11 mark
When was the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) founded?
1914
1898
1918
1915
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The British Sector of the Western Front: Treatment (Edexcel GCSE History: The Thematic & Historic Environment (Paper 1))
Exam Questions
17 mins17 questions21 mark
How far were Regimental Aid Posts (RAP) from the frontline?
A few miles.
200 metres.
A mile.
400 metres.
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31 mark
What was the purpose of the Advanced and Main Dressing Station?
To give specialised treatment.
To treat life-threatening injuries.
To give immediate first aid.
To give emergency first aid.
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41 mark
Which of the following was not used to transport wounded soldiers to Base hospitals?
Motor ambulances.
Planes.
Canal barges.
Ambulance trains.
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51 mark
What was the first stage in the chain of evacuation for injured soldiers on the Western Front?
Base hospital.
Casualty Clearing Station.
Regimental Aid Post.
Dressing Station.
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61 mark
Which medical group were the main group responsible for the majority of the medical care on the Western Front?
Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC).
First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY).
Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs).
The Red Cross.
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71 mark
How were soldiers typically moved from the frontline to a Regimental Aid Post (RAP)?
By train.
By motor ambulance.
By horse.
By walking or on stretchers.
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81 mark
How many members of QAIMNS were on the Western Front by 1918?
8,000
9,000
10,000
11,000
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91 mark
Which of the following was not a role nurses performed on the Western Front during the First World War?
Stretcher bearers.
Drove ambulances.
Scrubbed floors.
Set up cinemas and drove mobile libraries.
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101 mark
Study Source C. What is the nature of Source C?
Source C: 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.' |
A letter.
A captain from the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) in 1915.
To send information and news from the front to his family.
His work as a stretcher bearer in the First World War.
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111 mark
Study Source D. What is the purpose of Source D?
Source D: A letter by Helen Fairchild, a U.S. Army reserve nurse. The letter was to her mother from the Casualty Clearing Station that Fairchild worked at in Ypres, in August 1917.
'I am with an operating team about 100 miles from our own Base Hospital, closer to the fighting lines. I'll sure have a lot to tell about this experience when I get home. I have been here three weeks and see no signs of going back yet, although when we came we only expected to be here a few days. Of course, I didn't bring much with me. Had two white dresses and two aprons, and two combinations. Now can you imagine trying to keep decent with that much clothing in a place where it rains nearly every day. We all live in tents and wade through mud to and from the operating room where we stand in mud higher than our ankles. It was some task, but dear old Major Harte, who I am up here with, got a car and a man: to go down to our hospital and get us some things. He brought me six clean uniforms and aprons, beside heaps of notes from all the nurses, letters from home and all kinds of fruit and cake. We made the trip up to this place in an auto-ambulance 100 miles through France. Oh I shall have books to tell when I get home.' |
The letter was written to send information and news about Fairchild’s experiences in Ypres during the First World War.
A U.S. Army reserve nurse.
A Casualty Clearing Station in Ypres.
Helen Fairchild, Ypres, August 1917.
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11 mark
Study Source A. How does Source A support the following inference:
'Dressing stations relied on the help of RAMC stretcher bearers to transport injured soldiers'.
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.' |
Source A supports the inference as it states “At 2 am a terrifying bombardment began and at 5 am the first batch of wounded began coming down the communication trench”. This shows that soldiers were wounded and needed help.
Source A supports the inference as it states “It was evening by the time I got out of the trench to look for more wounded”. This shows that if it was not for the RAMC. those soldiers would have been left to die.
Source A supports the inference as it states “We found most of them in a wooded area, so weak that they could not call out.” This shows that the soldiers were hurt and exhausted from battle.
Source A supports the inference as Source A was written by a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1915. This was during the First World War.
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21 mark
Study Source B. If a historian had used Source B to investigate the transportation of injured soldiers to Base Hospitals, what other source would be the best to use to help in their enquiry?
Source B: A photograph taken on the British Western Front in France, January 1918. The photograph shows the interior of a coach of a British hospital train in France.
The historian could use a diary extract from a soldier in a Casualty Clearing Station. The historian could compare the two sources to show the evacuation process.
The historian could use Wikipedia as a secondary source. The information from Wikipedia would support what is shown in Source B and help with their enquiry.
The historian could use a soldier's medical records from a base hospital. This would show the different ways soldiers were transported to a base hospital.
The historian could look at a photo of soldiers being transported to a base hospital via a plane to show the different ways that soldiers were transported to the base hospitals.
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31 mark
Study Source C. Using Source C and your own knowledge, why was it hard for this stretcher bearer to find enough men to carry the soldiers away?
Source C: 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.' |
The ground was wet and muddy. It was very hard to work in these conditions and the RAMC would have been very tired.
It was very late at night and the RAMC were not used to working at night time, so they were tired.
The Regimental Aid Posts were miles away from the front line. It would have taken them a long time to take the injured soldiers to the RAPs as the stretcher-bearers would have been tired.
It took four to six stretcher bearers to move a single stretcher. There were so many casualties that they would have been tired from removing the injured soldiers.
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11 mark
Study Source A. How helpful is Source A to a historian studying the work of the Royal Army Medical Corps on the Western Front?
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.' |
Source A is helpful to a historian because it describes what was happening in the battles. It states that there was a ‘bombardment’. It also shows at what time battles typically started to happen as it states that the bombardment began at ‘5 am’.
Source A is helpful to a historian because it demonstrates the average number of men rescued by a stretcher-bearer each day and what obstacles they faced when rescuing soldiers.
Source A is not helpful because it only explains what happened to one member of the RAMC during one evening of the First World War.
Source A is not helpful because it does not explain how the stretcher-bearers got the soldiers to the Clearing Stations or what treatment they were given.
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21 mark
Study Source B. What are the limitations of Source B?
Source B: A photograph taken on the British Western Front in France, January 1918. The photograph shows the interior of a coach of a British hospital train in France.
Source B is limited as the name of the photographer has not been identified. Therefore, we are uncertain why this image has been taken.
Source B is limited as we do not know who these people are on the train or what their injuries are.
Source B is limited as the photograph only shows one carriage of the train. The photograph does not make the purpose of the train clear.
Source B is limited as it does not specifically state where in France the train was. We are unable to tell where these soldiers came from.
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31 mark
Study Source C. How does the provenance of Source C impact how helpful the source is for the historian’s enquiry into the evacuation process for injured soldiers during the First World War?
Source C: 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.' |
The letter was written during the First World War. This makes it less helpful because he is only reflecting on his own experiences which may not be the same as other stretch-bearers.
Source C is not helpful because it does not tell you the name of the captain who wrote this source. The source is therefore unreliable because we don’t know who wrote it.
The letter was written by a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1915. This makes the source very helpful because he has first-hand experience with the evacuation process of injured soldiers during the First World War as his job was to take them to the RAPs or CCSs.
Source C is helpful as it describes how long it took for all the injured soldiers to be removed from the battlefield by the stretcher-bearers as it states “We got our last wounded to safety at 4 am”.
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