In October 1914, the Order offered the War Office a base hospital to be situated behind the casualty clearing stations on the front line as well. Staffed and maintained principally at the Order’s expense, the St John Ambulance Brigade Hospital was to be one of the most significant initiatives of the Order of St John in the twentieth century.
The War Office quickly accepted the Order’s offer and requested that the Hospital was built just north of the small town of Étaples, on the north coast of France, which was the location of a large base area serving the British Expeditionary Force. A memorandum was sent out by the Order’s Secretary General, Colonel Sir Herbert Perrot, in December 1914 requesting support for the Hospital both in terms of volunteers, but also financially.
Although fundraising for the Hospital continued throughout the conflict, it did not take long for sufficient money to be raised to pay for the buildings and equipment. Initially costing £43,000, the Hospital was designed and built by Humphreys of Knightsbridge, and it was widely thought to be the best designed and equipped hospital serving the British Expeditionary Force in France. When it opened in September 1915, the Hospital contained 520 beds arranged into sixteen hutted wards of thirty beds and two of twenty-four beds.
As a Base Hospital, patients received by the St John Ambulance Brigade Hospital came from the Casualty Clearing Stations, which were situated a few miles behind the front line. It provided treatment, surgical support and some degree of convalescence to patients before they were evacuated to hospitals in the UK or returned to their units. As a result of its location, many of the patients admitted were severely wounded. The death rate was high, creating an extremely stressful and distressing environment for the St John staff, who, despite this, became renowned for their efficiency. The hospital cared for over 35,000 patients during the conflict and due to the scale of the casualties, it was expanded several times from 525 beds in September 1915, to 744 beds by spring 1918.
On the night of the 19th May the St John Ambulance Brigade Hospital was hit by a German bomb which killed five members of staff. Shortly after, on 31st May, a second bomb hit the hospital, resulting in eleven deaths and sixty casualties. This second attack left no department undamaged and rendered the hospital incapable of continuing. The decision was taken to move what remained of the hospital up the French coast to Trouville, where it operated from October 1918 to 1st February 1919.
The War Office quickly accepted the Order’s offer and requested that the Hospital was built just north of the small town of Étaples, on the north coast of France, which was the location of a large base area serving the British Expeditionary Force. A memorandum was sent out by the Order’s Secretary General, Colonel Sir Herbert Perrot, in December 1914 requesting support for the Hospital both in terms of volunteers, but also financially.
Although fundraising for the Hospital continued throughout the conflict, it did not take long for sufficient money to be raised to pay for the buildings and equipment. Initially costing £43,000, the Hospital was designed and built by Humphreys of Knightsbridge, and it was widely thought to be the best designed and equipped hospital serving the British Expeditionary Force in France. When it opened in September 1915, the Hospital contained 520 beds arranged into sixteen hutted wards of thirty beds and two of twenty-four beds.
As a Base Hospital, patients received by the St John Ambulance Brigade Hospital came from the Casualty Clearing Stations, which were situated a few miles behind the front line. It provided treatment, surgical support and some degree of convalescence to patients before they were evacuated to hospitals in the UK or returned to their units. As a result of its location, many of the patients admitted were severely wounded. The death rate was high, creating an extremely stressful and distressing environment for the St John staff, who, despite this, became renowned for their efficiency. The hospital cared for over 35,000 patients during the conflict and due to the scale of the casualties, it was expanded several times from 525 beds in September 1915, to 744 beds by spring 1918.
On the night of the 19th May the St John Ambulance Brigade Hospital was hit by a German bomb which killed five members of staff. Shortly after, on 31st May, a second bomb hit the hospital, resulting in eleven deaths and sixty casualties. This second attack left no department undamaged and rendered the hospital incapable of continuing. The decision was taken to move what remained of the hospital up the French coast to Trouville, where it operated from October 1918 to 1st February 1919.
