Hell, Hope and Heroes: Life in the Field Ambulance in World War I

In 1915, Private Roy Ramsay, freshly trained at a camp near Brisbane, sets sail from Australia for the Middle East with the 4th Light Horse Field Ambulance. Serving on hospital ships in the Dardanelles and evacuating a mounting number of sick and wounded, they learn about the battles from the wounded. Serving with the 1st Division 3rd Field Ambulance on the Western Front, he goes through Pozieres and other major set-piece battles of trench warfare. Amid the hell of artillery bombardment and machine gun fire, Roy finds some glimmer of hope for the human race in the fact that both sides often exercise compassion and restraint towards the injured as well as the stretcher-bearers trying to retrieve them. However, the Aussies' mateship and sense of duty get them through the unimaginably shocking physical conditions of trench warfare, helped by occasional breaks away from the lines and recreational leave for romantic purposes. Attached to Dressing Stations just behind the front line Roy is able to keep in touch with his mates and with the AIF's overall tactical situation. With the Australians now united in one corps under General Monash and despite constantly decreasing numbers, they play a key role during the last six months of the war in driving the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line. After the armistice, Roy takes leave and gets married in Scotland. He is eventually transferred to a unit in England where his new wife joins him. In July 1919 they board ship for a new life in Australia. This account of Roy's life was edited from his diaries by his son Ron.