Mansfield, Thomas Montague (Captain, b.1893 - d.1975)

Collection relating to the First World War Service of Captain Thomas Montague Mansfield. Collection consists of a handwritten diary kept by Capt Mansfield during his journey to England on the RMS Orontes, and during his service with the Australian Army Medical Corps in England, France and Belgium. The diary describes Mansfield's journey from Sydney to Plymouth, via Durban, South Africa and Freetown, Sierra Leone. On arrival in England in January 1917, Mansfield undertook AAMC Officers training at Parkhouse and Larkhill Camps, where he had an opportunity to spend some time with his brother, Edward. In July 1917, Mansfield proceeded overseas to France where he served with the 2nd Australian General Hospital, the 10th Australian Field Ambulance, as Regimental Medical Officer (RMO) for the 3rd Pioneer Battalion, and later, the 9th Australian Field Ambulance. From March 1918 he served as the RMO attached to the 3rd Australian Machine Gun Battalion. Towards the end, the diary becomes more of a memoir, where Mansfield describes the conditions under which he served, the billets he stayed with and the battles he observed. The memoir continues after the end of the war to include details of his medical practice back in Queensland, and further education in London, where he trained as an ophthalmologist. The collection also includes a handwritten transcript of the diary.