news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

born on the eve of the war

although it was established very early, the royal air force did not have its own independent medical facilities for more than 20 years. in 1939, the top brass of the royal air force finally decided to build a hospital for the air force soldiers. the location of the new hospital was mainly based on the following two considerations: there should be a railway station nearby to facilitate the sick and wounded to travel between the hospital and the base, and the environment should be very comfortable to help the sick and wounded recover as soon as possible.

finally, in torquay (Torquay)'s palace hotel (Palace Hotel) was chosen because of its unique location. the town is very convenient for railway transportation, the great western railway (Great Western Railway) has a station in the area, and although surrounded by mountains, the local roads are suitable for all types of ambulances. the hotel itself is located in babbacombe (Babbacombe) town, overlooking the beach, has always been a popular choice for visitors to devon (Devon) is a favorite of tourists and holidaymakers in the county. since ancient times, it has been an attractive health resort due to its comfortable and pleasant climate. however, the air force's signature skill to dominate the battlefield (or to fight for budget in peacetime) - air raids, should have been a factor that must be taken into consideration when choosing the location of the air force hospital. however, on this issue, the leaders of the royal air force were so confused that they wishfully believed that the place was relatively less likely to be bombed by the enemy. unfortunately, the subsequent war ruthlessly proved their mistake, and it was those loyal and brave air force officers who paid the price.

figure 1. the scenic exterior of the palace hotel, which was a famous holiday resort before the war

in order to put the hospital into use as soon as possible, the designers and builders worked hard. by october 1939, one month after the outbreak of world war ii, the hospital had 48 beds and was officially put into use. after that, the number of beds in the hospital continued to increase. by december of that year, the hospital had 249 beds, which basically met the demand. in terms of staffing, in 1939, the hospital began to be staffed with personnel, including 11 military medical officers from the royal air force (including 1 chief medical officer and 1 assistant chief medical officer), and 11 medical officers from princess mary's royal air force nursing service (Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service) were 22 members from the air force, 87 men and women including servicemen from the air force, and 83 civilian employees, most of whom were former hotel workers.

although the hotel building itself could not be changed much in terms of structure, four bedrooms were separated on the second floor of the hotel for normal treatment, so as to create a quiet and comfortable environment as much as possible for the wounded to recuperate. according to the normal progress, the entire project would be difficult to complete before may 1940. during this period, the operation of the hospital was still orderly. the only small problem was that most of the wounded were scattered in various rooms. however, after may 1940, everything changed.

on may 10, 1940, the german army launched a full-scale offensive on the western front, and the british expeditionary force deployed in continental europe also fully engaged in the war. although the members of the british royal air force in the expeditionary force achieved certain results in the initial air battles, they also suffered considerable losses. after that, as most of the european continent fell, the german army began to bomb britain based on airports in france and other places, and the british royal air force also launched air strikes on targets in the german-occupied areas of continental europe in response. in the fierce air battle, the pilots suffered a lot of casualties. in this way, the operation of the hospital began to become busy, and the number of wounded and sick began to increase significantly.

working hard to return to the blue sky

many wounded and sick soldiers from the uk and overseas were sent here through railways and other means of transportation. here, they will be carefully cared for, and after their injuries are healed, they will return to their original units and continue their flying.

among these wounded, a considerable number were aircrew members who were gloriously wounded in the battle with the german army. some of them were fighter pilots who were hit in the battle with enemy planes, and some were bomber crew members who were injured in the air raid on the german occupied areas. with most of the uk in the midst of a tragic air battle, this place was temporarily a paradise.

figure 2. howard lester is receiving treatment at torquay hospital. he was sent back to malta for treatment after being injured. his sister is by his side.

in addition to combat injuries, a certain proportion of personnel were injured in accidents during flight training. after 1940, the royal air force arranged some training bases near hospitals, including the 1st primary training wing (No.1 Initial Training Wing) was located in babbacombe. in addition, other training and logistics facilities were also arranged here. throughout the war, many personnel from the united kingdom, other commonwealth countries and dominions such as canada and southern rhodesia (today's zimbabwe) were trained here. during this period, many rookies were injured in various flying accidents for various reasons. after they were injured, they were sent here for further treatment.

during the treatment period, in addition to treating the various injuries and illnesses, the hospital also provides various rehabilitation training to help the wounded soldiers recover their body functions so that they can return to the army to take on combat readiness tasks in the future. at the same time, in order to enrich the spiritual and cultural life of these soldiers, the hospital also provides various other activities to boost their morale.

figure 3. lieutenants wood and derbyshire receiving rehabilitation training instruction from nurse effie cooper

figure 4. the wounded and sick are resting in torquay hospital and the british red cross nurses who are taking care of them

the hospital treated hundreds of sick and wounded throughout the war, but perhaps the most famous of these was james nicholson.James Nicolson). in an air battle on august 16, 1940, nicholson was flying a hurricane and was hit by a bf-110. he was injured in the eye and foot, but he still gave up parachuting. he drove the damaged plane and shot down another bf-110 before choosing to parachute. he was awarded a victoria cross (Victoria Cross). immediately after being injured, he was sent to torquay hospital, where he received long-term treatment. in addition to receiving rehabilitation training, he also participated in an orchestra composed of air force officers who were receiving treatment here. after completing his treatment, he was sent to the china-burma-india battlefield and eventually became a lieutenant colonel (Wing Commander), unfortunately, on the eve of victory in the war, he was killed in an air raid in the bay of bengal on may 2, 1945 (Bengal Bay）。

figure 5. during his treatment at torquay hospital, nicholson formed a band with other royal air force officers who were also receiving treatment at the hospital and performed regularly.

in 1941, torquay hospital also welcomed a distinguished guest - the then princess royal (Princess Royal)princess mary came to the hospital for an inspection. as the auxiliary territorial service (Auxiliary Territorial Service), princess mary made great contributions to supporting the frontline work throughout the war, not only did she live in harewood house (Harewood House) was used as a rehabilitation center for wounded soldiers, and the doctor personally served as a nurse to provide some care for the wounded soldiers. under the care of princess mary and other royal family members and senior officials, the wounded and sick in torquay hospital enjoyed very superior material and spiritual conditions.

figure 6. during her visit to torquay hospital, princess mary talked with lieutenant atkinson from the 152nd squadron of the royal air force. atkinson collided with his teammates while flying a spitfire on april 20, 1940, and suffered multiple burns on his face and hands. he was later transferred to torquay hospital for treatment

big air raid

although the top brass of the royal air force believed that this area would not be seriously affected by the german air raids, the germans did not rehearse according to the script given by the british. on april 22, 1941, the german army launched the first large-scale air raid on the torquay area. on may 4 of the same year, german bombers dropped about 31 high-explosive bombs on forest road. speaking of which, these two bombings were more or less "lying down and being shot", because these bombers were actually heading for plymouth, but after the bombing, when they were about to return to their bases in france, the netherlands, belgium and other countries, they dropped the remaining bombs around torquay in order to reduce their own weight and speed up their flight away from the uk.

however, on october 25, 1942, an unmitigated disaster finally struck. it was a saturday morning, and at about 11 o'clock, the germans launched a large-scale air raid on the area where the hospital was located. the bombing began with machine gun fire on the ground, and then a large number of bombers filed in and dropped a large number of 500 kg high-explosive bombs on the building. during this bombing, the south side of the hospital's east wing was directly hit by a bomb, and in the subsequent bombing, both parts of the east wing were directly blown down from top to bottom, which also caused most of the casualties in the hospital. the west wing was also hit in the bombing, and the second bomb exploded about 50 yards from the northwest center of the west wing, and several more exploded on the main road. affected by the shock wave of the bomb, many glass windows were shattered, and some frames were directly shaken out of their original positions. the most tragic thing was the operating room, which was severely affected in this bombing and temporarily lost its function. fortunately, the central area was still strong enough to be used after the bombing, and the kitchen area was largely intact.

figure 7. torquay hospital after the air raid, showing that part of the hospital building has collapsed

a soldier from the 1st primary training wing of the royal air force recorded his eyewitness experience of the air raid:

"on a special saturday morning like this, in the church parade (Church Parade) after the bell rang, i saw three single-engine fighters lined up in a dense formation, approaching the coastline at a low altitude almost close to the sea level. i think i am an excellent air observer, so i naturally thought that it was our own "typhoon" fighters returning. this is really wrong! on the top of a cliff in front of the hotel where we are stationed, there is an anti-aircraft position made of sandbags, where twin lewis machine guns are deployed, and the operators are from the durham light infantry regiment (Durham Light Infantry) was a sergeant from the air force. when he spotted the planes, he immediately shot at them. at this moment, i finally saw the identity of the fighter planes - fw-190! "

figure 8. the fw-190 aircraft of the same type that attacked torquay hospital on october 25. due to its high speed and flexible mounting, the german army often used it as a fighter-bomber to carry out harassing air raids on britain.

also attacked on the same day was fred soy.Freddie Sowrey) lieutenant, who would later rise to the rank of air marshal. however, at this time, as a rookie in the 26th squadron of the royal air force, he had to receive treatment here for an eye infection. on the day of the bombing, he was thinking about going to the town for lunch, and at this time, the bomb fell from the sky -

"i was standing by a window in front of the hotel, admiring the beautiful view of the sea behind the meadow and woodland, when two fighter planes flew low over my head. i thought they were german bf-109s. then i saw flashes on the wings of the two fighter planes, and i realized they were firing, and there were all kinds of noisy noises coming from the upper floors of the hotel. i thought it might be safer to lie down under the window, but at this moment there was a huge explosion, and then i found myself in a pile of rubble, and could only move with difficulty relying on my left foot..."

figure 9. a corner of torquay hospital after the air raid

as the air raid was taking place, the national guard (Home Guardsoldiers from the 10th devonshire battalion were conducting a military exercise nearby. after the air raid, the battalion's deputy commander, adams,H.W.Adams) and the entire battalion wasted no time in the rescue effort. because of their active efforts, many wounded soldiers whose lives were already hanging by a thread were eventually rescued from the ruins. later, in the official war history, lieutenant adams wrote:

"i have already sent out about two squads (in the exercise that day), the first squad is at curtis (Curtis) conducted reconnaissance training on babbacombe road and the entrance of the hotel, while the second squad was under my command to conduct reconnaissance around the hotel. at about 11:30 that day, the patrolmen of the second squad had reached an area in the middle of the south side of the tennis court. at this time, i heard the roar of aircraft engines overhead. i looked up and found that two german fighter planes were flying directly towards the hotel at a height of "skimming over the treetops".

then i saw the fighter on the left start to move forward and drop a bomb on the building. seeing the bomb flying towards the hotel, it is very likely that the hotel will collapse in front of us. i immediately shouted to the patrol to find cover. some of them just lay on the ground, and some of them found shelter in the gym next to them. duncan (Duncan) corporal and i also lay flat on the ground where we had just stood. at this moment, the bomb hit the hotel about 25 yards away from us. duncan and i were shocked by the blast of the bomb and were thrown about 20 yards away! corporal duncan finally landed in a hedge, but fortunately, apart from some concussion, he did not suffer any serious injuries. i was thrown directly against the outer wall of the gymnastics room, with a cut above my eye and some soft tissue contusions on my shoulder and ribs.

seeing that the air raid drill could not continue, i directly ordered the cancellation of the next drill and gathered all the people who could move. then, i divided the remaining personnel according to the current situation. the first team carried out rescue work on the top floor of the hotel, while the second team was in jowett.Jowett) to rescue the next floor below the top floor. as we followed the fire escape and prepared to go all the way to the top floor, various debris blocked our way. we dug and moved forward, and finally opened an entrance. the first people we rescued were four little girls. they were seriously injured when we dug them out of the rubble. because we couldn't use a stretcher, we wrapped them in blankets and quickly carried them down from the upstairs.

in the first five hours, we dug out 15 people from the rubble. all six girls were rescued, but two of the nine men died. we put the four most seriously injured on beds and tried to make them warm and comfortable. one of them had a serious back injury, so i ordered everyone not to move them until the doctor arrived.

soon, the surviving hospital staff began to rescue the injured and trapped people with the cooperation of some lightly injured people. later, the local national self-defense force and air raid rescue team also rushed to the scene. since the corresponding rescue plan had been formulated before, the rescue work was carried out in an orderly manner. since most of the hospitals were damaged in the air raid, the hospital staff transferred the wounded to other nearby hospitals for surgery and other follow-up treatment after giving them first aid. although there were sufficient stretcher equipment to ensure that the wounded could be transferred as soon as possible, and the wounded could also get hot water, hot drinks and hot meals from the kitchens that were still in operation, most of the electric blankets and electric beds were destroyed in the air raid or buried in the rubble and could not be used. even more unfortunately, the weather was cold that day, and most of the window glass of the remaining hospitals was shattered in the air raid. the wounded waiting for first aid and the hospital staff who took care of them could only drink northwest wind for the time being.

at the time of the airstrike, there were 203 injured and sick people in the entire hospital. a total of 21 people were killed in the airstrike (including the injured and sick people and hospital staff), 40 people were injured (including the injured and sick people, hospital staff and nearby civilians), and 3 civilians who were injured in other places died when they were transferred to the hospital for emergency treatment. in fact, "fortunately" the airstrike happened on the weekend, and the milk bar and other places that were severely damaged in the airstrike did not gather the injured and sick people and hospital staff at noon on weekdays, and no other activities were organized, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

figure 10. nurse muriel dyson, who was killed in the october 25 air raid

the final chapter

obviously, torquay hospital, which had experienced the air raid, could no longer treat the wounded and sick, and the relevant follow-up work mainly focused on two aspects: clearing the rubble caused by the air raid and transferring the remaining wounded and sick. the more seriously injured were sent to torby emergency hospital as soon as their condition stabilized.Torbay Emergency Medical Service Hospital) received further treatment, and the rest were sent to the sick and wounded area at torquay railway station. by 15:45 on the afternoon of the air raid, the transfer of the wounded and sick had been basically completed. some of the wounded and sick who were not injured in the air raid and whose injuries were relatively stable were sent home for recovery treatment as much as possible, and the rest who still needed hospitalization were transferred to the hospital in rawdon (Wroughton) and melksham (Melksham) for treatment at the royal air force hospital.

the main body of torquay hospital, the palace hotel, was left in place after the air raid awaiting a final decision on its disposal. during this period, it was attacked twice on january 8 and may 30, 1943. the remaining buildings were again severely damaged, but there were no casualties. the hospital was completely closed until some of the remaining buildings were repaired after the war.

figure 11. the palace hotel was undergoing post-war reconstruction and reopened in march 1948