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All the Information in the ‘FEPOW Family’ belongs to the writer and are not ‘Public Domain’. Permission must be obtained before any part is copied or used.
Killed in Action
Royal Army Medical Corps
196 Field Ambulance
History
by
Clayton Ford
From the ‘Far Eastern Heroes’
Dedicated to the memory of 7368909 Private Robert Joseph Ungless.
Compiled by Ron Taylor
The 18th Division
by Mary Michael
"For their country they did serve and recognition do so deserve"
On the William Sail they came
Proud and longing to fight with hearts aflame
To the Far Eastern Shores of Singapore
Where many a man would be the same no more
Oh how hard they fought
But victory was not to be bought
The Battle of Bukit Road raged
Til it was realized it just couldn't be saved
Young and brave the fear crept in
Why were we sent too late to win
For the men of the 18th this was their fame
Did they deserve to take history's blame
For they were trained for the desert not over here
Why they were there they sure weren't clear
The men of the 18th try as they might
There was no way they could win this fight
The fight over there sure wasn't fair
What's a Jap, what does he wear
How could they know about jungle warfare
This was their first battle but who did care
Alas no victory for the 18th would there be
Instead part of the Singapore surrender history
With all of the rest of the brave heroes over there
With no chance or hope to escape the Jap's brutal care
Why were our men left over there
With not a thought or a care
Where were the planes and rest of the supplies
Nothing appeared from out of the skies
In these words the truth can be seen
How unfair and unjust it all has been
Time now to honour and acclaim
And give these brave men finally their fame
August 1939 - 8th December 1941
This is based on a tribute to Robert Joseph Ungless and his journey to the Far East but requires an explanation. The Field Ambulance men were used, in the ships from Britain to Singapore, as medics to the Regiments aboard each ship in the convoy they were in. They did not travel as one unit, this was called ‘Trooping’. Therefore it is impossible to name every ship the Field Ambulance units sailed in as they were spread over the full Convoy CT.5, from Britain to Halifax, and then the Convoy William Sail 12X, from Halifax to Singapore . When they arrived at Singapore the units were once again united.
By Clayton Ford
From the ‘Far Eastern Heroes’
Dedicated to the memory of 7368909 Private Robert Joseph Ungless.
On 1st December 1939, the 161 (East Anglian) Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps - Territorial Army, formed a training cadre for a new duplicate unit -The 196 Field Ambulance of the Royal Army Medical Corps.
An infantry Field Ambulance at that time comprised of a Medical Officer, his batman, 13 officers and 225 other ranks (Sergeants, Corporals and Privates). The unit also had 42 vehicles including 8 six wheeled motor ambulances, which were driven and maintained by members of the Royal Army Service Corp, who were attached to the unit. There were three Field Ambulances per Division and 1 per Corps. The 196 Field Ambulance was destined to become part of the 18th Division, 54th Brigade along with the 4th Royal Norfolk and 4th and 5th Suffolk Regiments.
The Headquarters of the 196 started in the Royal British Legion building in Coleman Street/St Margarets Plain, Ipswich, where they stayed until January 1940. During this time men from the 161 Field Ambulance were transferred to the 196 and the unit began to take shape.
On the 15th January 1940 the unit, with around just 30 men in total transferred to Necton Hall, Norfolk. This hall has now been demolished it is sad to say. The unit stayed at Necton until May 14th 1940 and during this period the 196 rapidly began to take shape as a unit. The 5th March 1940 saw the largest number of men enlisted to the unit.
During the period at Necton, more men came from the 161 (EA) Field Ambulance and some from other units such as 2/5th (East) Battalion, The Essex Regiment. The men were sent on courses and equipment such as War Department motorcycles and vehicles and clothing were gathered. Men were promoted within the War Establishment to Staff Sergeants, Sergeants, Corporals and Lance Corporals.
As this complement of men were increased the 196 and it’s training were put to use, as Germany had now invaded France and the Low countries and the first Luftwaffe raids were seen over East Anglia. 51 men moved to establish Advance Dressing Stations (ADS) at Loddon, Coltishall and Acle in Norfolk. With the move of the ADS’s, the HQ of the unit was based at White House in Trowse on the 15th May 1940. The unit was formed into three companies, A, B and HQ. Each company was broken down into three sections. Each section contained a Medical Officer, a Sergeant, two other Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO) and fourteen men. There is also a cook, a Lance Corporal motorcyclist and three Drivers from the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC). Each section from A & B companies formed Advanced Dressing Stations (ADS), that collected wounded from Regimental Aid Posts (RAP) and transferred these to the Main Dressing Stations (MDS). The MDS was usually formed from the HQ Company.
On the 31st May 1940, the headquarters then moved to “Coonoor”, 151 Yarmouth Road, Thorpe, Norfolk.
In July 1940 the unit was based at Witton House in Witton near Norwich having moved there on 6th July. On the 5th July Lieutant Colonel Huston reported for duty as the officer commanding the 196 Field Ambulance. He would stay as the last officer to command the unit.
Winston Churchill took a tour of inspection during late July of 1940, which included the 18th Division:-
Taken from "Forgotten Warrior", by Michael Snape
A few days later at the beginning of August 1940, Brigadier Merton Beckwith-Smith was made Major-General and was given overall responsibility for the 18th.
A few weeks after this, on August 23rd the King also reviewed several of the units during what was described as a "whirlwind visit". One of the units specifically mentioned was the 196th Field Ambulance, the King had arrived via Norwich Thorpe station, the unit being based nearby at this time.
Beckwith-Smith later described the King's visit as "a great success".
They stayed at Witton for a few months, not moving on again until December 1940, nearly a year since the unit was formed. The MDS was based at Witton House and there were two ADS’s at Acle - “A” Coy, and Barton Hall - “B” Coy. There was also detachments of Regimental Aid Posts at Rollesbury and Great Yarmouth. Private John Margerum remembers tearing down the “Acle straight” when Great Yarmouth was raided by the Germans, to help with the injured at the hospital there.
It appears that between moving from Witton to Newton Hall, Newton, Cambridge in December 1940, the unit was based at the Old Hall, Hethersett. “A” coy moved from Somerleyton Hall to Chatteris, Cambs and “B” coy from Witton to West Wratting, Cambs. This continued into January 1941 with the HQ operating a Main Dressing Station (MDS) and “A” and “B” Coy operating ADS‘s at Chatteris and West Wratting.
On 3rd January 1941 the unit moved to Yeltholm, Kelso, Roxburghshire, Scotland. It was reported that weather conditions were poor with snow and ice present during this time. Some of the unit were given leave during January during some severe weather conditions at times.
In April 1941 the whole unit stayed in Bury, Lancashire at “Two Brookes Mill”, Hawkshaw until August 1941. The Nursing medics of the unit attended a course in Manchester at a rate of 12 men every 14 days. Training continued throughout July with courses on Law, messing, clothing and equipment as well. There was also joint exercises with other units from the 18th Division and Western command.
The unit moved on the 13th August 1941, by road and rail, to it’s final British location of Norton Manor, Prestigne in Radnorshire, with all of the unit arriving by the 18th August. There it pitched in a tented camp and continued training as part of the 54th Brigade, 18th (East Anglia) Division. Here the unit had it’s picture taken outside the manor.
On 24th September Lieut Col Huston was told that the unit would proceed overseas at an early date as part of the 18th Division. The unit was then given embarkation leave at 30% of the unit a week, starting 26th September 1941. This leave lasted for seven days.
By the 27th October 1941 the unit was back to together at Norton Hall. Around 0830hrs they marched through the streets of Prestigne to a special troop train, that took them to Avonmouth and the Bristol Channel. This was the final step on the 196’s journey of Britain.
SS Oronsay
The men boarded the SS Oronsay, which was an Orient Line British ship of 20000 tonnes. There were two other Field Ambulances that were part of the 18th Division as well. These were the 197 and 198 Field Ambulances and were attached to 55th and 53rd Brigade’s. A lot of these men were from East Anglia as well. The whole of the 18th Division boarded their troopships including the British vessels Reina Del Pacifico, Orcades, Andes, Warwick Castle, Durban Castle, Duchess of Atholl and Oronsay. There was also a Polish ship the MV Sobieski. These were escorted by British cruisers, Destroyers and Corvette class ships.
Around 15 men of the 196 had already left for Liverpool for embarkation there and they travelled on the SS Andes to meet the rest of the convoy. On each ship there was a detachment of Royal Army Medical Corps personnel away from the main body of their individual unit. This was known as “trooping” and had the purpose of caring for combatant troops medically when they went abroad on a ship.
On 28th October 1941 The SS Oronsay left Avonmouth and headed up the English coast in stormy weather, with nearly all of the 196 and around 3000 other troops.
On the 30th October the SS Oronsay arrived at Greenock in Scotland where it joined the rest of the fleet for an, unknown at that time, journey across the Atlantic to Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada. The 4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment were also on the SS Andes. A lot of the men realised that they were heading West and for Canada or the US.
The 2nd of November, in the middle of the Atlantic, saw the British convoy meet up with an American convoy of escort ships that would escort them to Halifax. The British escorts then left the convoy and this job was taken over by the US Navy. Of course the United States had not joined the war at this stage, so this convoy remained secret. They arrived in Halifax on 7th November 1941 and barely had chance to stretch their legs before embarking once again for another unknown destination.
USS Joseph T. Dickman
The 196 and most of the Division were kitted out for Desert fighting, so speculation ran that they were set for Africa or the Middle East. Transport this time was provided by the US Navy and the 196 Embarked on the USS Joseph T Dickman, an American troopship.
The convoy set sail on 10th November 1941 and on 22nd November had travelled to Trinidad in the West Indies to refuel. There was no time to allow the troops onto land at this stage though and the convoy soon set sail once again. On the 24th the unit were “victims” of the American Crossing the line ceremony, as the convoy crossed the equator, many of the unit getting an impromptu soaking or haircut, by the US hosts.
The convoy arrived in Cape Town, South Africa only to hear that the Japanese had attacked Pearl harbour and landed at the Thailand border with Malaya and soon after the sinking of HMS Repulse and Prince of Wales, off the Malaya coast, this being a huge loss to the Royal Navy.
The troops were given four/five days shore leave, this being a welcome relief to the unit, having spent 10 weeks at sea. Some of the unit described Table Mountain among other sights they had seen. It was around this time that the convoy was officially being diverted from its original secret destination of the Levant-Caspian front to the Malay Peninsula.
Acknowledgements
Proofread by Tim Lloyds
This information was collated using:-
Information from Phil Bradshaw
‘Private 5776807’ by Frederick Noel Taylor
‘The Men of the 196 Field Ambulance’ by Clayton Ford - Far Eastern Heroes
Commonwealth War Grave Commission
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