'Mesopotamia Commission. Report of the Commission Appointed by Act of Parliament to Enquire into the Operations of War in Mesopotamia, together with a Special Report by Commander J Wedgwood, DSO, MP, and Appendices. London: HMSO, 1917.' [‎90r] (179/248)

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General Hospitals and the town. The position was
exposed to both gun and rifle fire, and on December 5th,
all field ambulances were billeted in the town, No. 2 in
Third and Fourth Avenues, No. 4 in Signal Lane and No.
106 at the Southern part of the Covered Bazar. No. 131
Cavalry Field Ambulance, located in the same grove,
left with the cavalry brigade on the morning of December
6th, 1915. The Advanced Depot of Medical Stores was
housed in No. 3 Avenue.
A few hours after all patients had been removed from
the huts and camps, the enemy commenced shelling that
quarter heavily.
66. The Officers' Hospital (which was part of the British
General Hospital), consisted of two double storied houses
in No. 2 Street. The accommodation was bad, especially
in the ground floor, and at one time when there were over
30 officers being treated, it was overcrowded. They were,
however, in a safe position, as neither block was hit by
a shell throughout the siege.
67. Red Cross flags were hoisted over all the hospitals :
in the Covered Bazar their positions defined the limits of
where the hospitals were. The Covered Bazar extends
over tw r o acres of ground, and was bounded on the North
by our Ordnance Park, and on the West (bank of river)
we had 4 guns ; we had about 95 shells into it. When
aeroplanes began dropping high explosive bombs, specially
large red cross emblems were laid flat on the roofs of all
the hospitals, the white ground of the emblem being 16
feet square, and the limbs of the red cross 2£ feet in width
and about 8 feet in length.
68. During the siege 103 of the enemy's shells, and 3
aeroplane bombs entered the hospitals killing 38 and
wounding 42 patients, and killing 42 and wounding 36
of the personnel of the medical units ; 11 of the hospital
personnel were also wounded by snipers.
69. The general hospitals were used for the treatment
of all severe wounds, and, as far as practicable, for cases
of serious illness. The work in both these institutions
was carried out under high pressure throughout the siege.
The Indian Stationary Hospital was also overwotked.
70. There were occasions when the strain thrown on the
hospitals was overwhelming; e.g. on December 24th, No.
2 Field Ambulance was treating 202 sick, and 174 wounded.
No. 4 (3 Sections) 40 sick and 177 wounded ; No. 106
(4 Sections) 84 sick and 103 wounded, the British General
Hospital (£ section) 112 sick and 93 wounded. The Indian
Stationary Hospital had at one time 546 sick, and the
Indian General Hospital (1 Section), 156 sick and 171
wounded.
71. I find the following entry in my diary for December
21st, 1915: “ Indian General Hospital. The work here
is under high pressure. One of the S.A.S. now ill and only
2 left to whole hospital. When an operation case comes
in (now that Captain Barber is ill), all dressing of other
cases has to cease. If possible have a regimental S.A.S.
to assist.”
72. “ Indian Stationary Hospital. —316 cases under
treatment. Of these 254 wounded. Here also work is
at high pressure. O.C. (Major Bose) is crippled with a
dilated heart and tachycardia.
73. “No. 106 Field Ambulance. —The work in this
unit is very considerable. In addition to treating the
18th Brigade, they treat from 50 to 60 (men, women and
children) of the civil population, and several of these
wounded. At present both Major Pearson, O.C. and Capt.
Puri are ill, and Major Aylen has charge of the Officers’
Hospital.
74. “ No. 2 F.A. Work in this unit is also under high
pressure. There are 63 British and about 200 Indian sick.
Major Lambert is ill, and there are only 2 S.A.S.”
The medical personnel were getting worn out from
overwork.
75. “ December 28th, 1915. The general care of the
sick and wounded and dressing, and the sanitation of tho
hospitals are as satisfactory as can be expected under the
circumstances.”
76. “January 1st, 1916. Sick and wounded coming in
from the trenches in a most deplorable and miserable
state—clothes wet and saturated with water and mud,
and they are cold and shivering.”
77. “ January 28th, 1916. The hospitals are feeling
the shortage of nursing and ward orderlies on account of
the numbers of sick and wounded.”
78. About the end of February the “ cases of sickness
did not respond to treatment as they used to do, which was
attributed to the men’s resisting power being lowered.”
(C 48—176;
79. Great difficulty was experienced in connection with
the supply of kerosine oil to hospitals from January 15th.
It was then arranged that it be “ limited to night humcane
lamps and the operation theatres. General wards to use
heavy oil.” (A large number of jam tins were converted
into lamps for burning heavy oil.) The operating theatres
were fitted up with acetylene lamps by the Flying Corps.
80. The shortage of fuel at one stage in January led to
some difficulty in the sterilization processes necessary
for surgical cases. This was remedied at once, and a
special allowance of fuel sanctioned for the purpose.
On February 6th there were “ 50 cases of pneumonia
under treatment in the Indian General Hospital ” alone.
81. About March 20th parados were made in the British
General Hospital and other medical units to prevent the
effects of shell fire and bombs.
82. The sanitation of the hospitals was defective in
many respects, especially during the rainy periods, but I
believe it was carried out as satisfactorily as the circum
stances allowed of. Night soil was partly incinerated
and partly buried in deep pits. The water-supply arrange
ments were the best in the garrison and there was practi
cally always sufficient water for drinking, cooking, and
washing, but not for bathing. The plan of supply was :
Several 200-gallon iron tanks were placed on platforms
within the front shed of the Covered Bazar about 60
yards from the left bank of the river. A pump in a covered
place on the river bank was connected by a hose (laid along
a trench) with the tanks. From these front tanks the
water was drawn and distributed to other tanks suitably
located in each medical unit. Several adjacent combatant
units got water from here. All water was chlorinated.
83. The conditions taken together were decidedly un
favourable for the sick and wounded. It w r as impossible for
the available medical staff to give the patients all the care
and attention they required. The improvised hospitals,
especially those in th„ Covered Bazar were defectively
ventilated, ill-lighted, and finally unhygienic generally.
The patients were going through a process of slow starva
tion and we had but a limited amount of hospital comforto
for them, indeed, at the last stage, practically none.
Added to these were the depressing influences of daily
shelling and of disappointed expectations as regards the
relief.
Contraventions of the Geneva Convention.
84. (a) Shelling of hospitals. During the siege 103
shells entered the various hospitals. Seven 40-pound
shells entered the Covered Bazar Hospitals on December
10th, 1915.
(b) Bombing of hospitals. Three bombs entered the
hospitals, one bomb killing 18 and wounding 14 men.
(c) Killing of women and children while drawing water
by snipers.
85. Regarding (a) and (6). It is only fair to state that
we had four guns on the West and within 100 yards of the
Covered Bazar and the Ordnance Park w'ithin 50 yards.
The Turkish aviator who dropped the bomb on the
British General Hospital subsequently apologised to me
for doing so, and expressed his profound regret for what had
happened.
Positions of Dressing Stations, etc.
86. Dressing stations were formed in the date grove to
the North of the town for the wounded from the trenches.
They consisted of excellently made dug-outs with shell-
proof overhead cover. Here the wounded were re-dressed
if necessary, fed and rested before being sent on to the
hospitals. This place, however, was exposed to a certain
amount of sniping and shell fire and had to be abandoned.
After this bearer divisions went out to the front line
trenches and Fort in the dusk of the evenings with
stretchers and, if necessary A.T. carts, and brought the
w'ounded to their field ambulances.
87. The regimental aid posts consisted of dug-outs pro
vided with covered protection against shrapnel. The
wounded were at first taken to the dressing stations along
the communicating trenches, but when dressing stations
were given up, to the field ambulances.
Field ambulances were throughout the siege daily em
ployed in collecting the sick and wounded from the first
line trenches and the fort. In the eariy stage of our
investment, before communication trenches were com
pleted, this work was carried out under constant sniping,
and on a few occasions under heavy rifle fire, during which
some of the Army Bearer Corps personnel were wounded.
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