WHAT IS AN AMBULANCE TRAIN?

 

 

 

During the First World War, huge numbers of injured soldiers had to be transported from the front line to casualty clearing stations, field hospitals and beyond. The fastest way to do this was by train.

 

KEY FACTS

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• Ambulance trains are essentially hospitals on wheels—trains converted to accommodate wards for injured soldiers, pharmacy and operating rooms, and medical staff quarters.

• First World War British ambulance trains could carry around 500 injured servicemen, along with 50 crew members including orderlies, nurses and medical officers.

• 7 July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, was the busiest day of ambulance train traffic during the war.

• By 1918, British railway companies had built 51 ambulance trains.

 

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The locations of ambulance train receiving stations.
 

Ambulance trains had already been used in the 19th and early 20th centuries, in the Crimean War, American Civil War and Boer War.

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But the possibilities of railways were fully exploited during the first truly industrial war. 

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In the early days of the First World War, casualties arriving back in Britain were taken from hospital ships at Southampton to the nearby military hospital at Netley. 

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However, as more and more casualties began to arrive, ambulance trains took passengers to newly opened hospitals across the country.

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These home ambulance trains carried the injured to hospitals as far-flung as Strathpeffer in the Scottish highlands. 

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HOW DID BRITAIN’S RAILWAY COMPANIES PREPARE FOR WAR?

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In the years leading up to 1914, the British government was secretly preparing for war. Anticipating the mass casualties of a Europe-wide war, they gathered the managers of Britain’s railways to design ambulance trains.

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A great responsibility rest[s] upon the Railway Companies.

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Meeting of the Railway Executive Committee (August 1915)

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Railway companies had to fit the facilities of a hospital into the confines of a train. Ambulance trains were up to a third of a mile long and included wards, pharmacies, emergency operating rooms, kitchens and staff accommodation.

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Secret drawings were sent out to companies across the country. When war was finally declared on 4 August 1914, the rail industry was ready.

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Carriage builders were immediately recalled from their holidays and worked around the clock to prepare the ambulance trains. Companies worked day and night to build the trains and fittings—from ladders and latrine buckets to operating tables and ash trays. The first train arrived in Southampton just 20 days later.

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'Imagine a hospital as big as King’s College Hospital all packed into a train...' Kate Luard, nurse

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A ward car ready for service. Triple bunks were used to maximise capacity.

Science Museum Group Collection

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Companies and their workers were immensely proud of their hard work under pressure.

The new ambulance trains were exhibited at railway stations across Britain. Thousands flocked to see the trains before they entered service.

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Queues of people waiting to see an ambulance train at Liverpool station, February 1916

 

Science Museum Group Collection

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AMBULANCE TRAINS AT HOME AND IN EUROPE

Despite careful planning, when war broke out, the conflict put a huge strain on Britain’s railway industry. As well as building the ambulance trains, railway companies supplied stretchers, guns, shells and vehicles.

At the same time, thousands of workers were leaving to join the army. Nonetheless, many rail workers were barred from joining up—it was essential work for the war effort.

Overstretched and under attack, the French railways struggled to cope with evacuating injured soldiers. In December 1914, British companies were ordered to build continental ambulance trains to be used in France.

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Ambulance train, built at Derby works, on its way to France on 27 August 1914.

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Science Museum Group Collection

 

 

 

As war went on, the government demanded more and more from Britain’s railway companies.

 

By 1918, the railway companies had built 20 ambulance trains for use in Britain and 31 for the continent. The continental trains were carefully designed to carry more passengers over longer distances.

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