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General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: Midase on Monday 24 June 13 19:01 BST (UK)
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Does anyone have any suggestions as to where this picture was taken. Sorry that the picture is not that great, this is all I have to work with.
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Hi Midase,
I am not sure this is going to be helpful, The building does not look like a Hospital but maybe a school comandered for a recuperation/ convalecent centre. I state this as over the door on the left it says GIRL which in normal times would be the girls entrance as mixed schools were not the norm except in country areas and there would be a separate boys entrance.
The inmates are certainly from different regiments and countries as I believe you can tell from the headgear being worn. The suits look to be the walking out wear of recuperating soldiers[in WWII this was a bright blue suite , white shirt ,and red tie ,but I don't remember the light coloured lapels] It is also noticeable that no bandages , or indeed patients in hospital beds which often the norm in hospital photographs are on display.
The nurses appear to be Queen Alexandria's Royal Army Nursing Corps by the look of the officers uniforms with shoulder capes.If you wish to know more you could try QARANC website asking anyone can identify the photo for you.
Best Wishes , Good Hunting
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There are a few men with arms in slings, a couple of men wearing pith helmets (one on the far right 3rd row from front) and are some (at the back centre for example), wearing the sort of cap worn by the Australian army ?
What about this ? Clothing is ismilar
http://www.oldshep.co.uk/page11.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-20875135
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Whilst trying to find which hospital my grandfather was treated at during WWI, I've found what looks to be a useful military hospital website on this url which lists Military hospitals and what type of buildings were used (eg hospital, schools, etc) :-
http://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/briefhistoryauxhosps.html
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Regarding the Australian suggestion, I've come across this page on the website which may be of interest :- http://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/2aaah.html
No. 2 Australian Auxiliary Hospital
St Marylebone School, South Road, Southall, Midd'x
Medical dates: 1916 - 1919
In August 1916 the St Marylebone School in South Road was taken over by the Australian Imperial Forces as a military hospital.
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Good luck
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Many thanks for this superb information. It does indeed look like it was the St Marylebone School but alas the school was pulled down in 1933.
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Many thanks for this superb information. It does indeed look like it was the St Marylebone School but alas the school was pulled down in 1933.
Crikey - you found your target extremely quickly! There were so many hospitals I thought you'd take a couple of days to examine them all, especially when I looked through some of the British facilities and saw the peculiar hospital outfits they were wearing. I stopped looking when I reached the 2nd of the 8 Australian medical facilities and recognised the hats ;D.
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I'm probably being a bit dense here, but why is it thought to be St. Marylebone School - is there a picture of the original building to compare it with that I've missed? There were more than 2,500 hospitals active during the war and hundreds were in school/college premises. By the nurse uniforms it's a military hospital under War Office control, rather than an auxiliary hospital, and British nursing staff rather than Australian.
Sue
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Looking closer at the picture there are a number of soldiers wearing Australian bush hats. This suggests that it was an Australian medical establishment. Marylebone School was taken over as an Australian Hospital. The Australian Red Cross paid for the unit. It could of course mean nothing at all!
Most of the hospitals can be eliminated very quickly as they were existing hospitals and some were just grand houses.
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Good evening,
Most of the men are wearing British hats, some units of the British army also wore slouch hats. Not just an australian practice.
I would agree with them being British nurses as well.
John915
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http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8225/8377193418_1efe1322dd_m.jpg
This says it's st Marylebone,No 2 Australian Auxillary..
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/robmcrorie/8377193418/in/set-72157632271140823
That first pic was a bit rubbish
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That do's not look at all like the building in the original photograph. Also I would have expected to see more amputees in the photo if it had been St, Marylebone.
2nd Australian Auxiliary Hospital (2AAH) This hospital located at Southall, England, specialised in the fitting of artificial limbs.
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It opened in August 1916 but didn't begin to specialise in the fitting of artificial limbs until November 1916. Could this be the last patients perhaps?
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Not St.Marylebone school, Southall in your photo, going by hepburn's link
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I now have a better picture of the soldiers http://www.flickr.com/photos/78630129@N03/9143790072/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78630129@N03/9143790072/)
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There's an excellent flicker website which shows scores of old hospitals on ten pages. I noticed many of the patients in several of the British army hospitals are wearing those jackets with light coloured (white) lapels.
Here's the url for Page 1
https://www.flickr.com/groups/hospitalsinlondon/pool/?view=lg
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The men are wearing hospital blues.
Carol
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The original photo was taken in a section of a UK Territorial Force General Hospital, many of which were located in schools taken over by the War Office in 1914. In the larger of the two photos you can see that the nursing sisters have silver 'T' badges on the lapels of their capes. There were 25 TF General Hospitals in the UK, and the ones that most commonly (but not exclusively) had their sections in schools were:
No.2 Western General Hospital, Manchester
No.2 Eastern General Hospital, Brighton
No.1 Scottish General Hospital, Aberdeen
No.4 Southern General Hospital, Plymouth
No.5 Southern General Hospital, Portsmouth
Sue
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I think there's a very good chance that this is it - Salisbury Road School, Plymouth, and an original building used by No.4 Southern General Hospital, Plymouth.
Sue
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Yes I agree with Scarletwoman. Looks like it.
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There are a few architectural differences but the time difference may account for these. Otherwise a very close match.
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I would say it's a strong contender for the posted photo...The first photo may have been taken from the back of the building.
Carol
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I think it is the front view in both photos, just that there are a couple of alterations to the building. Maybe someone with the necessary skills could overlay the photos, or post them next to each other?
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Wow, this is fantastic, Closer inspection does indeed indicate that this is the one. The change in some architectural features does occur over many years but I now put my money on this being the one. Thanks to everyone and especially Scarletwoman for finding the pic.
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Good evening,
Go to Midase reply 14 and check his link. A good clear picture, then click the left arrow and there is the modern shot. The only differences I can see are the wall built across the yard at the front and the removal of the coping/drip under the 1st floor windows and replaced with individual window sills.
I would say 99% positive ID
John915
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Thanks John915 , I posted the pic on Flickr from Scarletwoman :)
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Just to add that this building isn't a random school building that I managed to find, but one that I know was used from September 1914 when No.4 Southern General was mobilised. As the original photo shows the staff were part of a Territorial Hospital I don't have any doubt myself and would bet a great deal in favour of it being a match (if I had it to bet!).
Sue Light
www.scarletfinders.co.uk
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Thanks Sue. The word finding that I used was meant to be a general term. Thank you for sharing. And I have bookmarked your site for future reference.
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I've bookmarked the site for to for WW1 research for next year...Thanks for sharing Sue.
Carol