Medical Examination Categories

Discussion in 'General' started by familyresearch, Aug 23, 2010.

  1. What category had to be awarded in a medical examination for the soldier to be allowed to fight? Was this grade lowered during combat?

    I ask because my great grandfather was graded an A1 orginally, and then later on during his service he was given a C. I know he was injured during the war and we think he was sent home early, but the dates are a bit confusing of when this happened, so I thought maybe I could tie it into the dates I have for his medical examinations, to find out when he was declared "no longer fulfulling army physical requirements."

    Thanks
     
  2. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    FamilyResearch

    Speaking personally and "generally" and just to start you off, if you could walk and wave both of your arms the Army considered you were fit to fight :)

    Medical exams were mainly a question of "Cough!......... next !"

    Having said that, there are a few veterans on this forum who have been wounded and I've no doubt they will be able to offer definitive information regarding the process of medical grades.

    Good luck with your research.

    Ron
     
  3. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    family research -
    one had to be seriously injured before a medical grade was lowered - i.e - beyond returning to past grade - on his records of medical exams there should be a notation of him being on X(11) followed by an X(iV) which was generally the downgrading step so to go from A1 - to C had to be beyond recovery to A1 - others cases were then classified at ISQ which meant "in status quo" meaning that he had been patched up to the same classification prior to the injury.
    cheers
     
  4. tmac

    tmac Senior Member

    My father, who was a gunner in 92nd LAA Regiment RA, was wounded in a mortar bomb attack at Horsa Bridge in Normandy four days after landing on D-Day in June 1944.

    The shrapnel had torn into his lower back and he was evacuated back to England. After being patched up and discharged from hospital, he was walking on crutches for a while and was certain he would be medically downgraded.

    But in September 1944 he was summoned to Woolwich Hospital and passed A1 fit for active service – and sent back to rejoin his regiment, which by then was moving into Holland. He held a lifelong grudge against the Medical Officer!

    However, by that stage of the North West Europe campaign, there was a worrying drain on British manpower because of the number of casualties – and replacements were limited. So Medical Officers may not have been so forgiving when it came to downgrading wounded soldiers.

    My Dad had bits of shrapnel in his back for the rest of his life.
     
  5. spider

    spider Very Senior Member

    [FONT=&quot]Australian Army Medical Classifications—World War II[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Up to 7th August 1942, the medical classification of recruits was as follows:[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Class 1 Fit for active service with field formations[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Class 11A Fit for specified duties in any unit in which the particular disability[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]was no bar[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Class 11B Fit for any duty other than with field formations[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Class 111 Labour Units, CMF[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Temporarily Unfit; Unifit[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]By amendment (A287 of 7842) to the publication ‘Instructions for the Medical[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Examination of Recruits’ (3091941), issued by the Military Board, the following[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]medical classifications of recruits were adopted:[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]A1 Medically fit for all active service duties[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]A2 Medically fit for active service for which the particular disability is[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]not a bar[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]B1 Medically fit for active service, except with field formation[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]B2 Medically fit for sedentary duties only[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]B3 Fit for service in labour units only[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]C Temporarily unfit[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]D Permanently unfit for military service[/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]The above was cancelled by A546, of 13111942, and replaced by:[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]A1 Medically fit for all duties[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]A2 Medically fit for all duties for which the particular disability is not a[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]bar[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]B Medically fit to carry out certain duties which require only[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]restricted medical fitness. These duties will be shown in war[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]establishments[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]C Temporarily medically unfit
    [/FONT] [FONT=&quot]D Medically unfit for military service[/FONT]
     
  6. tmac

    tmac Senior Member

    What was the situation regarding soldiers who wore glasses? Were they ever put into A1 medical category?
     
  7. Ron

    I suppose they were so desperate for men they just had to take anybody they could get, nevermind how physically capable they were.

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    Tom

    On his medical classification form he only has two entries, one at A1 and one at C ii (I think it's ii, it could be u). So maybe they just didn't bother filling it out all the time? It is also followed by the initials oui (once again I think this is what it syas it could be oiii). And then a reference to para 28. Does anyone know what this refers to?

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------

    tmac

    No wonder he held a grudge against the medical officer! I can understand they needed the manpower but it must have been awful to have been wounded then have to go back. Luckily I think my great-grandfather saw no more active service after his injury (also in his back after being blown from a tank so the family story goes), they must have had more sympathetic medical officers in Burma!

    Also my great-grandfather has two prescriptions for glasses made 1 year after he was given an A1, but his medical classification hasn't been changer. This may once again be because the book wasn't updated correctly. I really don't know, I'm sure someone else will be able to help, just thought I'd throw that in.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Spider

    Thank you very much for the lists of classification, I presume he must have been given a C when he entered hospital and then his record never properly filled out when the was sent home, with a D presumably.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Does anyone know what para 28 is, or what oiii or oui (it's hard to tell which has been written) mean? Thank you all so much!
     
  8. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Tmac

    What was the situation regarding soldiers who wore glasses? Were they ever put into A1 medical category?


    Don't know what category he was in but my tank driver in action wore glasses with strictly steel regulation frames. There were endless blokes who wore specs in the Forces so I doubt if it altered one's category one iota.

    I am ashamed to report that I can't remember his first name, but with the surname of Hewett he was "Hewie" to both me and the tank commander "Busty" Thomas MM.

    Ron
     
  9. tmac

    tmac Senior Member

    Dear Ron,

    Thanks for the answer about soldiers wearing glasses.

    Do you remember a few years ago there was a row over the famous D-Day photograph of a bespectacled soldier landing on Juno Beach?

    When the picture was incorporated into the Overlord Embroidery at the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth, his glasses were not included because it was apparently thought they were not sufficiently warlike.

    A few years ago, the soldier was identified as 24-year-old Emlyn John, from Churchdown, Gloucestershire, a REME craftsman with 48 Royal Marine Commando.
     
  10. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Can't recall anyone in our squadron wearing glasses except the overworked squadron clerk - who like all clerks was overburdened by work on every fighting day and thus many items were overlooked..
    The point made about running short of manpower by September '44 was valid as I was on a hospital ship bound for Blighty from Bari -Italy when the ship was diverted to Catania Sicily where two dozen of us battle casualties were thrown off to be patched up and sent back up the line - by the January '45 I was on my way back..and yes - I still have few bits and pieces of shrapnel all over the place - one especially reminds me every time I sit down suddenly on a hard surface...pointless being bitter about it though - it happened -

    on having my hip joints replaced a couple of years ago - my surgeon made the point that as I was opened up -he would scrape out a few pieces of shrapnel- send them back to volkswagen and they could make a part of a bumper from them- don't know if he ever did as I was sound asleep at the time...
    Cheers
     

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