Syllabus Edition
First teaching 2024
First exams 2026
The Stages of Treatment in the First World War (Edexcel GCSE History)
Revision Note
How Did Soldiers Receive Medical Help in the First World War? - Summary
Transport to better-equipped facilities for treatment was often needed for injured soldiers. Many men were also sent back to Britain to receive further treatment in British hospitals. This system became known as the chain of evacuation. The movement of soldiers from the front lines involved a variety of transport methods. The first of these were stretcher bearers, operated mainly by the RAMC. Transport over longer distances involved ambulance wagons, trains and canal barges. Developments in transport made the delivery of treatment for casualties more effective. Key medical groups such as the RAMC, FANY and VADs carried out the transportation. Without these volunteers and sub-sections of the army, many more British soldiers would have died from their injuries in World War One. |
The Work of RAMC & Nurses
Illnesses and injuries sustained from the trench environment and weapons of war caused thousands of casualties:
Treatment of the wounded soldiers required more medical professionals
Numbers of medical professionals in 1914 and 1918
| 1914 | 1918 |
|---|---|---|
Medical officers | 3,168 | 13,063 |
Other ranks (e.g. private) | 16,331 | 131,099 |
The RAMC was the main group that provided the majority of medical care on the Western Front
RAMC
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was the branch of the army responsible for medical care:
Founded in 1898
All medical officers belonged to the RAMC
Membership increased from 9,000 in 1914 to 113,000 in 1918
The RAMC included doctors, stretcher-bearers and ambulance drivers.
Nursing
Initially, only well-trained nurses were allowed on the frontline
Although there were only 300 members of QAIMNS on the Western Front in 1914, this rose to 10,000 by 1918
Volunteer nurses proved to the government that they were capable of helping on the Western Front
In October 1914, volunteer nurses set up a Lamarck Hospital opposite the Church of Notre Dame to care for many wounded soldiers
As the number of casualties increased, the government increased their use of volunteer nurses
In January 1916, volunteer nurses replaced male ambulance drivers from the Red Cross
Outside of driving ambulances, nurses helped in many ways:
Volunteers on the Western Front came from many organisations
The Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) contained 90,000 volunteers (many of them women) who assisted on the frontlines as nurses
The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) were a group of volunteer nurses
There were around 450 FANY nurses in France at any one time
Transporting to the Different Stages of Treatment in the First World War
Why was transport important on the Western Front?
The British army needed to have an efficient system of transport to evacuate wounded from the frontline
Members of RAMC and nurses were responsible for moving casualties
Different types of transport were essential. The stages of the chain of evacuation could range from being within 100 metres or hundreds of miles apart:
The stage of treatment depended on the severity of the wound(s)
Treatment of minor wounds happened at the Regimental Aid Post. This was closest to the trenches so that soldiers could return to their post
The Base Hospital treated the most seriously injured. Base Hospitals were miles away from the frontline to avoid being destroyed by artillery
Different methods of transport were used depending on the soldier’s injuries and the distance to each stage of treatment:
Stretcher-bearers
It was the job of stretcher-bearers to recover injured soldiers from the trenches and no man’s land:
There were 16 stretcher bearers per battalion
Four to six bearers moved each stretcher
They worked day and night
Stretcher-bearers transported injured soldiers from the frontline mainly to the Regimental Aid Post (RAP) and sometimes the Dressing Station:
The RAP had its own stretcher-bearers led by a Regimental Medical Officer
The Dressing Stations relied on the help of RAMC stretcher bearers
Worked Example
How could you follow up Source A to find out more about the work of the stretcher bearers on the Western Front?
In your answer, you must give the question you would ask and the type of source you could use.
4 marks
Source A: From a letter written by a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) to his family in 1915. He was in charge of a group of stretcher bearers. Here he is describing the work of his group of stretcher bearers after a German attack on the British trenches.
At 2 am a terrifying bombardment began and at 5 am the first batch of wounded began coming down the communication trench. It was evening by the time I got out of the trench to look for more wounded. I went off with another man to search for the wounded. We found most of them in a wooded area, so weak that they could not call out. They were so relieved at being found that I led a search for more wounded. It was awful work getting them out of the shell-holes. It was also hard to find enough men to carry them away because the stretcher bearers were so exhausted. Finally, we got our last wounded to safety at 4 am the next morning. Altogether, we had collected 18 men in a single day and were certain that no-one was left behind. |
Answers:
Detail in Source A that I would follow up: ‘we had collected 18 men in a single day.’ (1)
Question I would ask: What was the average number of men rescued by stretcher-bearers in a day? (1)
What type of source I would look for: RAMC records from 1915 for a group of stretcher-bearers. (1)
How this might help answer my question: The records would show how many injured soldiers had been rescued. (1)
This answer would receive full marks because it provides an appropriate question related to the detail selected from the source. The suggested source is precise and explains how it would answer the question.
Exam Tip
Remember to be as specific as possible with the source you select. The above answer refers to ‘RAMC records’ rather than just ‘records’. The example above has used contextual knowledge and the caption itself about which organisation employed stretcher bearers.
Horse-drawn and motor ambulances
Over long distances or when there were many casualties, stretcher-bearers were less effective:
Stretcher-bearers worked close to the frontline making their job incredibly dangerous
Transporting the wounded, even over a small distance, was tiring
Transportation of the wounded to Casualty Clearing Stations (CCS) or Base Hospitals was usually by horse-drawn ambulances and motor ambulances:
Enemy artillery destroyed many railway lines making the use of ambulances even more necessary
Trains, barges and ships
Transportation of the wounded to Base Hospitals away from the frontlines was often by train:
The first ambulance train designed for carrying the wounded arrived in France in November 1914
Some trains contained operating theatres
Canal barges were also used to transport the wounded to Base Hospitals:
The large number of trains used to transport the wounded caused congestion on the train network
Canal barges were slower than trains but more comfortable for the wounded
Hospital ships transported wounded soldiers from the coast back to Britain
You've read 0 of your 10 free revision notes
Unlock more, it's free!
Did this page help you?