RAMC units within 4th Indian Infantry Div

Discussion in 'Italy' started by KESTREL, Sep 28, 2011.

  1. KESTREL

    KESTREL Junior Member

    Can any one help me regarding RAMC attachments to the 4th Indian Infantry Division, specifically 7th Ind Inf Brigade, in Italy 1943/44. Wikipedia has a reference to RAMC in Support Units but only refers to "14, 17, 19, 26 and 32 Indian Field Ambulances". In an internet reference to the book "The Tiger Triumphs" (Chap 4) Medical Services are given as "17th, 26th and 32nd Field Ambulances".
    Where can I find out whether any of these units were British.

    Thanks
    KESTREL
     
  2. minden1759

    minden1759 Senior Member

    Kestrel.

    Indian Army formations always had Indian Army combat support services largely because they were funded by the Government of India and not by the War Office. Each Ind Bde had its own integral Fd Amb although I cannot recall which one was assigned to 7 Ind Bde. The tradition was to do it by Bde seniority which for 4 Ind Div would be: 17 Ind Fd Amb to 5 Ind Bde, 26 Ind Fd Amb to 7 Ind Bde and 32 Ind Fd Amb to 11 Ind Bde.

    The only RAMC presence in 4 Ind Div would have been on the staff of HQ 4 Ind Div or RMOs within the three British Battalions - 1/4 Essex, 2 Camerons and 1 R Sussex.

    Regards

    FdeP
     
  3. KESTREL

    KESTREL Junior Member

    Hi FdeP

    Thanks for the information, which leads to another question, would the tradition of assigning applied to British units; eg 78th Inf Div would be 11th Fd Amb to 11th Inf Bde, 152nd Fd Amb to 36th Inf Bde etc.

    Kestrel
     
  4. minden1759

    minden1759 Senior Member

    Kestrel.

    Yes it would. Precedence is just an easy way of allocating support services without getting into long drawn out debates about which unit should support which. In the infantry, it is usually the case from my experience that the Mortar Fire Controller callsign 11 would go with A Company, 12 with B Company and 13 with C Company.

    Regards

    FdeP
     
  5. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    Here is the IMC units for 4th Indian Division at Cassino:

    17th Field Ambulance, IMS
    26th Indian Field Ambulance, IMS
    32nd Indian Field Ambulance, IMS
    2nd Indian Mobile Casualty Clearing Station, IMS
    15th Field Hygiene Section, IMS
     

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