Stretcher: 10th Australian Field Ambulance, AIF

Places
Accession Number RELAWM09800
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Heraldry
Physical description Canvas, Metal, Wood
Location Main Bld: First World War Gallery: Western Front 1917: 3rd Battle of Ypres
Maker Unknown
Date made c 1917
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Stretcher made from canvas and two wooden poles. Sixteen names have been carved into the underside of the wooden poles. The stretcher is battered and blood-stained.

History / Summary

Before being presented to the "Australian War Museum" by the commanding officer of the 10th Australian Field Ambulance (10 AFA), this stretcher was used for 12 months in France, including the battles of Messines, Broodseinde Ridge, and Passchendaele.

The names carved on the handles are those of stretcher-bearers of 10 AFA killed in action in 1917. The sixteen members featured represent over 40% of the thirty seven members of 10 AFA who died during the course of the First World War. The names recorded on the stretcher are:

12324 Private Alfred Harris, who died of wounds on 4 October 1917 and is buried at Ypres Reservoir Cemetery.
12352 Private George Joseph McIntyre, killed on 13 October 1917 and buried at Ypres Reservoir Cemetery.
12349 Private Lewis Charles Mudie, killed on 13 October 1917 and buried at Ypres Reservoir Cemetery.
14654 Private Henry Edgar Abbott, killed on 12 October 1917, and recorded on the Menin Gate Memorial, as he has no known grave.
12380 Private James Angus Phillips, killed on 13 October 1917 and buried at Ypres Reservoir Cemetery.
4351 Lance Corporal Rupert Clark Bull, who died of wounds on 13 October 1917 and is buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery.
12458 Lance Corporal John Leonard Groat MM, who died of wounds on 16 October 1917 and is recorded on the Menin Gate Memorial, as he has no known grave.
14573 Private William Robert Gilligan, who died of wounds on 20 October 1917 and is buried at Nine Elms British Cemetery.
12398 Private Leonard Joseph Shaw, who was killed on 26 February 1917 and is buried at Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery.
12394 Private James Sidney Swanton Vickery, who was killed on 26 February 1917 and is buried at Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery; 12268 Private George Edward Craven, who died of wounds on 4 June 1917 and is buried at Trois Arbres Cemetery.
12393 Private Henry Ryall, who died of wounds on 7 June 1917 and is buried at Strand Military Cemetery.
14811 Private Arthur Ernest Polson, who died of wounds on 10 July 1917 and is buried at Kandahar Farm Cemetery.
12455 Private Quinton Cumming Crawford, killed on 16 July 1917, and buried at Kandahar Farm Cemetery.
12334 Private Leslie Norman Krause , killed on 22 July 1917, and buried at Kandahar Farm Cemetery.
12234 Private George Allen, killed on 4 October 1917 and buried at Ypres Reservoir Cemetery.