World War 1, Middle East, Australian Army Medical Corps, 1915
1915Stretchered patients being loaded onto Hospital ship (L)
The hospital ships were protected by the Geneva Convention, and always marked with red crosses to distinguish them from standard naval vessels. Many of the hospital ships used at Gallipoli were passenger liners that had been requisitioned by the War Office and converted for the purpose of transporting the wounded. Nurses, who were never used on the ground in Gallipoli, staffed the ships and cared for the sick and wounded while they were in transit. It was common that four doctors, six nurses and a number of orderlies would be on each ship administering to the needs of approximately 400 men. On board there were operating theatres, and many of the seriously wounded would be operated on as the ship journeyed towards it destination. More generally, men were also cleaned and their dressings changed as necessary.
A total of 56 hospital ships were used during the Gallipoli campaign, and their sole function was to move the sick and wounded away from the peninsula and transport them to hospital bases where they could be fully treated. For those whose ailments were less serious, and recovery was expected in three weeks, ships transported them to Lemnos. More serious cases were transported to Egypt, Malta or back to England. Given that the hospital ships were often very crowded, and men were suffering from wounds or sickness, the journey was challenging and long. It took four hours sailing to get to Lemnos, three and a half days to travel to Alexandria in Egypt and six days to get to Malta.
Details
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Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
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