Five Months at Anzac / A Narrative of Personal Experiences of the Officer Commanding the 4th Field Ambulance, Australian Imperial Force

ANZAC COVE. Photo by Lieut.-Col. Millard.
C.M.G., V.D., L.R.C.S.I., Colonel A.A.M.C. Late O.C. 4th Field Ambulance, late A.D.M.S. New Zealand and Australian Division
SYDNEY ANGUS & ROBERTSON LTD. 89 CASTLEREAGH STREET
1916
W.C. Penfold & Co. Ltd., Printers, 183 Pitt Street, Sydney.
DEDICATED TO
THE OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE 4th FIELD AMBULANCE, A.I.F., OF WHOSE LOYALTY AND DEVOTION TO DUTY THE WRITER HEREBY EXPRESSES HIS DEEP APPRECIATION.
Shortly after the outbreak of War—after the first contingent had been mobilised, and while they were undergoing training—it became evident that it would be necessary to raise another force to proceed on the heels of the first. Three Infantry Brigades with their Ambulances had already been formed; orders for a fourth were now issued, and naturally the Ambulance would be designated Fourth Field Ambulance.
The Fourth Brigade was composed of the 13th Battalion (N.S.W.), 14th (Victoria), 15th (Queensland) and 16th (Western Australia)—commanded respectively by Lieutenant-Colonel Burnage, Lieutenant-Colonel Courtnay, Lieutenant-Colonel Cannon and Lieutenant-Colonel Pope. The Brigade was in charge of Colonel Monash, V.D., with Lieutenant-Colonel McGlinn as his Brigade Major.
As it will be necessary from time to time to allude to the component parts of the Ambulance, it may be as well to describe how an ambulance is made up. It is composed of three sections, known as A, B, and C, the total of all ranks being 254 on a war strength. It is subdivided into Bearer, Tent and Transport Divisions. Each section has its own officers, and is capable of acting independently. Where there is an extended front, it is frequently desirable to detach sections and send them to positions where the work is heaviest.
As the name implies, the Bearers convey the wounded to the dressing station (or Field Hospital, as the case may be). Those in the Tent Division dress the cases and perform nursing duties, while the Transport Division undertakes their conveyance to Base Hospital.