We’ve been doing some research on the men from Camborne (and Porthleven) who signed up in 1914 to serve in the Royal Ambulance Medical Corps (RAMC) 25th Field Ambulance.
We know that some these men played in three rugby matches at the Front (click here for more on that).
But we weren’t quite sure where they served.
Our Newlyn-based researcher has come up with some very interesting information. The RAMC 25th Field Ambulance was under the command of the 8th Division of the 5th Army:
The history of the 8th Division
The 8th Division was formed in England during October 1914 by the bringing together of regular army units which had been stationed at various points around the British Empire. The Division moved to France in November 1914, a badly-needed reinforcement to the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) . It remained on the Western Front throughout the rest of the war, taking part in the following actions:
1915
The Battle of Neuve Chapelle
The Battle of Aubers
The action of Bois Grenier (a diversionary attack coinciding with the Battle of Loos)
1916
The Battle of Albert (the first phase of the Battles of the Somme 1916)
1917
The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line
The Battle of Pilkem+
The Battle of Langemarck+
The battles marked + are phases of the Third Battle of Ypres
1918
The Battle of St Quentin**
The actions at the Somme crossings**
The Battle of Rosieres**
The actions of Villers-Bretonneux**
The battles marked ** are phases of the First Battles of the Somme 1918
The Battle of the Aisne 1918 (see below)
The Battle of the Scarpe***
The battle marked *** is a phase of the Second Battles of Arras 1918
The Final Advance in Artois in which the Division captured Douai
Source: http://www.1914-1918.net/fieldambulances.htm
