First World War Black and White Photograph of a Hospital Train at Rear of Heliopolis Palace Hotel
c. 1915Small black and white photograph of a hospital train stopped outside the Heliopolis Palace Hotel, which was repurposed to serve as the 1st Australian General Hospital in 1915. A number of people are looking out from the first story balcony of the hospital and a person can be seen at the front of the train, with a red cross ambulance nearby. There are 2 train carriages and each have a Red Crescent symbol painted on the side, a recognised symbol of impartial humanitarian protection and disaster relief in Egypt.
This series of black & white photographs was collected by Private Eric Sydney BANNISTER, regimental number 19. He joined the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF) on the 11th August 1914, just a week after war was declared on Germany. The mission of the ANMEF was to destroy German radio stations and occupy German New Guinea and surrounding areas. The ANMEF secured military occupation on the 13th September 1914. The photographs are from two areas of Australian military deployment during the First World War. Ten (10) are from a deployment to German colony of New Guinea in 1914 and another eighty (80) from Cairo dated 1915 and 1916.The photographs of his deployment are of national significance and show one of Australia’s first military action in the First World War.
Details
Details
Handwritten in black ink on back "Hospital train at rear of Palace / unloading patients".
During the First World War the Heliopolis Palace Hotel was repurposed as a medical facility for Commonwealth troops and named the 1st Australian General Hospital (1AGH). With the expected large number of casualties from the Gallipoli Peninsula, further buildings nearby were acquired and with a 2nd AGH established the facilities expanded to 1000 beds. Hospital ships carried the sick and wounded from the Gallipoli peninsula to the port of Alexandria, where Egyptian ambulance trains then conveyed the causalities to Cairo, where the hospitals were located. On each of the 2 train carriages in this photo, is painted the Red Crescent symbol, this mark was the official symbol of the Egyptian Red Cross Society. Founded in 1911, the Society provided emergency medical services and humanitarian aid.
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Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum
Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum
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First World War Photograph of the Delta Barrage Bridge Across the Nile River
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First World War Photograph of Camel Corps Lines
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First World War Photograph of Australian Soldiers (ANMEF) in Rabaul, 1914
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First World War Photograph of Barrage Gardens & Waterway
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First World War Photographic Postcard of 2 Australian Soldiers Standing with 2 Papuan Soldiers
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First World War Photograph of Egyptian Men Leading a Camel
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Other items from Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum
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First World War Black & White Photograph of Hospital Train Stopped at Heliopolis Palace Hotel
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First World War Black & White Photograph of the Matarieh Ostrich Farm, Cairo
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First World War Black & White Photograph of a Polo Match at Ghezieh Sporting Club, Cairo
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First World War Black & White Photograph of No.3 Auxiliary Hospital and Heliopolis Palace Hotel, Cairo
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First World War Black & White Photograph of a Camel Farm, near Cairo
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First World War Black and White Photograph of Saddled Camels Ready for Loading
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First World War Black and White Photograph of a Donkey Led Cart Carrying Vegetable Supplies
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First World War Black and White Photograph of a Large Group of Nurses at Meal Time
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First World War Photographic Postcard of Pte. Eric BANNISTER, 19
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First World War Black and White Photograph of the No. 3 Auxiliary Convalescent Hospital, Cairo
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First World War Photograph of an Egyptian Village Near Mena
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First World War Photograph of the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara
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