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he was attached to the Canadian Convalescent Hospital. The family moved to Ladysmith in 1928, where Hanington practised until the start of WW2.
CAMC in Salonika and Liverpool
Advertisement courtesy of Canadian War Museum
Remembering World War I Doctors BY SUSAN KNOSS, LADYSMITH ARCHIVES I started researching doctors who served in the Ladysmith area a couple of years ago as a volunteer at the Ladysmith & District Historical Society. I was initially surprised at how many of the doctors who worked in Ladysmith were also involved in World War 1 as medical officers. But as I started digging into this a little more, I discovered that over half of the doctors in Canada served in the Great War.
Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) There were two main units that Vancouver Island men and women mustered in. These were the Canadian Army Medical Corps, which operated Canadian Salonika Hospital No. 5, near the Balkans Front in Greece, and the 13th Field Ambulance, which provided front line medical assistance at numerous battles in France. Here’s a few of the doctors who had a Ladysmith connection.
Dr. A.C. Frost Anson Carr Frost attended McGill Medical School and graduated in 1903. Following this, he travelled to Ladysmith, where he was hired as an assistant to Dr. Wasson as a doctor for Dunsmuir Collieries. In 1907, Frost married a local schoolteacher, Lila Coburn, and
the couple had four sons and a daughter. Following his training completion in 1915, Frost travelled to Salonika, Greece, as part of the Army Medical Corps. Here, he served as a medical officer for two years before returning to Ladysmith in November 1917. After settling back into civilian life, Frost helped establish a local branch of the Great War Veterans’ Association, now known as the Legion. He served as Ladysmith’s first Legion president.
Dr. Frank Porter Patterson Frank Porter Patterson was born on December 24, 1875. He worked as a mine doctor in Ladysmith in 1904–1905. During World War 1, Patterson served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) from 1914–1918. He was a major at the Salonika Canadian Field Hospital No. 5, specializing in orthopedics – a rapidly developing field due to the need for artificial limbs and facial, hand and back reconstruction. Patterson became the first orthopedic surgeon in BC.
Dr. Darrell Hanington Darrell Peters Hannington was born on July 10, 1884. After graduating from McGill’s medical school in 1906, Hannington worked on the east coast of Vancouver Island, then travelled to Edinburgh for further medical training. Following this, he settled in Windemere, BC, and established the town’s first hospital. By September 10, 1915, Hanington joined CAMC and was on active duty at the Salonika Canadian Hospital No. 5. He returned to England in 1917, where
Dr. Frost, Dr. Porter Patterson and Dr. Hanington mustered from Victoria and began their journey with their unit on May 30, 1915. After landing in England, they trained in Shorncliffe Army Camp for two months before heading to the Balkan theatre, where they set up a hospital for British soldiers in the Salonika area of Greece. The port is now known as Thessaloniki. The medics at the Salonika hospitals faced extreme temperatures and poor supply lines, reportedly treating more soldiers for diseases than for battle wounds. Malaria and dysentery “thinned the ranks of enlisted and officers alike.” After two years at the hospital in Salonika, the unit returned to England, where they served soldiers returning to a Canadian Hospital in Liverpool.
Dr. John Montgomery John Edward Montgomery enlisted with CAMC. He was attached to the 13th Field Ambulance and served at several active battle sites, including Ypres, where he supervised two dressing stations and the clearing of wounded from the front lines. As a result of his frontline work, Montgomery suffered a hernia, which caused jaundice and hepatitis. After his recovery, he spent the remainder of his service in England, where he trained battlefield medics. He finished his active service at a convalescent hospital in New Westminster and was then sent to Ladysmith, where doctors were required due to the influenza outbreak. In September 1919, Montgomery was appointed by the Department of Soldiers’ Re-Establishment to address the medical needs of returned men in the area. In 1923, Montgomery became infected with diphtheria while treating sick children, dying as a result. His wife and three sons survived him. A daughter was born several months after his death.