They Came Home from WW1 - Waiuku and Awhitu Peninsula

Etaples Camp and No: 1 Stationary
Hospital - France

Map shows the three approximate locations of No:1
Stationary Hospital and Etaples Camp.

Etaples
Etaples, on the northern coast of France, was chosen for its good railway links and access to ports
becoming the principal depot and transit camp for troops coming from Britain. Soldiers were taken
to the camp as soon as they landed in France for further training and preparation before being sent
to the Western Front or ‘up the line’ as it was called. The officers and NCOs in charge of the training,
the "canaries", had a reputation for not having served at the front, which created a certain amount
of tension and contempt. Both raw recruits and battle-weary veterans were subjected to intensive
training in gas warfare and bayonet drill, and long sessions of marching at the double across the
dunes for two weeks.
It was also a point to which the wounded were transported as there were at least 16 hospitals
capable of holding 20,000 beds and a convalescent depot. At the height of the war the hospitals
were receiving 40,000 soldiers each month. They were bought to Etaples on ambulance trains that
ran every day. These, along with the training camps, saw a capacity of 100,000 troops in the town.
Conditions were harsh and the discipline severe and in September 1917, New Zealand troops were
involved in a series of mutinies which eventually lead to better conditions.



New Zealand Troops on parade at Etaples before going ‘up the line’ 15 Jan 1918. - Alexander Turnbull Library

No 1 Stationary Hospital
This hospital was initially in Amiens, some 15 miles (25kms) from the Front Line and operated from
July 1916, when New Zealand Sisters and nurses arrived, until May 1917.
It consisted of two buildings, the main part of 350 beds was in part of a convent and was where the
more serious cases were admitted. The other part, in the Lycee Girls School, a few blocks away,
could accommodate 380 beds. A little later a third school was opened as an Officer’s hospital with
100 beds.
After 10 months the Stationary Hospital was transferred to Hazebrouck and could accommodate
1,040 patients in two schools and a field of tents. It was in existence until September 1917.
The hospital was again relocated, this time to Wisques, three miles (5kms) from St Omer. Here
everyone was under canvas until some huts could be erected.

Matron, Sisters and Medical Officers at Wisques No 1 Sationary Hospital. Photo: Royal NZ
Returned Services’ Association Ref:-1/2 013478-G

Other Hospitals Rouen General Hospital tents 1916
Many other hospitals and convalescent -Wellcome Collection
depots were used throughout France and
Belgium. Rouen was frequently used for New
Zealand soldiers.

Field Ambulance
A Field Ambulance was not a vehicle but a
front-line unit of around 250 personnel which
treated men injured in battle. Stretcher
bearers (including bandsmen) collected men
from the battlefield and carried them to first-
aid posts near the front lines, where they were treated by regimental medical officers. Those
requiring further treatment were transported via casualty clearing stations to hospitals behind the
lines. A Field Ambulance company was attached to each New Zealand infantry brigade and
the Mounted Rifles Brigade throughout the war. – natlib.govt.nz

Casualty Clearing Stations (CCS)
The Casualty Clearing Station was part of the casualty evacuation chain, further back from the front
line than the Aid Posts and Field Ambulances. The job of the CCS was to treat a man sufficiently for
his return to duty or, in most cases, to enable him to be evacuated to a Base Hospital. It was not a
place for a long-term stay. CCS’s were generally located on or near railway lines, to facilitate
movement of casualties from the battlefield and on to the hospitals. Although they were quite
large, CCS’s moved quite frequently, especially in the wake of the great German attacks in the spring
of 1918 and the victorious Allied advance in the summer and autumn of that year. – Longlongtrail.co.uk

Hospital Ships
The Maheno and Marama were the “poster” ships of New Zealand’s First World War effort. These
ships transported the wounded, sick and injured back to England or back to New Zealand, delivering
care and treatment throughout the journey. By the end of the war, New Zealand’s “white ships” had
transported 47,000 patients and made 17 charter voyages.
SS Maheno – first sailing 10 July 1915, last sailing 14 December 1918 and SS Marama first sailing 4
December 1915 and last sailing 28 Febraury, 1919.

SS Maheno Port Chalmers 1915

New Zealand Camps and Hospitals
in Egypt

In December 1914 the Main Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) disembarked at
Alexandria and travelled by train to Cairo. Here they were based at Zeitoun Camp and trained in the
surrounding area before embarking for the Gallipoli Peninsula.
2,279 New Zealand soldiers lost their lives in the Gallipoli campaign which lasted over eight months
and many thousand were wounded and bought back to Egypt for treatment and rest.
Later, from 1916 to 1918, New Zealanders fought in the Middle East. They fought on horse and
camel as part of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigades. 640 men lost their lives in the Middle
East campaign and many hundreds were wounded or fell ill.
New Zealand’s sick and wounded soldiers were admitted to British and Australian hospitals until
April 1915 when a dedicated hospital was opened for the New Zealand troops.
In March 1915 there were 21,000 troops in Egypt, 10,000 less than first landed.
Field ambulances and Casualty Clearing Stations were dotted throughtout the area to initially treat
the wounded and assess their hospital needs and Convalescent Homes were establised to care for
men before they went back to the front.

Zeitoun Camp
This camp was 9kms north east of Cairo
and was a bare site when the New Zealand
troops arrived. At first the men had to
sleep in the open before a settlement of
bell tents sprang up.
Training consisted of marching in full kit
through miles of sandy desert, target
practise shooting, formation drills and
large scale field exercises.
However, the men did have time to visit
tourist sites, shop and partake in personal
activities.
Troops left from here to the Dardanelles and returned after battle for treatment or rest. Initially the
men were treated in British or Australian hospitals but it soon became obvious that New Zealand
needed its own hospital and convalescent homes to care for the troops.

Moascar Camp
The New Zealand Infantry Brigade, part of
the Australian & New Zealand Division
arrived to set up here in January 1916.
The camp was about a mile from the town
Ismailia, in the north east of Egypt, on the
western bank of the Suez Canal. Initial
conditions were tough. There was a
shortage of tents, blankets and
equipment, even at times, rations.
This became an isolation camp and
provided the final preparation for the men
going to Alexandria and the Western
Front. They were screened for two weeks, checking for illnesses like measles which had spread
through the camp earlier.
In later days the New Zealand Mounted Rifles moved here to prepare for the Sinai Campaign.

Alexandria Camp
Alexandria, a Mediterranean port city in
Egypt, became a camp, depot and hospital
for New Zealand troops. The port, 183kms
northwest of Cairo, was used by hospital
ships and troopships bringing
reinforcements and taking away the sick
and wounded.
The first New Zealanders landed on
3 December 1914 and travelled by train to
their training camp near Cairo.
Ten thousand horses and their equipment
also arrived with the troops. (pictured here)

New Zealand General Hospital The entrance to New Zealand General
The New Zealand General Hospital Hospital Pont de Koubbeh, Cairo
was opened in Cairo in April 1915, in
what was the Egyptian Army Hospital
at Pont de Koubbeh.
It was a large stone building, two
storeys high, with deep verandahs and
held 250 beds, but in the large
quadrangle the No 2 Stationary
Hospital was set up in marquees.
The number of beds grew as the
casualty numbers mounted from the
battlefields of Gallipoli, eventually
reaching more than 1,000.
In March 1916, there were 800 beds
occupied but on 9 June 1916, the
hospital closed and relocated to England to become the
No 1 New Zealand General Hospital at Brockenhurst.

Convalescent Homes Aotea Convalescent Hospital at Heliopolis
The first convalescent home was a house in
Zeitoun, opened in May 1915, but this
proved totally inadequate and the next one
was opened by Lady Godley in Alexandria,
soon after.
In October 1915, the Aotea Convalescent
Hospital was opened at Heliopolis, a suburb
of Cairo. This hospital could hold 100 men
and was equipped by the residents of
Wanganui.
This hospital remained open until the
Armistice, largely for the New Zealand
Mounted Rifle Brigade, after the closure of
the New Zealand general Hospital and other convalescent
homes.

Sources

NZ History online – nzhistory.govt.nz – includes map.

Photographs

Zeitoun. – Journey of the Otagos.wordpress.com
Moascar Camp. - Photographed by JD Graham, Welcome Collection
Alexandria Camp Depot and Hospital – nzhistory.govt.nz
New Zealand General Hospital Cairo – national library NZ Ref 1/2 – 147599-F
Aotea Convalescent Hospital – Google Images

Index

Name Service No Name Service No

ALDRED Maxwell MBE 13/2510 HAMILTON William Glover 78032
AMIES Leslie George Victor 24/30 HAMMOND Louis Walter 58481
ANDREW Henry John 69667 HAMMOND Robert William 13/272
BARRIBALL Charles Rainsford 13/2527 HARTNER James 56297
BARRIBALL John Leslie 20954 HARTNER Louis 57823
BARRIBALL Stanley Martyn 43180 HENRY Osmond 37051
BARRIBALL William Roy Wesley 76399 HERROLD John Henry DSO 13/161
BATH Algar Frederick Francis MM 23952 HOLMES Albert 13/1045
BINNS Edwin Joseph 13/2532 HOLMES Herbert 70283
BRIGHT James 35994 HUGHES Raymond Alexander 25142
BRIGHT Samuel James 58474 HULL George Burton 58208
CLOTHIER Olga 11/1673 HULL John Kingston MM 13/2520
CODLIN George Vernon 11/1633 IRWIN George Raymond 65921
CODLIN John Sydney 74161 IRWIN John Stanley 53919
CODLIN Theophilus James 24/726 IRWIN Thomas Alfred 79764
CODLIN Thomas Cleatus 17/243 JOHNSON Oliver Augustus 10843
COFFIN Herman Ernest JOLLY William John 13/922
COLBECK Wilfred Seymour Thorne 30352 JULIUS Percival Eric 3/1046
CONROY John 23/2128 KELLAND William Harold
COWLEY Thomas Cannell 56248 KELLY Arthur George Hamilton 78040
CROWHURST Leslie Upton Clifford 90747 KNIGHT Frank 34521
CUTFIELD Gerald 60081 LAWRENCE Harry 13/86
DAVY Francis Edward Denys 13/34 LAWTON Michael Davitt 28351
DAWBIN Robert James 26/442 LEHERTY James 58482
DELAMORE Roy Gordon. 23/117 LOWE James Watson 35744
DONN Alexander James 2/2812 LUCAS Arthur Albert 11891
DRURY Harry 2/1971 LUHRS Freidrich Oscar 42356
EDDY Elizabeth Jane 13319 MacDONALD Allan Farquhar 70303
EISENHUT Henry DCM 22/72 MADILL Adam 13/105
EVANS George Robert 13/48 MAYHEAD Reginald 46135
FLAVELL Eric Edward 34349 McCONNELL William John 59943
FLAVELL George Samuel Seiver 2/531 McDONALD George 48544
FLAVELL William 12/3638 McDONALD Harold John 16237
FORBES John 14248 McFADYEN Cecil James 11/1541
FURNISS Alfred George 42072 McFADYEN Hugh Morrison 17527
GEORGE Herbert Walter McMILLAN Alfred Lewis 64818
GILCHRIST Geoffrey 70466 McNAMARA Clarence Stanley 59945
GILLATT Arthur 2/1346 McNAUGHTEN Charles 11/1583
HAGGIE Charles Henry 2/2133 McQUIRE John 13/582
HAMILTON Henry Alexander 26/796 MEACHEN William 13355
HAMILTON James Templeton 81779 MEAGHER James Raymond 52242
HAMILTON John Wilson 58480 MICHIE William 69418
HAMILTON Robert Chadwick MOLLOY William Charles 64817
70279 73267
12600
74180

Name Service No Name Service No

NAYSMITH Henry James Alexander 42766 SEALES George Reuben 50043
NEIL Edwin 57833 SHORT Charles William 56360
O'HARA George 31088 SPEEDY Robert Emelius 2/2724
OAKDEN Percy Valpy 13/1079 SUMMERVILLE William John 58483
OHLSON Athol William Merrill DCM 23/246 THOMSON Rankin 24775
OLDFIELD John 32050 THOMSON Thomas Miller 56381
OLDFIELD Oliver 13/1081 TURNER James Robert 42432
PETERSON Albert Clarence TURNER Richard Alexander Duncan 19689
PREECE George Warner 51769 WALKER James Henry 35752
PURSEY William George MID 70188 WALLEN John Henry Richard 5/363
RENALL Alfred William 17/164 WESTHEAD Earl 56203
ROSCOE Charles Orlando WESTHEAD Laurence MM 12/3502
SANDS David 52279 WRIGHT Arthur 52521
SAULBREY Charles William Skeates 46489 WRIGHT John Herbert Newlyn King 56394
13/1090
32077

Ancestry Sources
Archives New Zealand
Auckland Museum Cenotaph ancestry.com
Billion graves archives.govt.nz
Digital New Zealand aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph
Fair Dinkum Onward Books billiongraves.com
Family Search digitalnz.org
Find a Grave fairdinkumbooks.com
Find My Past familysearch.org
Flotilla findagrave.com/memorial
My Heritage findmypast.com
National Army Museum flotilla-australia.com/hmnzt.htm
New Zealand BDM myheritage.com
NZ History armymuseum.co.nz
NZ History memorials bdmhistorical.dia.govt.nz
NZSG Franklin Branch nzhistory.govt.nz
Papers Past nzhistory.govt.nz/map/memorials
South Canterbury Museum anyflip.com/bookcase/udte
The Wilson Collection paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers
War Forces museum.timaru.govt.nz
The Great War Forum wilsoncollection.co.nz
forces-war-records.co.uk
greatwarforum.org

NZ Electoral Rolls On Ancestry
NZ Post Office Directories On Ancestry
Wises Directories On Ancestry