35 Field Dressing Station War Diary 1st Jan 44 -31 December 1945

I’m in the process of typing up the above. My late father served with the Unit from July 1943 to late 45. I will be very happy to share this with anyone interested on completion. On the whole, I’ve managed to decipher most of the hand written scrawl, with a few head scratching moments. This is one! Can anyone make out the two words in inverted commas in the entry 19th November. Whatever it is was in “Great demand”!!. The Corps referred to, could be RAMC or 30 Corps, the corps 35 FDS was attached to. There are also a lot of references to RTUs. I think this relates to road transport for stable casualties. i.e. not ambulances. However some clarification from the expert knowledge here will be much appreciated. Many thanks.

 

R.T.U. - Returned to Unit,
This is the Army Commando's use of the acronym,
It may refer to slightly wounded casualities, treated and released back to their own units?
It always follows after admissions.

 

Thank you Guy, that makes perfect sense!

 

I'm pretty sure it's Corps "Gift Shop", which appears quite a lot if you Google it. IWM have some photos of the 30 Corps Gift Shop not long after that war diary entry here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...gentString][British+Army,+21st+Army+Group]=on

Adam

 

Thank you Adam, I’m sure you’re correct. That’s amazing thank you very much. I would have never worked that out without your help. Much appreciated.

 

Would be interested in reading post May 45 as the only record found so far is:

35 Field Dressing Station RAMC – 30 Corps add District 11 Jun 45 – Seedorf Camp north-west of Zeven

21st Army Group later British Army of the Rhine (under construction)

 

Don’t know if you’ve come across this website but it contains transcribed war diaries of the 15th Scottish Division’s RAMC medical units (Field Ambulances under “Combat Support Arms” and Field Dressing Stations under “Divisional Troops Group”), variously with 8 and 12 Corps. They might help with terminology/abbreviations, etc as all those units were after all engaged in the same business. And I know how difficult it is deciphering wartime doctors’ handwriting! Good luck – you’re doing a very worthwhile job.
https://www.15thscottishdivisionwardiaries.co.uk/war-diaries
Adam

 

No worries. Will let you know when I’ve finished.

 

Thanks Adam. That’s really helpful. I’ve found out a lot on my journey, but always learning. Will have a browse over the next week.

 

Yes of course. Really good website. They spent several months in Peine. Similar to 34 FDS. Their main activity was running/overseeing German military hospitals. I did some research on some of their sites a while back too. There was no expense spared German Luftwaffe Hospital with a different marble on each floor, they took over in Brunswick. The area is now overbuilt, but you can still see the main block in a current hospital complex. I can send this info over too if interested. In the meantime, I’ll try to attach 35 FDS Quarterly Reports. Probably only the final page is likely to be of interest.

 

Here it is…