No. 1 Australian Stationary Hospital

In September–October 1914, Lieutenant Colonel H.W. Bryant formed No. 1 Australian Stationary Hospital (1ASH), comprising largely South Australians. It left Australia in December, with a staff of 96 that included no female nurses.

1ASH arrived on Lemnos from Egypt in March 1915. Its site was near the Australian camp, in East Mudros. The Red Cross had given Bryant £200 before 1ASH left Egypt to build up its essentials, such as drugs, instruments and X-ray materials.

It was the only hospital on Lemnos before the landings. On 9 April, the 3rd Brigade diary reported that 1ASH was treating some 200 ailing men. ‘Transport diseases’ were common among the troops, who were living in basic, close quarters.

In May, 1ASH received orders to move to Gallipoli as a field hospital. But within days the order was rescinded and it was re-established in East Mudros. It remained there until late October, when it was transferred to Gallipoli.

Electricity was used to illuminate the 1ASH operating theatre. Its busy X-ray unit serviced all other Allied hospitals on Lemnos until the establishment of 3AGH at West Mudros. It also had a telephone exchange, which it shared with other hospitals.