Wounded sent for treatment from Italy to North Africa

Discussion in 'North Africa & the Med' started by Gary Tankard, Aug 30, 2021.

  1. ClankyPencil

    ClankyPencil Senior Member

    Yeah, it was LCT 572.
    i haven't got the original LCT 572: Casualties at Sea file to hand at the minute, but i did post some of the pages up on this old thread Can anybody help crack this mystery?

    Confirms both survivors and wounded were off loaded at Algiers a few days later
     
  2. hutt

    hutt Member


    I have the diary of 1CCS based in Tunis at the beginning of August 43 and on the 8th, refers to 104 casualties arriving by air overnight from Sicily. DSC06507.JPG

    And from 104 General Hospital, later in August, on the 31st, a reference to 367 cases received by ship, again from Sicily. Although the page says their location was 'in the field', in July the location is stated as El Arrouch, Phillipeville which is in Algeria and there is no suggestion that it had moved during that time. There are further references in the September entries.

    The reason I have these are because I was always under the impression that my father had been evacuated (by air from Sicilly) back to North Africa but when I received his service record and compared it with his medical record, it didn't add up and it is more likely that he was evacuated from Tunis to Philippeville by train so maybe his recollection is of a later period of sickness, it is difficult to tell and of course now, impossible to confirm.

    The medical record states he was evacuated from 1CCS to 104 General Hospital on the 10th August and this also tallies with his unit diary which has him shown under ranks specifically requested to be returned to the unit on the 14th August. It turns out he never went back to that unit and it is apparent from other research and some postings on this forum that the process of getting men back to their units in Italy was chaotic and took so long, men ended up in holding camps in North Africa. In the case of my father it would appear to have taken around almost 2 months such that the new unit was already on the Italian mainland.

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    Last edited: Sep 12, 2021
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  3. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    Reading the above posts I just realised that the men accused of `Mutiny` at Salerno had all came from hospitals and convelesant camps in North Africa (possibly wounded in Sicily) The Mutiny at Salerno - Conviction by general court martial Oct-Nov 1943 of 192 OR's Document reference LO 3/1381 National Archives.
    Theres reference in Saul Davids book to men evacuated from Sicily for Malaria ,Desert Sores and various operations then being sent to 155 Transit Camp prior to returning to their units in Sicily (of course they never did return they went to Italy) Theres mention of hospitals in Tripoli and extensive mentions on the use of the port of Bizerte in Tunisia.

    Kyle
     
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  4. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Searching using El Arrouch, Philippeville (now Skidda) I found there is a passage referring to British medical preparations and activity for the Tunisian-Sicily campaigns, in this book: The Army Medical Services: Campaigns, Volume 3 by Francis Albert Eley Crew. It is on Google books: The Army Medical Services
     
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  5. Gary Tankard

    Gary Tankard Well-Known Member

    Oh, I have this book. Didn’t think to look.

    Apologies for quality, I took them quickly on my phone.

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  6. hutt

    hutt Member

    I was surprised just how significant the medical work was at a CCS having rather assumed that it was just an interim location to be moved on from. The overall diary was quite large but in addition to the usual routine pages around the time my father passed through I also copied 3 pages of 'medical notes' that show just what was going on. . DSC06513.JPG DSC06514.JPG DSC06515.JPG
     
  7. blitz_researcher

    blitz_researcher Junior Member

    Gary, you might have this info already but I recently asked about a cluster of deaths in Sicily after the fighting was over, solved by the excellent WW2 team:
    Mysterious accident, Catania, Sicily - 24 February 1944
     
  8. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    Last edited: Jan 26, 2024
  9. JimHerriot

    JimHerriot Ready for Anything

    Hello Janet, and all good folks who have contributed here.

    Not sure if this will help or hinder, or even add anything, but not just wounded on these flights.

    Please see the post in a recent thead on the forum here: Mysterious accident, Catania, Sicily - 24 February 1944

    Kind regards, always,

    Jim.
     

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