CHAPTER XXII
EGYPT : REORGANISATION OF THE A.I.F.
ON their return to Egypt the Australian formations were sent
to the Suez Canal zone and helped to form there a new
defensive front for Egypt. Simultaneously with this service
the force was reorganised : the infantry into five divisions,
forming, with the New Zealand Division, two army corps
destined for the Western Front ; the light horse into the Anzac
Mounted Division and other mounted units which became
part of a British force which fought for the rest of the war
in Egypt, Sinai, and Palestine. The self-government of the
force in all matters of internal administration was established,
though not yet entirely recognised by all the authorities that
dealt with i t ; in the medical service the new director, his
powers being now confirmed by the Commonwealth Government but not fully admitted by the War Office, collected the
new medical staff of the A.I.F., hastened clearance to
Australia, finalised reforms in the dental and nursing services,
and carried out in the A.A.M.C. units a reorganisation, which
embodied several experiments of interest.
*
*
8
The closing of the Gallipoli campaign opened for the A.I.F.
a new phase in its history, with service in a much wider and
more diversified sphere of action. The next
Return to
three months were occupied in a complete
Eemt
reconstruction and reorganisation of the
force, carried out while the troops were taking their part
in the dispositions for the new strategic situation.
The
mise-en-scine of the reorganisation was the neighbourhood
of the Suez Canal. Hither the Gallipoli troops were transferred. The 8th Infantry Brigade, with the 2nd Casualty
Clearing Station: was already established at I‘ Ferry Post ”
near Ismailia, and, as they arrived from Lemnos, the units of
-
See #. 519.
472
Jan.-Mar., 19161 REORGANISATION OF THE A.I.F.
473
the two Australian infantry divisions were concentrated in
the fine military camp recently constructed at Tel el Kebir
for the outgoing Indian divisions now proceeding to India and
Mesopotamia. Here, on the edge of the desert, within sight
of the historic battlefield, roads had been formed, water laid
on from sub-artesian wells, and a sanitary system installed.
The New Zealand and Australian Division assembled at
“ Moascar,” near Ismailia, and here, on January 4th, Anzac
Corps Headquarters was also established under LieutenantGeneral Godley. The light horse rejoined their remounts
in their old camps at Maadi, Heliopolis, and Zeitoun, where,
at the last named, in the Australian and New Zealand
Training DBpSt, were now accumulated some 40,000 Australian unallotted reinforcements and recovered convalescents.
The 1st Australian Division at Tel el Kebir was now rejoined
by its transport from Mex camp,* and units were brought to
strength from reinforcements and men who had recovered.
With No. 2 Australian Casualty Clearing Station there had
arrived in Egypt, as a line-of-communication unit for the 2nd
Division, an Australian sanitary section (“ No.
Sanitation of
I ”).
Authority was obtained by Colonel
-Ps
Howse as D.D.M.S., A. and N.Z. Corps, for
another section ( “ No. 2
to be at once formed in Egypt
for the 1st Division, and, “ i n view of the proved value of
such a unit on the Peninsula,” for both to be made divisional
instead of army troops.
The sanitation of the two camps was carried out under
the direction of the A.D.M.S., Sanitary for Egypt, and the
general supervision of the Medical Advisory Committee.
There had been initiated a fly-proof pan system with
incineration, carried out by native labourers. The prevalence
of relapsing fever among the latter, and the endemicity of
typhus in Egypt, made the delousing of the force a pressing
concern. This process, however, could not, for the moment,
be efficiently carried out, being quite beyond the capacity of
During its nine months at Alexandria 20 horse waggons of field ambulances of
the 1st Division handled, under orders of the Embarkation Medical Officer, 13,000
sick and wounded, and in doing so travelled over 2,000 miles.
‘Following the British War Establishments laid down in “ Part VII., New
Armies,” these consisted of one officer and 2 5 other ranks.
474
THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN
[Jan.-Mar., 1916
the sanitary sections working with I‘ Serbian barrels ” and one
‘ I thresh
disinfector ” for each division.‘ The only other
element of importance in the health state at this time was
an increased incidence of cerebro-spinal fever, of which
twenty-five cases occurred in the two camps during the month.
Pending the arrival of the line-of -communication units
from Lemnos, cases of serious sickness and of venereal
disease were sent to Cairo by “ No. 4 ”
task
Heavy dental
ambulance train, which had been handed over
by the Egyptian authorities to serve the
Australian requirements and manned by an Australian
medical staff.
During the next two months twenty-one
dental sections set to work on the Augean task of cleaning
up the accumulations of dental decay. Branches of the
Australian Base DQp6t of Medical Stores were established
at Tel el Kebir and Ismailia, where the Australian Red Cross
Society, now possessing its own staff and transport, also
formed centres. On January 29th No. 2 Stationary Hospital
arrived from Lemnos and opened at Tel el Kebir with 400 beds.
With the evacuation of Gallipoli 250,000 Turks had been
set free for an attack on Egypt, the defence of which became
at once a matter of urgent concern. The
Defence of
M.E.F. was transferred to Egypt, and Sir
the Canal
Archibald Murray (who had replaced General
Sir Charles Monro) was placed in command of the “Canal
Defences,” his jurisdiction extending five miles west of the
Suez Canal. A defensive line was being formed east of that
waterway.
During the last week in January the 1st and 2nd Divisions
entrained to the Canal, and, crossing at Ferry Post and
Serapeum respectively, “ route marched” to the line of low
sand-hills nine miles from the Canal in the Sinai Desert and
occupied the ‘ I Central Sector” of the new defensive front
for Egypt.
Already from Serapeum and Ferry Post light
railways and roads, built by Egyptian labour, were bridging
the shifting sands of the lines of communication; and the
“ pipe-line ” brought daily nearer from the sweet-water canal
‘
At Moascar the New Zealand engineers constructed fine baths and a
Cstablishment with laundry.
“
delousing
”
I
I
v
f
a
it
c
N
'i
.r:
i
4
/
4
J
Li
ic;
i
6
P-
/.
I.
Jan.-Mar., 19161 REORGANISATION OF THE A.I.F.
475
the water of the Nile, treated by sand filtration and chlorination to purify it from the varied pollutions of Egypt. Here,
in ptrfect weather, and under health conditions unsurpassed
in the history of the A.I.F., the 1st and 2nd Divisions recreated the trenches of Gallipoli, reaching in the process a
very high standard of
fitness. On March Ist,
for example, only one
patient was evacuated
from the 1st Division
and six from the 2nd.
Pending the arrival
of the road and railway, the tent divisions
behind the lines exploited for the first time
the camel " cacolet "
and
the
sand-cart,
clearing to casualty
clearing stations at Ferry Post and Serapeum, where on
January 29th the 1st A.C.C.S. had opened on the banks of
the Canal. From those points serious cases went to Ismailia
by ambulance-waggon and hospital-barge respectively. Here
on February 1st No. I Stationary Hospital formed in a French
nunnery a fine hospital of 400 beds, clearing to Cairo by the
" Australian " ambplance train.
The four weeksbccupied in these movements in the field
formations were a period of great administrative activity
and were marked by momentous decisions in
I h " AurtraliPa which the Australian medical service was
Imperial
intimately concerned. The reorganisation of
Fame "
the force under General Birdwood (who on
his return resumed his position with the temporary title of
" G.O.C.,
Australian and New Zealand Forces ") was
associated with the deliberate facing of the question of the
status of the A.I.F. in matters not only of administration for
maintenance, but also of command for active service, within
the military forces of Great Britain. The Gallipoli campaign
had caused a break in the internal development of the
A.I.F., but a break which greatly influenced the nature and
32
47'6
THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN
[Jan.-Mar., 1916
direction of its subsequent progress to self -government.
For better or for worse the spirit of nationalism had entered
the Australian people and directed the reorganisation of their
force in all its branches and services. There could now be
no question of the piecemeal absorption of any part of the
A.I.F. into the British Army.
Though, in respect of the
higher command and administration officered almost entirely
by British regular soldiers, and dependent to a great extent
on Great Britain for arms and even for services other than
combatant and front-line units, the force that was organised in
the headquarters at Ismailia and Cairo and assembled and
trained in the camp at Tel el Kebir and in the Sinai Desert,
was a purely Australian one, already with marked characteristics of its own. It is not possible, nor is it -necessary, to
follow the course of the negotiations6 that led to the separation
of the Australian force from that of New Zkaland an the
evolution of the administrative system whereby c o a l e t e
internal self-government was associated with full subordination to British command for service$;lThis evolution, which
extends beyond the period under review, was achieved by
the identification of a fighting command with administrative
direction, embodied in General Birdwood, with a two-fold
staff-(^) fighting headquarters of the I Anzac Corps, and
( 2 ) administrative headquarters of the Australian Imperial
Force in the field and at the base. The Australian Intermediate Base DBpBt became " A.I.F. Headquarters " overseas,
its commandant being now made responsible, under the
G.O.C., A.I.F., for the training of all reinforcements and
details and for the administration of all details and units
other than field formations.
A.I.F. administration was
represented in the field by the A.A.G., A.I.F., at corps
headquarters and his small staff'
The New Zealanders
became similarly differentiated under General Godley."
Before proceeding to an account of the reorganisation of
the force, it is necessary to describe briefly the formation
and early activities of the new A.I.F. medical headquarters.
The new-provisional-Director
of Medical Services for the
' S e e Oficial History o f Australia in the War, Vol. I I I . chai~s.i. ii, and Vi
#During the preoccupation of General Birdwood and his chief-of-staff in the
reorganisation of the A.I.F.. General Galley retained the command of the Anzac
Corps and signed A.I.F. orders.
Dec., IgIS-Jan., 19161 REORGANISATION OF T H E A.I.F.
477
A.I.F., Surgeon-General Howse, arrived from Lemnos on
December 28th. H e found himself in a very anomalous
position-chiefly through the fact that the
Instalment Of
A.I.F.
was not as yet organised as an adminisnew D.M.S.,
A.I.F.
trative entity. He was still D.D.M.S., Anzac
Corps: his A.I.F. position had as yet the
authority only of a notification of his appointment by the
D.G.M.S. for Australia. Further, he had been gazetted by the
War Office (on December 7th, to date from November 22nd)
temporary Surgeon-General, and appointed to the staff of
the P.D.M.S., Surgeon-General Babtie, " to assist him in
administering the Australian service." After arrival in Egypt,
therefore, he reported to that officer. The position that he
found awaiting him was, however, of such a nature that, in
his opinion, his acceptance of the appointment would lead
inevitably to the administrative absorption of the Australian
service in the British. H e therefore demurred at taking up
the duties, pending confirmation of the appointment by the
Commonwealth Government ; and in the meantime with the
concurrence of the G.O.C., A.I.F. (at this time Major-General
Godley who held the position in virtue of his temporary
command of the Anzac Corps), he took up duty in the medical
section of the Australian Intermediate Base DBpGt, with a
somewhat undefined status but an authority that was recognised by the Australian administration in Egypt. From this
office, under the D.M.S. for the Force in Egypt, with the
provisional staff appointed by the acting D.G.M.S., Australia,
he gradually assumed control of the Australian base units in
Egypt. I n addition, as D.D.M.S. of the Anzac Corps, under
the D.M.S., M.E.F., he directed the medical arrangements of
the Australian formations on the Canal.
The large headquarters staff authorised by the acting
D.G.M.S., Australia, was reduced to three assistant-directors
and a matron-in-chief, with a staff of six
Medical
clerks.
Into this headquarters the " Staff
headquartam
for A.I.F.
Officer, A.I.F.," was absorbed, and continued
to perform the same duties, the position of
" S.M.O.,
A.I.F.," lapsing automatically.
A consulting
physician and a consulting surgeon formed a permanent
-
478
THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN
[Dec., 1915-Jan., 1916
invaliding board.? The essential feature of the new regime
was that, in place of the vague and ineffective direction by
an unsupported, isolated, and somewhat inactive officer which
had resulted in chaos, the A.I.F. acquired a well-organised
administrative department, directed by a vigorous and resourceful personality towards clear and definite ends, backed
by military command which had been chastened by unhappy
experience to a lively appreciation of the importance of an
efficient medical service, and possessing to an unwonted
degree the confidence of the combatant side, a confidence
begotten of a joint experience in facing unusual problems
under unusual circumstances.
The duties of the new D.M.S. were not defined by any
order. Those laid down for Surgeon-General Williams had
by assuming a scope of responsibility proper to an expeditionary force, hindered rather than helped the solution of
the problem.
Practically, the scope of the department was
gradually evolved by a process of " peaceful penetration,"8
which took the form of a tentative assumption of responsibilities hitherto assumed by the two British directors in
Egypt. The War Office persistently clung to
~
~
~
~ the ~theory
e that
"
there
"
were two Australian
administrative medical officers (deputydirectors) of equal status in Egypt and England respectively, the latter being under the Director-General at the
War Office, and the former under his representative in
the East, Surgeon-General Babtie. Whatever may have been
the case afterwards, it cannot be questioned that at the present
juncture such an arrangement would have resulted in an
impasse. It was adroitly escaped by the Australian director,
who took the earliest opportunity of making clear to the High
'The officers appointed to the several posts wereA.D.M.S. I : Lt.-Col. R. J. Millard.
A.D.M.S. a : Major T. E. V. Hurley.
A.D.M.S. 3: Captain D. S. Mackenzie.
Matron-in-Chief. Miss E. A. Conyers.
Consulting Physician: Colonel H C. Maudsley.
Consulting Surgeon: Colonel C. S. Ryan.
The confirmation of these appointment. and that of Col. Howse as D.M.S.,
A.I.F., was given by the Commonwealth Defence department at the end of
January and they were gazetted to date from Dec. I except that of the
Matron-h-Chief. which was dated Jan. I a .
Confirmation by the War Ofice of
the appointment of a D.M S.. A I.F., was. however, delayed. This matter receives
further consideratton in Vol. II.
Described by Colonel Howse as " alternate bullying and cajolery."
Jan.-Mar., 19161 REORGANISATION OF THE A.I.F.
479
Commissioner in England, and to the Australian D.D.M.S.
there (General Williams), that there was now one director
of the internal affairs of the A.A.M.C., A.I.F.
The grounds on which the appointment of a new D.M.S.,
A.I.F., had been urged included the effective direction of the
medical service a t the base, and the tightening-up of the
disposal of Australian convalescents in the
Vigorow
interest both of the field force and of
action by
D.M.S.
Commonwealth finance. I n pursuing these
purposes the D.M.S. relied on the application
of a new driving power to existing machinery. The occasional
interventions of the D.M.S. for the Force in Egypt, and the
somewhat vague ‘ I assistance ” of the P.M.O., Cairo, were
replaced by a firm, if at first somewhat inexperienced, direction.
The special establishments drawn up by the acting
D.G.M.S., Australia, for the auxiliaries and convalescent
dBp8ts were confirmed, and the activities of each closely
supervised.
The infectious disease hospital at Abbassia
(No. 4 Auxiliary) was expanded from special staff.
A
special unit from Australia took over the venereal detention
barracks.
Mena House was closed, and the concentration
camp at Suez was replaced by No. 2 Auxiliary as a dBp8t
for invalids awaiting return to Australia. With these steps
was associated a general speeding-up of the system of
embarkation; for which machinery already existed in the fine
organisation built up during 1915.~
A survey by the “flying board” for Australian convalescents in Egypt was already in progress, and, of 4,000
passed under review, 1,392 were selected by
invalids Of
the D.M.S., A.I.F., for immediate return to
Australia.
Their clearance was expedited
by the arrival of the two Australian hospital ships, and
of the transports proceeding to Australia for the 3rd
Division. Under order of the Egyptian Command-based
on the advice of the Medical Advisory Committee-358
convalescent enterics were sent to Australia, but upon
evidence
adduced by the chief bacteriologist, A.I.F., this
______
-.
DThus on Tanuary Z I three vessels were notified by the Australian naval transport
officer as available. on the 25th the Sufolk was selected, and on the 29th she sailed
with 3 rg invalids. The Australian embarkation medical officer inspected and prepared
the selected transports at Port Said. and thus saved demurrage and delay at Suez;
invalids proceeded directed from Cairo to their berths in the transport (p. 410).
THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN
480
[Jan.-Apr., 1916
unnecessary provision was thereafter relaxed and the enteric
d6pGt at Port Said closed. The disposal of the troublesome
' I B " class of temporarily or partly unfit was now clearly laid
down. Such classification could henceforth be made only by a
medical board and approved by the D.M.S., A.I.F. Approved
" permanent ' B ' Class " men might be employed at the base
and also transferred to the medical service in view of its
deficiency in personnel.1°
To none of the various branches of the Australian Army
Medical Corps did unified control bring greater benefit than
to the nursing service. It may almost be said
and
that
the nursing service of the A.I.F. was
Nursing
Services
created by the appointment of a responsible
head, the matron-in-chief (Miss Conyers) on
the staff of the Australian D.M.S. The dental service found
in the new D.M.S. a chief who shared their belief in the
potentialities of this speciality as a branch of reparative
surgery and preventive medicine.
New dental units were
formed and equipped as rapidly as men and material could
be found.
Whereas at the end of 1915 there were only
twelve dental officers, by April, 1916, thirty-six dental units
were at work, of which twenty-five had been equipped locally
from the dental section of the Australian Base D6pGt of
Medical Stores, now in charge of a dental quarterniaster.l'
The Base DBp8t of Medical Stores received
,, an " establishment " and was constituted on
a permanent basis.
During this time there was proceeding a reconstruction
which doubled the formations constituting the field force, and
to this attention must now be directed. Near
Reorganisation the end of 1915, under circumstances to be
of A.I.F.
related,12 Australia had decided to form three
new divisions. On January zIst Sir Archibald Murray, on
the advice of the G.O.C., A.I.F., reported to the War Office
concerning Australian reinforcements in Egypt that " for
reasons of training and discipline " it was " essential that these
?tFaDE:d
loThis deficiency bad been brought about by the policy of '' special reinforcements "
(now locked u in the auxiliaries) and by the small percentage of regular
reinforcements !or the medical service.
l l A shortage of plaster of Paris was met by organising local manufacture from
deposits of gypsum in Egypt.
I'
p. 515.
Feb., 19161
REORGANISATION OF THE A.I.F.
481
be formed into definite units.”
On February 2nd the
Australian Government agreed that two divisions should be
formed in Egypt and one (the 3rd) in Australia. There
would then be two army corps, I and I I Anzac. This
duplication of the Anzac Corps was accomplished by a
process akin to that whereby a hive of bees forms
new colonies. The first “migration” was that of the
New Zealand Infantry Brigade, which, with a “rifle”
brigade from New Zealand and another infantry brigade
created locally from reinforcements, formed a New Zealand
division. Somewhat later the light horse brigades, with the
New Zealand mounted rifles, formed an Anzac mounted
division.
In order to form the two new Australian infantry divisions
with the greatest possible speed and the least delay in
training, the expedient was adopted of dividing each unit
of the 1st Division and of the 4th Brigade into two parts,
of which one remained as the original unit, being brought t o
strength by absorption of reinforcements and of recovered
casualties accumulated in Egypt or sent in drafts from
England.1s The remaining halves became four skeleton
brigades, which, reinforced from the training battalions, and
combined with the reorganised 4th and the new 8th Brigades,
formed two “ provisional formations,” each containing the
elements of a division, with the officer commanding No. 2
Australian Stationary Hospital, Lieutenant-Colonel Barber-a
keen sanitarian-as “ S.M.O.” These formed the nuclei of the
two new divisions. The actual reconstruction began with the
formation on February I Ith of a second “ Anzac ” Corps.14
The units of the new formation, marching in from the Canal
defences, assembled at Tel el Kebir and were there joined
by their reinforcements. Training commenced with vigour,
and the camp became another ‘‘ Mena,” though less strenuous
and far more healthy.
I’ On I January, 1916, some 23,500 Australian recovered and recovering casualties
were in hospitals or d i p 6 t s 4 n England 11.000, in E m t 10,066 (including over
3.000 at the Australian Overseas Base, Gherireh), in Malta 2,273, at Mudros 135,
at Gibraltar 15.
‘ T o this formation Colonel Reuter Roth, A.A.M.C.. was ap ointed D.D.M.S. By
the wish of General Birdwood, Colonel C. C. Manifold, I.M.8.. was appointed to a
similar position in the I Anzac Corps.
482
THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN
[Feb., 1916
I n the reorganisation of the medical service regimental
establishments were divided along with their units. For the
field ambulances, however, at the request of
Of
the D.M.S., A.I.F., and with the approval
the new
medical -ta
of the D.G.M.S., Australia, it was arranged
that the infantry units, like those of
the light horse, should consist of two instead of three
sections, with the addition of thirty-six bearers and three
officers. This policy was put into effect by separating the
From these
“ C ” sections from the eight existing units.
sections four new units were constructed, making, with the
“ A ” and “ B ” sections of the 4th and 8th, the six required?&
Sanitary sections (4th and 5th) were formed for each
“ provisional formation.”
For the many new appointments,l’
postings, and promotions the D.M.S., A.I.F., obtained
authority for the policy (promised by General Bridges but
interrupted by Gallipoli) that the medical corps should form
the “ unit ” for promotion and posting in the medical service
of the A.I.F., and that, in all appointments to field formations,
officers who had served at Gallipoli should be given preference. O n February 25th the provisional formations became
the 4th and 5th Divisions.17
On February 29th General Birdwood received warning
that the Australian force “would be required to begin to
move to France within two weeks.” The
France
The move to
events leading to this notice must be briefly
related. O n February 16th was fought
Field ambulances were finally distributed as follows.1st Division-Ist, znd, and 3rd.
and Division-5th, 6th, and 7th.
3rd Division-gth, Ioth, and 11th.
4th Division-4th, Izth, and 13th.
5th Division--8th, 14th. and 15th.
These numbers corresponded with those of the infantry brigades.
le A.D’sM.S. were appointed as follows.1st Division-Col. A. H. Sturdee.
and Division-Col. A. Sutton.
3rd Division-Col. A . T. White.
4th Division-Col. G. W. Barber.
5th Division-Col. C. H. W. Hardy.
Anzac Mtd. Div.-Col.
R. M. Downes.
“From February I all medical reinforcements from overseas went, by an A.I.F.
order, to the details camp at Zeitoun instead of being attached to the general
hospitals pending allotment. Some 50 ’ I B ” class combatanto were transferred to
complete the number required.
1b
Feb., 1916j
REORGANISATION OF T H E A.I.F.
483
the Battle of Erzerum, where Russia, by defeating the
Turks, again gave her allies a badly-needed respite and
set free the “strategic reserve’’ in Egypt to meet the crisis
developing in Europe. Thus again it was to a certain extent
the action of Russia that determined the destination of the
A.1.F.-this time westward. On February 2Ist the Germans
attacked Verdun, and six British Divisions, including two
Australian, were ordered at once to France. All activities
were now directed to preparation for the move of the I Anzac
Corps (then the 1st and 2nd Australian Divisions and the
New Zealand Division), command of which was now resumed
The 4th and 5th Divisions were to
by General Birdwood.
follow later as the I I Anzac Corps under General Godley.
Question was made by the D.M.S., A.I.F., as to the raising
of casualty clearing stations for these new divisions. After
consultation with the War Office the G.O.C., A.I.F., decided
that, since the force would operate in a seat of war of which
the lines of communication were fully organised, these units
Nos. I and 2 General Hospitals were,
were not required.
however, to go to France with the formations. The consent
of the Australian Government and, after some demur, of
the G.O.C., M.E.F., was obtained by General Birdwood to
yet another innovation in the medical estabhperimentm
lishment accompanying the divisions, this
in medical
mganiaation
being the attachment to each field ambulance
of a dental section, perhaps the most useful
contribution made by Australia to medical organisation.
Equipment was completed at high pressure by the Australian
Base DBp8t of Medical Stores, twenty pairs of medical
panniers being constructed locally in twenty-one days. The
new British establishments provided that half the transport
of the ambulances should be motor, but, since the Australian
motor-ambulance transport section was still required in
Egypt, the matter was left for adjustment in France. The
2nd and 1st Australian Divisions were in succession relieved
respectively by two brigades of light horse, route-marched to
the Canal, and entrained for the huge concentration camps at
Moascar and Serapeum, there to undergo some final preparation to fit them for a place in the new force and among a
European population.
484
THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN
[Feb.-Mar., 1916
Notice to proceed to France was accompanied by instructions in which can be seen the influence of the sinister
reputation which, in a medical respect, the
France
for
Gallipoli campaign, and particularly the
Australian force, had acquired in Europe.
Affecting the medical service .there came from Geneial
Headquarters in France, through the P.D.M.S., orders that,
with a view to the elimination of infection, a “complete
inspection” of the troops should be carried out, and special
directions were given (with what purpose, it is difficult to
say) that a “ venereal inspection ” was to precede embarkation in Egypt and disembarkation at Marseilles-the port
from which the Australian formations would proceed to their
place on the Western Front.
Except for the detection of skin disease, however, a
“ medical inspection” as the means of eliminating potential
sources of contagion from a large force-especially one that
had come into contact with so varied a pathological fauna
and flora as had the Australian-must have proved a futile
procedure. Freedom from in fectiveness can be secured only
by an effectively organised and controlled routine system of
preventive measures calculated to minimise the incidence of
incubating cases and carriers.
Such a system, fortunately,
was now in operation in the camps in Egypt, whither-save
for the moiety sent to Macedonia-the
galaxy of talent
assembled for Gallipoli had transferred their attention. At
no time in its history was the A.I.F. more closely supervised
in this respect.
Measures of prevention
New
era in ,,
,, Banitation
both direct and indirect were effectively
organised and strictly controlled.ls
Space will not permit of an account of the new developments, initiating for the A.I.F. a new era, in camp sanitation.
The explanation of the healthinessle of the Australian troops
at this time, which offers a remarkable contrast, except in
the one respect of venereal disease, to the condition of the
“ I n addition to actual inspection and report to the D.M.S. for Egypt o r M.E.F.,
or the formations concerned, the Medical Advisory Committee and Entomological
Commission exercised a high educational influence. The demonstration of sanitary
methods and exhibit of models near Ismailia, by officers of fhe I.M.S., were visited
by a large proportion of Australian medical officers and sanitary personnel.
lsUnfortunately it is impossible, except in a few S ecific instances, to give figures
for this period, because of the destruction of AustraEan statistical records for 1916
and onwards.
485
Jan.-Mar., 19161 REORGANISATION OF THE A.I.F.
first force during the corresponding season of the previous
year, is not to be found in any single factor but in the systematic supervision now exercised over all measures €or
controlling transmissible disease.
The camps were spaced
out, the troops well fed, and not overcrowded; fly infection
was minimised, cleanliness of person promoted.
It is,
however, probable that, while these direct measures played
their part, the most important factor was the provision made
for stamping out foci of infection by prompt evacuation of
all cases, control of contacts, and search for carriers.
A
bacteriological laboratory, arranged in a railway carriage by
the D.M.S., M.E.F., was the forerunner of even more mobile
methods of ensuring prompt diagnosis, a task in which the
Australian medical service became very directly concerned.Po
From January onwards routine bacteriological work for the
A.I.F. was carried out under the direction of the senior
bacteriologist, A.I.F.21
As regards inspiratory infections, the place taken in
1914-15 by pneumonia was now largely occupied by cerebrospinal fever, carriers of infection being €or
Changesin
the most part brought by transports from
dieeaee
picture
camps in Australia. Mumps took the place
of measles. Gastro-intestinal infections were
not conspicuous, though enteric was much more prevalent than
in the preceding year. The menace from the endemic insectborne diseases of Egypt was the subject of strict appropriate
procedures and the results were satisfactory.
Stringent
orders were issued regarding bilharziaeZ and relapsing fever.
The force was effectively protected against small-pox.
Ophthalmia did not become prevalent.
Of all diseases occurring in camps, with the possible
exception of mumps, venereal infections were again the most
Venereal
difficult to prevent, the most troublesome t o
disease
treat, and the most productive of absence
~~
~
~-
'Osee p. 631.
Lieut -Col. A. H. Tebbutt, and later LieutXol. C.
Martin. Hitherto the
great bulk of the work was carried out in the Cairo d n t r a l Laboratory under
Dr. C. Todd, to whom the Australian medical service was greatly indebted. The
Australian Dermatological Hospital (see f . 5 1 9 ) was self-contained in respect of
leboratory investigation
Though bathing. in the Nile .waters was prohibited, a number of cases tbst
remained infective in Australia till the a d v y t in 1919 of treapent by antimony
tartratr were contracted from the infested
sweet-water canal
at Tel el Kebir.
rhieflv when the troops were watering horses.
.
486
THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN
[Jan.-Apr., 1916
fiom
The number of cases constantly under treatment in the Abbassia Detention Barracks rose from 183 in
October to 607 in January, 1,187 in February, and 1,493
in March. The average period spent in hospital being thirtyfive days, these figures represent approximately the number
admitted monthly. By far the greater proportion of them
were from the training dkpijt. In these diseases, contagion
k i n g from without, isolation of cases and carriers could
not affect their incidence. Of the means taken to abate
the violence of attraction toward sources of infectionsuch as moral suasion, counter-attractions, fear, and stoppage
of pay-the
only one fully effective was distance from the
sphere of influence.*‘ In the middle of March the D.M.S.,
A.I.F., found himself compelled to inform the corps commander that drastic steps must be taken to deal with the
situation, “ over 2,000 cases ” being then under treatment.
Leave from the Canal to Cairo was stopped, and the training
d6pijt was moved to Tel el Kebir. These steps resulted in
the number dropping in April to 914.
At the end of January the improvised unit which had in
October replaced the scratch staff that at first supervised the
self-treatment of these cases was itself replaced by a fullyequipped and well-staff ed scientific technical unit.
The
“ Australian Dermatological Hospital ” took up duty at the
end of January, the two senior officers being sent on to
Europe to study the methods in vogue. Hereafter venereal
disease was treated with the same scientific accuracy as any
other, and, except for the “moral” stigma, and military
stoppage of pay as punishment for wilfully contracted disease,
was on the same plane as scabies or scarlatina.
The most important medical procedure in preparation for
the move to France was a complete compulsory inoculation
‘JDuring the year which ended in February, 1916, beginning with the concentration
of 311 Australian cases in the isolation hospital at the old Detention Barracks,
Abbassia, 8,858 cases were treated there, of whom 5,924 were Australian, 1,979
British, and 955 New Zealand, the average stay in hospital (taking all types of
case) being 35 days. Of these 1.344 were returned to Australia. The incidence
per 1,000 of troops can be seen in graph No. 6, at 8. 466.
I‘ The Australian Y.M.C.A. and the Australian branch of the B.R.C.S. co-operated
in running soldiers’ clubs, etc., in Cairo, Alexandria, and elsewhere. Meanwhile an
organiscd system of personal prophylaxis was developed by the medical service for
the careless or uncontrollable.
Mar., 19161
REORGANISATION OF THE A.I.F.
487
of the whole force with T.A.B. vaccine,aa of which the
advance supplies from England were made
T.A.B.
inoculation
available for the Australian force. Except
in cerebro-spinal fever and enteric, a search
for bacillary carriers was not a practicable procedure.
In those diseases, however, in which hospitality to the
infective agents of disease was shared by the troops with
camp followers in the form of insect pests, the problem
became amenable to a campaign. For so large a force wholesale methods were needed, and fortunately were available
through the experience of the Medical Advisory Committee
in Serbia.
A “delousing train” was fitted up under the
direction of its originator (Colonel W. Hunter, R.A.M.C.T.),
and by means of this the divisions were practically freed from
vermin with no delay to their onward movement.2e
Units of the I Anzac Corps began to embark on March
14th, and, with the 2nd Division in advance, the whole corps
had by the 30th left Egypt. A “divisional
infantry
Departure Of
base dBp8t ” accompanied each division, taking
ten per cent infantry reinforcements and
seven per cent “ extra medical personnel per field ambulance.”
Drafts from England were now stopped. The 1st and 2nd
Casualty Clearing Stations followed the field formations ;
corps headquarters and the department of the A.A.G., A.I.F.,
left on March 30th. Before leaving for France, General
Birdwood authorised General Godley to exercise in Egypt the
“powers of the G.O.C., A.I.F.,” conferred on him by the
Commonwealth Government. Coincident with these moves,
certain initial steps were taken to close up the Australian
base hospital system in Egypt-cxcept so far as it should
be required for the light horse-and in general to disentangle
the mounted and unmounted parts of the Australian Imperial
Force and at the same time provide for continuity of policy
and a unified command. The closing of the
AUetralian
ho@als in
base hospitals was greatly helped by the
Egypt closed
opening of No. 3 General Hospital in the
Typhoid 500 millions. paratyphoid “ A ” and “ B ” 375 milliona each of killed
bacilli.
sa Colonel Hunter records: I‘ In three months two double-van disinfectors carried
out the disinfection of I 70,000 kits, I 7o.ooo overcoats, J.IO,OOO blankets, and a great
mass of ordnance clothing. 60,000 troops and native Labour Corps had their clothing
disinfected monthly.”
488
THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN
[Mar.-June, 1916
Egyptian Army Barracks, Abbassia, a huge building selected
by the acting D.G.M.S., Australia, while in Egypt.*‘ Fitted
up with the aid of the Australian Red Cross this formed
one of the best Australian general hospitals organised
during the war.
In succession Nos. 2 and I General
Hospitals were closed, and left for France. With No. I went
the A.D.M.S. 2 of the medical headquarters, LieutenantColonel T. E. V. Hurley, who arrived in France on March
31st under instructions “ to furnish the British authorities
with information concerning the A.I.F. medical units and
organisation.” No. z Auxiliary and the Australian Convalescent DQpGt, Helouan, were closed at the beginning of
April, the staff being absorbed in the A.A.M.C. details.
These events practically synchronised with an important
change in the system of command in Egypt. On March 19th
dual control of the British forces in that
” E.E.F.”
region ended by the formation of the
formed
“ Egyptian
Expeditionary Force ” under
command of Sir Archibald Murray. The Levant Base having
ceased to function, the P.D.M.S. returned to the United
Kingdom, as also did Sir John Maxwell, commander of the
Force in Egypt, and his D.M.S., Surgeon-General Ford.
With the departure of I Anzac Corps the full significance
of the transfer to France became evident. At two important
conf erencesas with the “ Imperial ” authorities
The new
in London the decision had been reached that
medical
dispositions
the administrative headquarters of the A.I.F.
and the medical base for the troops in France
should be in England. A cable from Australia instructed that
the new D.M.S., A.I.F., should proceed to England at once in
order “ to personally arrange regarding hospital accommodation.” H e embarked on April Igth, leaving an “ hD.M.S.,
A.I.F.,” in Egypt to represent him. A.I.F. headquarters left
for England on May loth, leaving under the “ G.O.C., A.I.F.,
in Egypt” a cadre to which the A.D.M.S. was attached.
The II Anzac Corps (4th and 5th Divisions), after eight
weeks on the “ Canal Defences,” followed I Anzac to France,
commencing its move
- on June 1st and undergoing a like
The hotels were found to make bad hospitals.
mThis matter will be referred to in Yo/. I I .
June-July, 19161 REORGANISATION OF THE A.I.F.
41s9
clearance and weeding-out of unfits.28 On General Godley’s
departure Major-General H. G. Chauvel, commanding the
Anzac Mounted Division, was appointed G.O.C., A.I.F., in
Egypt.
With the departure of the corps the “ A.D.M.S., A.I.F.,”
in Egypt found his position difficult. The D.M.S. had left
for England holding the view that Australian medical affairs
in Egypt would be under his direction. Neither the British
authorities, however, nor the new G.O.C., A.I.F., in Egypt,
were prepared to accept the situation ; which indeed presented
considerable difficulties. The A.D.M.S. found his chief
business-and a considerable one-in the gradual clearance
of the hospital population left in Egypt.
Of 4,709 sick in hospitals in Egypt on June Ist, 1,5@
had been boarded for return to Australia. Of these, from
300 to 400 had been boarded for “diseases
The light
contracted prior to enlistment.” The comhorse takes
over
plaints from the A.I.F. and retorts from
Australia on this matter deepened at this time
almost to the degree of recrimination. That there were two
sides to the question is visible in the nature of the disabilities
and in the divergence of views even within the A.I.F. i t ~ e l f . 3 ~
The training dBp8t and “ medical details ” followed the A.I.F.
headquarters to England, together with an additional sanitary
section (No. 6) organised for duty at the base.
On July
29th the Base DBpBt of Medical Stores embarked for England.
Early in July Nos. I and 3 Auxiliaries were closed and the
personnel transferred to England, leaving the Australian
Dermatological Hospital to follow. No. 3 Australian Genera;
Hospital at Abbassia, and Nos. I and 2 Stationary Hospitals
on the Canal, served in the first instance the requirements
of the light horse, to whom from this time onwards belongs
the history of the Australian Imperial Force in Egypt.
19 For reasons that belong elsewhere the field ambulances went with three sections.
They were, however, accompanied by dental sections.
‘OAfter the departure of the I Anzac Corps dwisional medical boards reported
548 men unfit for service. Upon these cases bein5 reviewed by the D.D.M S.. only
346 o f ,,the prrvious decisions were confirmed.
The opinions of the D i v i s y u l
Boards
the D.A. & Q h i & , II Anzac, reported to the corps commander,
are
npparekly at variance with that of the D D.M.S.”