16 May 1915 - transferred to No.17 British General Hospital, Alexandria

Athol was injured in the early stages of the Australians involvement in the 2nd Battle of Krithia. This would have been between 5:30pm and 6:30pm on 8 May. Many of the wounded were left lying in the open that night. The lucky ones were taken by stretcher across 3,000 yards of mainly open ground to the Advanced Dressing Stations. Those on the stretchers and the men carrying them were under enemy fire as they made way to this position in a little depression near a creek. It was dark when many of the wounded arrived. The medical staff were not able to use a light, machine gun fire regularly swept over the area stopping all work, equipment was lost in the dark and confusion and the mophia ran out.

It was a further 6,000 yards from the Advanced Dressing station to the British Casualty Clearing station at W beach.

It took Athol two days to be moved from the battlefield on the evening of 8 May, to W beach and onto the hospital ship. We know from his letter (27 May), that A.G. Adams was embarked on the Guildford Castle hospital ship on afternoon 10 May and he remained on her until 15 May 1915.

On 16 May 1915 Athol was transferred for treatment to the No.17 General Hospital at Alexandria. See line item 7 (17th Gen - Hosp admitted - Alexandria). It was in this hospital that the surgeons removed the bullet from his right forearm and attended to his right thigh (gunshot wound). They operated on him about 8 days after he was shot.

Like Athol, the vast majority of injured men were returned to Egypt for treatment (some were taken to Lemnos, and some overflow went to Malta). For at least the first month after the Landing at ANZAC Cove there were insufficient beds, staff and provisions for the quantity of wounded arriving from the Dardanelles. The hospital staff and administrators improvised. The first ship to arrive with wounded from Gallipoli was the 'Gascon' on 29 April 1915. By this time the No.15 British General Hospital was fairly ready. The No.17 British General Hospital was not ready to receive wounded for another 3 weeks. There were some Australian nurses employed in these two British hospitals. Many of our wounded were treated in these British hospitals - particularly those with the most serious injuries.

The Australian hospitals at Heliopolis (the Palace) and the adjacent Auxiliary Hospital called 'Luna Park' and Mena House (near the pyramids) were in Cairo - a train ride from Alexandria and then further by ambulance.

Some idea of the rapid increase arrivals of wounded in Egypt.

On April 17 (before the Landing), 183 sick arrived in Egypt.

On April 28, 257 sick arrived in Egypt.

On April 29, hospital ship 'Gascon' arrived and within the following 48-hours another five troopships brought 2,849 casualties from Gallipoli. 'Clan Macgillivray' was included in this group of troopships and she carried 600 of the 'light' cases. Athol was amongst these with the two wounds he received on the Landing on 25 April. By 29 April, all the available accommodation in Alexandria was filled.

On May 11, the first rush of Krithia wounded had started to arrive in Egypt (mainly British soldiers).

Athol, after his Krithia injuries, was admitted in the No.17 British General Hospital, Alexandria, on 16 May, and not included in these Australian figures. About half the Australian wounded were treated in British hospitals.

According to CEW Bean, in the period covering the Landings in late April to 10 June (including Krithia), about 20,120 casualties were disembarked in Egypt with some treated in Alexandria and others in Cairo and a few in Port Said.

Heliopolis (north east Cairo), Egypt, 1915.

Injured men in the No.1 Australian General Hospital, located in the former Heliopolis 'Palace' Hotel. AWM H18510.

The main Australian hospitals were located at the Palace and Luna Park facilities which held 1500 patients on 2 May. By 16 May (after the Battle for Krithia) they held 2,200 patients. Athol was not admitted to these hospitals - he stayed in Alexandria in the British facilities.