The 211 (Wessex) Field Hospital was a field hospital of the British Army forming part of the Royal Army Medical Corps. Formed in 1967 and disbanded in 1996, the hospital's remaining detachments continue to serve in its successor unit, the 243 (The Wessex) Field Hospital.
History
Background
In 1967, as a result of the 1966 Defence White Paper, the Territorial Army (TA) was completely reorganised with many of the old units with long and distinguished histories reduced to company and platoon sizes and merged into new smaller units. Among the changes was the creation of the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve (TAVR), which was divided into three categories: TAVR I (The 'Ever-readies', ready for United Nations commitments and would serve to bring the Regular Army to war establishment, replace casualties, and be ready for rapid deployment); TAVR II (these units were to give the Regular Army administrative units not needed in peacetime). They would serve to bring the establishment and to replace losses. This category became known as the 'Volunteers' with units taking the sub-title of '(Volunteers) or (V)'. The third category, TAVR III was the largest of the branches tasked with home defence and were to maintain law and order in the event of nuclear attack and were also available for help in case of civil emergencies; these units had the subtitle of 'Territorial', not to be confused as the 'Territorials', the name for the TAVR as a whole. Lastly, TAVR IV was the smallest of the branch, comprising the University Officers' Training Corps, Regimental and Corps Bands and miscellaneous support units.
Formation
As a result of the above changes, on 1 April 1967, the 211th (Wessex) Casualty Clearing Station, Royal Army Medical Corps (Volunteers) was formed in TAVR II with a 200-bed capacity. The station was organised into a Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) and three squadrons: RHQ and A Squadron based in Plymouth, B Squadron at Wyvern Barracks in Exeter, and C Squadron in Truro. The station was formed by the amalgamation of the western RAMC territorial units of the 43rd Division/District's area of responsibility: 11th (Southern) Casualty Clearing Station, 23rd (Cornwall) Field Dressing Station, and 128th (Wessex) Field Ambulance.<ref>General Staff Order (GSO) - ''Authority: B to A/20/Misc/5164(ASD5c) dated 9 March 1967: '211 (Wessex) Field Hospital RAMC (Volunteers): Forming as a new unit at Plymouth wef 1 April 1967 (Museum of Military Medicine, Army Staff Duties (ASD) Cards, TA/AER/V: ASD - RAMC (1), Box 619).</ref> The 11th and 23rd Stations came from Southern Command, while the 128th Field Ambulance came from the 43rd (Wessex) Division/District. After formation, the new station was assigned to South West District, previously the 43rd (Wessex) Division/District, though these un-centralised districts became a nuisance and caused issues rather quickly.
The 211th was formed alongside the 219th (Wessex) Field Hospital which was formed by merging the eastern units of the 43rd Division/District's area of responsibility. This left the 211th taking the western counties: Cornwall and Devonshire, while the 219th took the eastern counties: City & County of Bristol, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, and Somerset.
Initially, the 211th was not allowed to inherit the Croix-de-Guerre of its main predecessor, the 128th (Wessex) Field Ambulance, but this was reversed by pressure during the 1969 reorganisations of the TAVR from the local Territorial Associations and veterans. The cross was awarded to the 24th (1st Wessex) Field Ambulance of the 8th Division following their unit's remarkable courage in quickly dispatching itself to Saint-Amand-les-Eaux following an artillery bombardment and phosphine gas bombing. The hospital then evacuated the majority of the town and saved "hundreds of lives", and in recognition became one of just three British Army units to be awarded the Croix de Guerre. To date, the Croix de Gurre has also only been awarded to one TA unit, that being the hospital. The inscription read as follows: "in commemoration of extraordinary devotion to duty in evacuating sick and wounded civilians from Saint Amand-les-Eaux during violent enemy bombardment from 22 – 25 October 1918'.
Under the 1967 reorganisations, casualty clearing stations were organised into a headquarters, a reception detachment, four wards of 50 bed blocks each, and specialist departments which consisted of the following: Surgical, Medical, X-ray, Pathology, and Dental (provided by the Royal Army Dental Corps).