BBC - World War One at Home - Ambulance Trains

Description

From November 1914, hospital trains began to arrive at Dundee's Caledonian West Station on a regular basis. Most carried one hundred wounded, some in an advanced stage of convalescence and others confined to stretchers. The first ambulance train destined for Dundee arrived on Tuesday, 3 November 1914. The train carried one hundred wounded men and formed a complete hospital. There were ten coaches with six wards, each containing eighteen beds, with accommodation for medical staff and orderlies, and a dining saloon and kitchen. The men had been transported from Boulogne to Southampton, a journey that took fourteen to sixteen hours. The large fleet of motors and ambulance wagons attracted a 'great crowd' gathered in Yeaman Shore and at the entrance to the station and 'The sight of so many cars and the state of the wounded men on board brought home to the spectators as nothing else has hitherto done the terrible realities of this war of nations'.