260. Than when in liquid form ?—Yes, 11261. I think you mentioned that the medical ap- pliances obtained from America were found to be far better than those then in the hands of the military medical men ?—I have no knowledge of that; I referred more to the surgical equipment, but I should think it was all of a similarly advanced nature. 11262. Those tabloids of which we speak are very much drawn from America, are they not ?—Yes, 11263. And they are more than in this country ?—Yes, think, first in America. 11264, And they have continued to be made wholesale there, in large quantities, and sent here for use in Great Britain ?—Yes, prepared there, perhaps, they were introduced, I (After a short adjournment. ) examined. 11265. (Chairman.) I do not think you were in South Africa, were you?—No. 11266. What is the position you hold now?—I am in charge of the subordinate male personnel of the Royal Army Medical Corps, everything up to the rank of Quartermaster and Sergeant-Major—non-commissioned officers and men, 11267. Then it is that point, I especially wish to deal with ?—Yes, 11268. You have given us a précis of the points upon which you propose to give evidence. Have you elaborated it at all in the form of any statement that you would like to. make, or would you like to be taken through it P— I think I have very little to add. 11269. Have you got a copy of it here I fancy this is the same on the four points of “ establishment,” “ ad- ditional men for South Africa,” “additional men for home hospitals,” and “men not expected to be well trained.” 11270. Yes, that is it. Then let us take them in that order. What is it you would like to say with regard to the establishment?—It is the fact that the estab- lishment is designed for the number of non-commis- sioned officers and men that are required on a peace basis for hospitals. We have never estimated for addi. tional non-commissioned officers and men in view of war, What we have asked for every year are the number of men that are required for all the hospitals where the Army Medical Corps are employed. 11271. And no account has been taken in that estimate of the possibility of expansion ?—No; of course, we have the Reserves, 11272. What do you call the Reserves ?—In common with the rest of the Army after a certain period of years all the soldiers pass to the Army Reserve. That is our only Reserve. 11273. You mean that a certain number of hospital orderlies pass with other soldiers to the Reserve ?—_Yes. 11274. Men who have had a certain training P—Yes, that is in the ordinary course. There were at the com. mencement of the war somewhere about 1,000, 11275. There were in the Reserve about 1,000 who had had experience as hospital orderlies ’—Yes, they belonged to the corps. They were the Royal Army Medical Corps Reserve, 11276. What were your total numbers then, including the establishment, plus the Reserve, when the war broke out?—4,000. The authorised establishment for the corps for the year in which the war commenced was 5,045, and in addition to that we had practically about 1,000 Reservists. 11277. (Sir John Edge.) Was that for the whole corps, India and elsewhere?—Not for India. The Army Medical Corps does not go to India. The nursing in the Indian hospitals is entirely done by Indian officials and Indian nurses, 11278. It is only the officers of the corps that go to India ?—It is only the officers that! go to India. suppose, that you 11279. (Chairman.) Then, Supposing, instead of 250,000 men in South Africa, we had only sent out two Army Corps, what percentage then would you have sent of the Royal Army Medical Corps, as applied’ to two Army Corps?—Do you mean the percentage that would be required ? 11280. In the first place, what would you consider would be the percentage required for two Army Corps / —In the first place, you must have the field units ; every brigade has a field hospital and a bearer com- pany, and there are three brigades to a division and two divisions to an Army Corps, so that for an Army Corps you want six bearer companies and 10 field hospitals. But the most essential thing is the number of sick that you estimate you will get in that climate, and for those you must have hospitals along the line of communications and at the base, which are really hospitals where the sick are treated. The Commission understands that the expression “ field hospital” is rather a misnomer. It does not possess beds, it moves with the brigade; and, therefore, is only meant to take the sick and wounded, and take care of them until] such time as they can be discharged along the line of communications by road or by train to the real hos- pitals, which are the base hospitals, or the stationary hospitals along the line of communications. 11281. But have the military authorities ever esti- mated the numbers of the Royal Army Medical Oorps that would be required, we will say, for a force of 100,000 men ?—Yes. 11282. What is the percentage ?—As I said, it really depends upon the climate that you are working in. 11283. And you cannot tell beforehand what climate the Army may be sent to?—For South Africa they allowed 10 per cent. of sick. 11284. That is not my point. If you take the num- ber of the Royal Army Medical Corps, I want to know about what number would be calculated that the Royal Army Medical Corps would require for an army ot 100,000 men?—That, I say, would depend upon the number of sick you expect. 11285. Say in a European war—let me put it in that way ; supposing you were fighting in a European war? —I think they would still require 10 per cent. 11286. Ten per cent. of sick?—Ten per cent. of sick and wounded. 11287. That is not my question ?—Then you base on that the number of general hospitals and stationary hospitals that would be required. Say you expect to have 20,000 sick and wounded—is that what you mean? How many general hospitals and how many stationary Lospitals would be required ? 11288. No, my question is this: Supposing you assume that you are going to employ anywhere you ike a force of 100,000 men, how would you calculate the number of the Royal Army Medical Corps that would be required for it, or have you never contem- plated it in that wav or looked at it from that point of view ?—We generally say, if you anticipate that you Professor A. Ogston, C.M. 9 Dee. 1902. Tieut. - Colonel E. M. Wilson, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.