Introduction

The flow of casualties from the various theatres of war soon overwhelmed the existing medical facilities in the United Kingdom, just as it did the recently established bases in France and Flanders. Many civilian hospitals and large buildings were turned over to military use. This listing is by no means complete, but it is probably the most comprehensive single list of the medical facilities of 1914-1918 available anywhere on the internet.

The Territorial Force General Hospitals

A number of hospitals had been identified before the war for use and operation by the Territorial Force. They were generally based at existing hospitals and other large facilities. For example, the 1st Southern General Hospital was based on the Great Hall at the University of Birmingham. All were expanded during war time, not only on the primary sites but with the addition of Auxiliary Hospitals and annexes. They were staffed by a mixture of TF Nursing Service personnel and volunteers from many different organisations.

Command (or District in case of London)	Name (all General Hospital after number and command)	Location	Capacity (Officer Beds)	Capacity (Other Ranks Beds)
Eastern	1st  Eastern	Cambridge	151	1191
Eastern	2nd Eastern	Brighton	98	1190
London	1st London	Camberwell	88	852
London	2nd London	Chelsea	66	995
London	3rd London	Wandsworth	806	224
London	4th London	Denmark Hill	300	1625
London	5th London	St Thomas's	94	568
Northern	1st Northern	Newcastle	104	1420
Northern	2nd Northern	Leeds	60	2039
Northern	3rd Northern	Sheffield	57	1360
Northern	4th Northern	Lincoln	41	1126
Northern	5th Northern	Leicester	111	2487
Scottish	1st Scottish	Aberdeen	62	1297
Scottish	2nd Scottish	Edinburgh	28	1129
Scottish	3rd Scottish	Glasgow	70	1629
Scottiah	4th Scottish	Stobhill		1334
Southern	1st Southern	Birmingham	130	2357
Southern	2nd Southern	Bristol	200	1350
Southern	3rd Southern	Oxford	336	1210
Southern	4th Southern	Plymouth	193	1029
Southern	5th Southern	Portsmouth	48	989
Southern	2/1st Southern	Birmingham		1450
Western	1st Western	Fazakerly	153	4204 or 4244 ?
Western	2nd Western	Manchester	546	5772
Western	3rd Western	Cardiff	38	2626

Asylums taken over for military use

As the demand for hospital beds increased, one of the actions taken to provide more capacity was to turn over existing pre-war asylums for military use.

Beaufort War Hospital, Bristol

Location	Peacetime Name	Military Name
Gosforth	Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Asylum	Northumberland War Hospital
Leeds	Leeds Union Infirmary	East Leeds War Hospital
Wadsley	West Riding of Yorkshire Asylum	Wharncliffe War Hospital
Winwick	Lancashire County Asylum	Lord Derby War Hospital
Rubery Hill	Birmingham City Asylum	1st Birmingham War Hospital
Hollymoor	Birmingham City Asylum	2nd Birmingham War Hospital
Thorpe	Norfolk County Asylum	Norfolk War Hospital
Whitchurch	Cardiff City Asylum	Welsh Metropolitan War Hospital
Chichester	West Sussex County Asylum	Graylingwell War Hospital
Fishponds	Bristol County and City Asylum	Beaufort War Hospital
Horton, Epsom	London County Asylum, Horton	Horton (County of London) War Hospital
Manor, Epsom	London County Asylum, Manor	Manor (County of London) War Hospital
Napsbury, St Albans	Middlesex County Asylum, Napsbury	Napsbury War Hsopital
Wandsworth, near Tooting	Middlesex County Asylum, Wandsworth	Springfield War Hospital
Denmark Hill	Maudsley Memorial Hospital	Maudsley Neurological Hospital
Park Prewett	Hampshire 2nd County Asylum	4th Canadian General Hospital
Whalley	Whalley Asylum	Queen Mary's Military Hospital
Whittingham, near Preston	Lancashire County Asylum	Whittingham Military Hospital
Northampton	Northamptonshire County Asylum	Northamptonshire War Hospital
Maghull, Liverpool	Moss Side State Institution	Red Cross Military Hospital, Moss Side
Stannington	Gateshead County Borough Asylum	Gateshead War Hospital
Radcliffe-on-Trent	Nottingham County Asylum	Notts County War Hospital
Ewell, Surrey	The Ewell Colony	Ewell (County of London) War Hospital
Littlemore	Oxford County Asylum	Ashurst War Hospital
Edinburgh	Edinburgh District Asylum	Edinburgh War Hospital (Bangour)
Perth	Perth District Asylum	Murthly War Hospital
Paisley	Renfrew District Asylum	Dykebar War Hospital
Belfast	Belfast District Lunatic Asylum	Belfast War Hospital
Dublin	Richmond District Asylum	Richmond War Hospital

Napsbury War Hospital

Military hospitals established at hutted army camps

Land either on existing army bases or acquired nearby for the purpose was converted into major hospitals

Location	Capacity (Beds)
Thetford	120
Blandford	204
Codford	100
Fargo	1037
Fovant	449
Sutton Veny	938
Swanage	119
Wareham	45
Haxely Down, Winchester	105
Magdalen Camp	252
Wool (Bovington)	288
Ripon	670
Grantham	620
Clipstone Camp	356
Catterick	750
Cannock Chase	594
Cromarty	226
Oswestry	866
Kinmel Park	890
Prees Heath	609

Specialist military mental hospitals

The stress of front line duty and the awful experience of men under sustained shell fire led to the development of a network of mental hospitals

Name	Pre-war use	Total Beds		Total Beds for Mental Cases		Date first used for Mental cases	Date of Closure
		Off	OR	Off	OR
D Block, Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley	Military Mental Hospital	3	121	3	121
Co of Middlesex War Hospital, Napsbury	Middlesex County Asylum		1600		350	Sep 15	1 Aug 19
Special Hospital for Officers, Latchmere, Ham Common	Private House	51		51		Nov 15	Still open
Notts County War Hospital, Radcliffe-on-Trent	Notts County Asylum		540		540	25 Jul 18	30 Aug 19
Welsh Metropolitan War Hospital, Whitchurch, Glam	Cardiff City Asylum	61	839	14	416	Sep 17	31 Dec 19
Lord Derby War Hospital, Warrington	Lancs County Asylum		3313		1000	Jun 16	Still Open
Belfast War Hospital	Civil Asylum	8	342	8	342	Jul 17	5 Dec 19
Richmond War Hospital, Dublin	Section of Richmond Asylum		32		32	16 Jun 16	31 Dec 19
Dykebar War Hospital, Paisley	Civil Asylum		500		500	Feb 16	15 Oct 19
Murthly War Hospital	Civil Asylum		350		350	27 Jan 17	1 Mar 19

Specialist fitting hospitals for limbless soldiers

Soldiers domiciled in:	Fitting Hospital to which Admitted	No Of Beds
West of Scotland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Northumberland & Durham	Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers, Erskine House, Glasgow	400
East Of Scotland	Edenhall East of Scotland Limbless Hospital, Musselburgh	100
Ireland, except Ulster	Duke of Connaught's Auxiliary Hospital (formerly located in Princess Patricia Hospital, Bray), Bray, Wicklow	50
Ulster	Ulster Volunteer Force Hospital, Belfast	50
Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Notts and Rutlandshire	2nd Northern General Hospital, Leeds	126
Cheshire and the County Of Lancs, excluding Manchester	Alder Hey Hospital Orthopedic Hospital	200
	Section of above, Blackmore	100
Derbyshire, Staffs and Manchester	Lancaster House Auxiliary Hospital (affiliated to 2nd Western General Hospital), Manchester	150
Warwickshire, Worcs, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Oxfordshire	2/1st Southern General Hospital, Birmingham (Uffculme)	150
Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset	VAD Hospital, Chard	46
Wales, Monmouthshire, Herefordshire and Salop	Prince of Wales Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers, Cardiff	66
Hampshire	RVH, Netley	30
London and all other areas	Charterhouse Military Hospital, London	225
London and all other areas	Queen Mary's Convalescent Hospital, Roehampton	900
London and all other areas	Paddington Military Hospital	300

Specialist neurological Hospitals

May 1915 neurological sections were established in such TF General Hospitals as were considered suitable - from April 1916 they were used for cases requiring special but not prolonged treatment.

Location	Name/Wartime Name	Remarks
Queens Sq, London WC	National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic	Prewar civilian institution treating some military cases by Nov 14. From Apr 16 used for cases requiring special but not prolonged treatment.  By Jun 18 section of the Maudley Clearing Hospital when for OR.
Maida Vale, W	The Hospital foe Epilepsy and Paralysis,	Prewar civilian institutions treating some military cases by Nov 14. From Apr 16 used for cases requiring special but not prolonged treatment. By Jun 18 section of the Maudley Clearing Hospital when for OR.
Welbeck St, W	West End Hospital for Diseases of the Nervous System	Prewar civilian institutions treating some military cases by Nov 14. From Apr 16 used for cases requiring special but not prolonged treatment. By Jun 18 section of the Maudley Clearing Hospital when for OR.
Moss Side State Institution	Red Cross Military Hospital, Maghull	First case admitted 21 Dec 14.  Initially 300 beds, later 500 and a section of 35 beds for officers at Quarry Brook House nearby.  From Apr 16 used for severe or protracted cases
Kensington	10 Palace Green. Special Hospital for Officers	Opened Jan 15.  For officer suffering from functional neurosis, traumatic neurasthenia and the milder osychoses. By Jun 18 '10 and 11 Palace Green'.
Netley	Royal Victoria Hospital	Neurological section established by early 15 - acted as clearing hospital for these cases.
	4th London General Hospital later Maudsley Neurological Clearing Hospital	Neurological section established by early 15 - acted as clearing hospital for these cases.  By Jun 18 known as Maudsley Neurological Clearing Hospital.
County of Middlesex Asylum, Wandsworth	Springfield War Hospital	Springfield was detached block of main asylum. From Apr 16 used for severe or protracted cases
Royal Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh		Cases identified in other hospitals in Scotland (rather than having been processed through the clearing system)
King George V Hospital, Dublin		Cases identified in other hospitals in Ireland (rather than having been processed through the clearing system)
Nannau, Dolgelly	Officers' Hospital	Operating by Jun 18
Blackpool	Neurological Section, King's Lancashire Military Convalescent Hospital	Operating by Jun 18. For officers
Edinburgh	Craiglockhart War Hospital	Operating by Jun 18. For officers
Bradford	Abram Peel Hospital	For OR - operational by Jun 18.
Epsom	Ewell (Co. of London) War Hospital	For OR - operational by Jun 18.
Birmingham	Monyhull Section, 1st Southern General Hospital	For OR - operational by Jun 18.
Fife	Glen Lomond War Hospital	For OR - operational by Jun 18.
Perthshire	Dunblane War Hospital	For OR - operational by Jun 18.
Newton Abbot	Seale Haye Neurological Hospital	For OR - operational by Jun 18..  Not clear whether this is prewar name or not
Stannington, Newcastle	Gateshead War Hospital	For OR - operational by Jun 18.
Plymouth	Neurological Section, 4th Southern General Hospital	For OR - operational by Jun 18.
Stockport	Brinnington Neurological Section, 2nd Western General Hospital	For OR - operational by Jun 18.
Near Worthing	East Preston Military Hospital	For OR - operational by Jun 18.
	Oulton Hall Hospital for Officers	Opened in 1918 - 71 beds
Oxford	Ashhurst War Hospital, Littlemore	Opened in 1918 -580 beds
Manchester	Section of Nell Lane Military Hospital, West Didsbury	Opened in 1918

Specialist orthopaedic hospitals

Special arrangements for orthopaedic cases were introduced from 1 March 1915

Location	Name	Remarks
234 Great Portland St	Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital	From Mar 15 treated cases from London District and Eastern Command
Liverpool	Alder Hey Auxiliary Military Hospital	From Mar 15 treated all cases not sent to Gt Portland St
Shepherds Bush	Military Orthopaedic Hospital	Opened Mar 16, responsibility passed to Min of Pensions Jul 19
Edmonton	Special Military Surgical Hospital (and Strand Extension)	Still in War Office hands in Jul 20
Netley	Special Military Surgical Section (of RVH, Netley)	Still in WO hands in Jul 20
Bangour	Special Military Surgical Section, Edinburgh War Hospital	Still in WO hands in Jul 20
Aldershot	Special Military Surgical Section, Cambridge Hospital  (Duke of Cambridge's Hospital?)	Still in WO hands in Jul 20

Specialist cardiac hospitals

Location	Name	Remarks
London	University College Hospital	20 beds reserved for military heart cases, probably from late '14.
Westmoreland Street, W	National Hospital for Diseases of the Heart	Number of beds offered for military cases in Dec 15
	Hampstead Military Hospital	Opened Mar 16 - ultimately 232 patients.  In Dec 17 converted to hospital for cases from RFC, and heart cases to Colchester
Colchester	Sobroan Barracks Military Hospital	Opened when Hanpstead converted - ultimately 672 beds.  Closed Aug 19. Under Eastern Command.  Associated convalescent hospital - 200 beds at Summerdown from Oct 18
Leeds	Leeds General Hospital (part) (Section of) East Leeds War Hospital	Operational from Nov 18 with 50 beds.  Closed Aug 19, cardiac centre then affiliated with Special Military Surgical Hospital, Leeds. Under Northern Command.  Associated convalescent hospital - 572 beds at Killingbeck Military Hospital (another section of East Leeds War Hospital).  Closed in Jun 19, cases to East Leeds War Hospital until that closed in Aug 20
Liverpool	(Netherfield Road section of) 1st Western General Hospital	Opened Aug 18 - 70 beds.  Closed in May 18.  Centre transferred to Toxteth Park Military Hospital, which closed in Aug 18, then to Queen Mary's Hospital, Whalley. Associated convalescent hospital - Military Hospital, Whittingham, Preston - 500 beds. Closed Apr 19, cases to King's Military Convalescent Hospital, Blackpool until Jun 19, then convalescent cases to Whalley
Manchester		'special hospital functioning in Manchester for treating heart cases' - transferred to Liverpool Cardiac Centre

Specialist typhoid hospitals

Addington Palace War Hospital

Location	Name	Remarks
Croydon	Addington Park/Addington Park War Hospital	Opened early 15 in Addington Palace.   Initially 300 patients, expanded by huts to 650.  In Jul 15 decided to establish a Command Depot exclusively for enteric cases, hutted camp of 1000 beds erected 'in vicinity of Addington Park'.
Woldingham , Surrey	Enteric Depot	Opened sometime after Jan 16
Warlingham, Surrey	Enteric Depot	Opened sometime after Jan 16
Shirley 'near Addington Park'	Enteric Depot	Opened Mar 17

Specist venereal disease hospitals

Location	Officers	ORs	Remarks
Robroyston War Hospital	50	500
Cherryhinton		802	Opened sometime in 1916
Shaffords	106		Hutted camp - used for VD cases from Aug 17.
Hemel Hempsted (Gadebridge)		800	Former RFA training camp, taken over in Jul 17.  Converted to 350 bed officers' hospital after Armistice
Warlingham		750
New Bridge St, Manchester		530	An old workhouse and boys school, taken over sometime in 1916
Birtles, Chelford	50		Opened Dec 17
Spike Island	50	450
Devonport (Egg Buckland)	30	180
Chiseldon	50	800	Half of existing hutted camp converted to venereal hospital of some 400 beds to make up for accommodation at Bulford transferred to Australians i.e. sometime after Nov 16.  Beds for 100 more serious cases in Chiseldon Military Hospital at that time
Hilsea Military Hospital	47	430
Brighton Grove Hospital, Newcastle	48	552
Central Hospital, Lichfield	50	754	Hutted portion of Lichfield Barracks
Rochester Row Military Hospital		301
Tooting Grove	144	100
Aldershot (Connaught Hospital)		300
Stobs			Opened after Armistice (Stobs is in Scotland)
Kinmel Park			Venereal section opened after Armistice
Silkstone, near Barnsley			Hutted camp - in process of being converted to officers' VD hospital when Armistice signed - not completed
Bulford Military Hospital			Handed over to Australians ('owing to large demand') in Nov 16 and known as 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital.
Barnwell, near Cambridge			Large VD hospital opened sometime in 1916 - no further details
Detention Barracks			Those at Stafford, Woking, Stirling and Devizes used for soldiers undergoing detention or awaiting trial who required treatment for VD.
Military Hospital, Portobello, Dublin			187 beds as at May 16

Military Convalescent Hospitals

These establishments did not have the usual civilian meaning of convalescence; they were formed from March 1915 onward to keep recovering soldiers under military control.

Location		Opened	Remarks	Allocation as at Apr 16
Eastbourne	Summerdown Camp	8 Apr 15	Hutted military camp	Eastern and Aldershot Commands
Dartford	Orchard Hospital	24 May 15	Infectious diseases hospital taken over from Metropolitan Asylum Board	London District
Epsom	Woodcote Park	24 Jun 15		Southern Command
Blackpool	Clifton Park		King's Lancashire Military Convalescent Hospital	Western Command, men whose homes are in Lancashire or who belong to Lancashire regts from any command
Belfast	Holywood			Irish Command, men whose homes are in Ireland or who belong to Irish regts from any command
Alnwick				Northern and Scottish Commands, men whose homes were in Scotland or who belonged to Scottish regts from any command

I am indebted to Jock Bruce for this information, and also to everyone else who has contributed to this subject