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GCSE · EDEXCEL

EDX.WF5 The Western Front, 1914-18: The RAMC, FANY and the Personnel of the Chain of Evacuation

EDEXCEL 1HI0 · Calculators not allowed · about 60 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Questions 12 and 13 refer to Source A and Source B. Write in full sentences for Questions 12, 13, 14 and 15. You are advised to spend about 60 minutes on this pack.

Source A and Source B: Driving the Wounded, 1916

Source A and Source B were written for Revision Library as original, representative teaching material. Source A is an account in the style of a First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) ambulance driver's diary, written to represent the kind of first-hand experience described in verified historical accounts of women's ambulance service on the Western Front; it is not the testimony of a real, named individual, and no genuine wartime document has been reproduced or quoted. Source B is an illustrative table styled on historical research into the organisation of medical personnel at each stage of the chain of evacuation; its details are representative for teaching purposes, not an authentic official record.

SOURCE A: from a diary written in the style of a First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) ambulance driver, based near a Casualty Clearing Station, 1916.

Three runs tonight between the Casualty Clearing Station and the railhead, each one loaded with stretcher cases who could not sit up, plus two more with the walking wounded packed in wherever there was room. The road is shelled in places and unlit for most of its length, so it is slow going with the headlamps masked, feeling for the edge of the road as much as seeing it. One of the stretcher cases, a boy hardly older than my brother, kept asking how much further it was; I told him not far, though it was, and kept the engine as smooth as I could over the ruts. We handed each load over to the orderlies at the railhead, who loaded them onto the ambulance train for the base hospitals down the line, then turned straight back for the next lot. It is cold, filthy work and the engine wants more maintenance than we have time to give it, but it is the only way most of these men are getting out of range of the guns tonight.

SOURCE B: an illustrative table showing the organisations and personnel typically involved at each stage of the chain of evacuation on the Western Front.

Stage of evacuation | Typical personnel | Main role

Regimental Aid Post | Regimental Medical Officer and RAMC stretcher-bearers | first aid close to the front line; carrying casualties out of the trench system

Advanced Dressing Station to railhead or Casualty Clearing Station | RAMC orderlies; FANY or RAMC motor and horse-drawn ambulance drivers | transporting casualties further back, often under difficult or dangerous conditions

Casualty Clearing Station | RAMC surgeons and orderlies; trained QAIMNS nurses | emergency surgery, dressing, and further transport arrangements

Base Hospital | RAMC doctors; QAIMNS nurses; VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) volunteer nurses | longer-term treatment and nursing care, often supporting a smaller number of trained staff

Note: the figures and roles above are illustrative and typical rather than the recorded staffing of one specific unit; organisation varied between stations and changed over the course of the war.

Name the year in which the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was founded.

(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)

Name the voluntary women's organisation, founded in 1907, whose members drove ambulances and worked close to the front line from 1914 onwards.

(Total for Question 2 is 1 mark)

Name the organisation of trained military nurses who worked at Casualty Clearing Stations and Base Hospitals.

(Total for Question 3 is 1 mark)

Give the name of the Red Cross and St John Ambulance organisation whose volunteer nurses, mostly women, supported trained staff at Base Hospitals.

(Total for Question 4 is 1 mark)

State how many stretcher-bearers were typically needed to carry one loaded stretcher over difficult, muddy ground.

(Total for Question 5 is 1 mark)

Give one duty carried out by RAMC stretcher-bearers, other than carrying casualties, at or near the front line.

(Total for Question 6 is 2 marks)

Name the type of vehicle, horse-drawn early in the war and increasingly motorised as the war went on, used to move casualties between stages of the chain of evacuation further from the front line.

(Total for Question 7 is 1 mark)

Give two reasons why RAMC stretcher-bearers, though non-combatants, faced serious danger while carrying out their work.

(Total for Question 8 is 2 marks)

Describe two roles carried out by FANY members in support of the medical services on the Western Front.

(Total for Question 9 is 4 marks)

Give two reasons why organising medical personnel into a clear chain, with the RAMC, FANY, QAIMNS and VAD each having defined roles, made the evacuation of wounded soldiers more effective.

(Total for Question 10 is 4 marks)

Name two organisations, other than the Royal Army Medical Corps, that provided medical personnel or transport for wounded soldiers on the Western Front.

(Total for Question 11 is 2 marks)

How useful is Source A for an enquiry into the role of women in the medical services on the Western Front? Explain your answer, using Source A and your own knowledge of the historical context.

(Total for Question 12 is 8 marks)

How could you use Source A and Source B to find out about the organisation of medical personnel on the Western Front? Explain your answer, using Source A, Source B and your own knowledge.

(Total for Question 13 is 8 marks)

Source A suggests one possible line of enquiry into the work of FANY drivers on the Western Front. Complete the table to explain how you could follow this up.

(a)Detail in Source A that I would follow up:(1)

(b)Question I would ask:(1)

(c)What type of source I could use:(1)

(d)How this might help answer my question:(1)

(Total for Question 14 is 4 marks)

Explain why teamwork between the RAMC, FANY, QAIMNS and VAD was important to the success of the chain of evacuation on the Western Front.

(Total for Question 15 is 8 marks)

Mark scheme · EDX.WF5 The Western Front, 1914-18: The RAMC, FANY and the Personnel of the Chain of Evacuation

Question 1

B1 1898
Answer: 1898

Question 2

B1 FANY (the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry)
Answer: FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry)

Question 3

B1 QAIMNS (Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service)
Answer: QAIMNS (Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service)

Question 4

B1 VAD (the Voluntary Aid Detachment)
Answer: VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment)

Question 5

B1 four (accept usually four, sometimes more over very difficult ground)
Answer: Four

Question 6

B1 a relevant duty identified, e.g. giving basic first aid or applying dressings to a casualty
B1 developed with accurate detail, e.g. before or during the journey back to the Regimental Aid Post or Advanced Dressing Station
Answer: Giving basic first aid and applying dressings to a casualty before or during evacuation.

Question 7

B1 an ambulance (horse-drawn or motor ambulance)
Answer: Ambulance (horse-drawn or motor)

Question 8

B1 they often had to cross open or exposed ground under shellfire or sniper fire while carrying a casualty
B1 carrying a loaded stretcher meant they could not move quickly or take cover easily, unlike an armed soldier
Answer: They often had to cross exposed ground under fire, and carrying a loaded stretcher made it hard to move quickly or take cover.

Question 9

B1 role 1 identified, e.g. driving motor ambulances carrying wounded soldiers between stages of the chain of evacuation
B1 supporting detail for role 1, e.g. this often meant driving at night, on shelled or unlit roads, as shown in Source A
B1 role 2 identified, e.g. running mobile canteens for troops, or supporting nursing and administrative work near the front
B1 supporting detail for role 2, e.g. these roles freed trained medical staff to focus on treatment rather than transport and logistics
Answer: Any two roles, e.g. driving ambulances (often at night, on dangerous roads), and running canteens or supporting nursing/administrative work.

Question 10

B2 each stage had staff trained and equipped for a specific task (for example RAMC bearers close to the front, FANY and RAMC drivers for transport, QAIMNS nurses for skilled nursing), so casualties received the right kind of care at the right stage
B2 using volunteer organisations such as FANY and VAD for transport and support roles freed scarce trained medical staff, such as surgeons and qualified nurses, to focus on the most serious cases
Answer: Defined roles meant casualties got the right care at each stage, and using volunteer organisations for transport/support freed trained staff for serious cases.

Question 11

B1 FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry)
B1 QAIMNS, or the VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment), or the British Red Cross
Answer: Any two of: FANY, QAIMNS, VAD, the British Red Cross.

Question 12

Level 1 (1-2): Makes a simple comment on the content of Source A, with little or no reference to its nature, origin or purpose, or to own knowledge.
Level 2 (3-4): Describes the content of Source A and begins to comment on its value, with limited reference to its nature, origin, purpose or own knowledge.
Level 3 (5-6): Analyses the content and the nature/origin/purpose of Source A, using own knowledge to support a developing judgement about how useful it is for the given enquiry.
Level 4 (7-8): Analyses the content and the nature/origin/purpose of Source A in a well-supported and convincing way, using precise own knowledge to reach a sustained judgement about how useful it is for the given enquiry, considering its limitations.
Indicative content:
- Content: Source A shows a FANY driver carrying out repeated night-time journeys between a Casualty Clearing Station and a railhead, transporting both stretcher and walking cases under difficult, dangerous conditions.
- Content: it shows the practical demands of the role, including driving on shelled and unlit roads and coordinating with RAMC orderlies at the railhead for onward transport by ambulance train.
- Nature/origin/purpose: as an account written to represent a FANY driver's diary, it reflects the kind of first-hand testimony historians use for women's wartime service, but because it is written for this pack rather than a genuine wartime diary, it cannot be used as direct primary evidence for a specific date, individual or unit.
- Own knowledge: contextual knowledge of FANY's foundation in 1907, its expanding role in ambulance driving from 1914, and the wider organisation of the chain of evacuation can be used to assess whether the account's content is consistent with verified historical accounts of the period.
- A full answer weighs the source's plausible, typical content, consistent with verified historical knowledge of FANY's work, against its limitations as illustrative rather than archival material, before reaching a judgement on its usefulness for the stated enquiry.

Question 13

Level 1 (1-2): Makes a simple comment on the content of one source, with little or no reference to using the sources together or to own knowledge.
Level 2 (3-4): Describes the content of both sources and suggests, in general terms, what each could be used to find out.
Level 3 (5-6): Explains what Source A and Source B could each be used to find out, and begins to explain how they could be used together, supported by own knowledge.
Level 4 (7-8): Explains clearly and convincingly what Source A and Source B could be used to find out both separately and together, supported throughout by precise own knowledge of the historical context.
Indicative content:
- Source A shows the lived, practical experience of one type of role (a FANY ambulance driver) within the chain of evacuation, which could be used to investigate what that specific job actually involved.
- Source B shows the overall pattern of which organisations and personnel worked at each stage of the chain, which could be used to investigate how the different roles fitted together as a system.
- Used together, Source A's individual experience and Source B's overall structure could be used to investigate how far one driver's account of moving casualties from a Casualty Clearing Station to a railhead matched the general pattern of transport roles described in Source B.
- Own knowledge could be used to check both sources against what is known about the RAMC, FANY, QAIMNS and VAD, including when each was founded and what roles they typically carried out.
- A full answer explains what each source could be used to investigate, and how using them together allows a more complete enquiry than either source alone, while noting that both are illustrative rather than genuine archival material.

Question 14

(a) B1 a relevant detail identified, e.g. the driver made several runs in a single night, carrying both stretcher cases and walking wounded, and mentions the ambulance's engine needing more maintenance than there was time for
(a) Answer: The driver made several runs in a single night and mentions that the ambulance needed more maintenance than there was time to give it.
(b) B1 a follow-up question that clearly relates to the chosen detail, e.g. how often did FANY ambulances break down or need repair, and how did this affect the movement of casualties
(b) Answer: How often did FANY ambulances break down or need repair, and what effect did this have on moving casualties?
(c) B1 an appropriate type of source named, e.g. FANY unit logbooks or vehicle maintenance records from the period
(c) Answer: FANY unit logbooks or vehicle maintenance records from the period.
(d) B1 a clear explanation linking the source type to the question, e.g. logbooks would record how often vehicles broke down and how long repairs took, showing whether the strain described in Source A was typical
(d) Answer: Logbooks would record how often vehicles broke down and how long repairs took, showing whether the strain described in Source A was typical.

Question 15

Level 1 (1-2): Identifies one or two general reasons why teamwork mattered, with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (3-4): Identifies and begins to explain one reason, supported by accurate detail.
Level 3 (5-6): Explains two reasons why teamwork between these organisations was important, each supported by accurate and relevant detail.
Level 4 (7-8): Explains two or more reasons in a well-developed, logically structured way, supported throughout by precise and accurate detail, showing how the reasons connect.
Indicative content:
- RAMC stretcher-bearers and Regimental Medical Officers gave rapid first aid close to the front line, but could not move casualties all the way back to safety themselves, so transport organisations such as FANY were essential to carry the process forward.
- FANY and RAMC ambulance drivers moved casualties between stages, including the difficult and dangerous journey shown in Source A, which meant surgeons at Casualty Clearing Stations received casualties who might otherwise have died before treatment.
- QAIMNS trained nurses provided skilled nursing care that RAMC doctors alone could not have delivered to every patient, while VAD volunteers supported this work, particularly at Base Hospitals, allowing scarce trained staff to focus on the most serious cases.
- Without this division of labour between organisations, either scarce trained medical staff would have been overstretched covering every role, or casualties would have faced even longer delays reaching treatment, increasing the risk of death from blood loss, shock or infection.
- Overall, the RAMC, FANY, QAIMNS and VAD worked as a coordinated system, each providing a different, necessary part of the process, which made the chain of evacuation as a whole more effective than any one organisation could have been alone.

The Western Front, 1914-18: The RAMC, FANY and the Personnel of the Chain of Evacuation - Worksheets, Questions and Revision