On the Fringe of the Great FightNasmith, George Gallie
History
On the Fringe of the Great Fight
Nasmith, George Gallie
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, English
Each battalion at the front has a headquarters, usually in a dug-out
or a sheltered farm house close to the lines: each brigade, consisting
of four infantry battalions has a headquarters farther to the rear:
each division, consisting of three infantry brigades, artillery, etc.
has a divisional headquarters in some town, still farther to the rear,
out of shell range: each corps comprising two to four divisions has
its headquarters in a town back of this again: each army, composed of
two to four corps, has its headquarters still farther to the rear, and
the popular idea of the Tommy is that since the respective
headquarters occupy bigger and bigger chateaux the farther back they
go, away back somewhere in a town all by himself, living in a big
castle from which he operates everything, is the commander-in-chief of
the whole British Army.
General headquarters is usually a very busy place, for there are the
heads of the various services of the army, and all the orders
affecting the army as a whole are issued through it. The offices of
the chiefs of the services are business offices and are operated in a
most business-like way. The system is so perfect that it is difficult
to escape from it should an order be neglected or a duty left undone.
Among these chiefs is the Director-General of Medical Services of the
British Army in the field, General Sir Arthur Sloggett. Through him
and his deputy, General Macpherson, went all the general orders
affecting the health of the army.
At the head of each army medical service is a Surgeon-General (D.M.S.,
or Director of Medical Services), and at the head of each corps a full
colonel (D.D.M.S. or Deputy Director of Medical Service). The chief
medical man of each division is also a full colonel (the A.D.M.S. or
Assistant Director of Medical Services), and he is responsible for the
operation of the field ambulances and the evacuation of the wounded to
the casualty clearing station while his division is in the firing
line. The medical officers of battalions and the sanitary squad are
also under him.
The casualty clearing stations and the mobile laboratories, are under
the D.M.S. of the army, who is responsible for the clearing of the
hospitals by motor ambulance convoys and by hospital train.
There are normally three field ambulances to each division and one
casualty clearing station. The number of base hospitals to each
division is normally two, but as many of these are utilized as are
needed. They are scores of miles from the fighting zone, and do not
particularly concern us here.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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