New Zealand Medical Corps

An advanced New Zealand dressing station on the Western Front

Field Ambulance

A Field Ambulance was not a vehicle but a front-line unit of around 250 personnel which treated men injured in battle. Stretcher bearers (including bandsmen) collected men from the battlefield and carried them to first-aid posts near the front lines, where they were treated by regimental medical officers. Those requiring further treatment were transported via casualty clearing stations to hospitals behind the lines.

A Field Ambulance company was attached to each New Zealand infantry brigade and the Mounted Rifles Brigade throughout the war.

Name	Unit attached to	Campaigns	Dates	Further information
New Zealand Mounted Rifles Field Ambulance	New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade	Gallipoli, 1915 Sinai, 1916 Palestine, 1917–18	Aug 1914–Jun 1919	Unit diaries at Archives New Zealand Unit diaries at Australian War Memorial
New Zealand Field Ambulance No. 1	New Zealand Medical Corps, August 1914–February 1916; 1st New Zealand Infantry Brigade, April 1916–February 1919	Gallipoli, 1915 Western Front: Somme 1916 Messines 1917; Passchendaele 1917; Spring Offensive and Advance to Victory 1918.	Aug 1914– Feb 1919	Unit diaries at Archives New Zealand
New Zealand Field Ambulance No. 2	New Zealand Medical Corps, December 1915–February 1916; 2nd New Zealand Infantry Brigade, April 1916–March 1919	Western Front: Somme 1916 Messines 1917; Passchendaele 1917; Spring Offensive and Advance to Victory 1918.	Dec 1915–Mar 1919	Unit diaries at Archives New Zealand
New Zealand Field Ambulance No. 3	New Zealand Rifle Brigade	Western Front: Somme 1916 Messines 1917; Passchendaele 1917; Spring Offensive and Advance to Victory 1918.	Feb 1916– Feb 1919	Unit diaries at Archives New Zealand
New Zealand Field Ambulance No. 4	4th New Zealand Infantry Brigade	Western Front: Somme 1916 Messines 1917; Passchendaele 1917.	Mar 1917–Feb 1918	Unit diaries at Archives New Zealand

Sanitary Section

The Sanitary Section, part of the New Zealand Medical Corps, was responsible for maintaining sanitary conditions at the bases and towns behind the lines, including ensuring the cleanliness of water, disposal of waste, and disinfection of clothing and blankets.

The New Zealand and Australian Division formed a sanitary section on Gallipoli in September 1915. This was disbanded when the Division returned to Egypt in December 1915.

A Divisional Sanitary Section was formed in February 1916 as part of the newly-created New Zealand Division, with one officer and 25 other ranks. It served with the New Zealand Division on the Western Front, and was disbanded in March 1919.

Name	Unit attached to	Campaigns	Dates	Further information
Divisional Sanitary Section	New Zealand and Australian Division	Gallipoli, 1915	September–December 1915
New Zealand Sanitary Section	New Zealand Division, February 1916–April 1917; thereafter under corps command	Western Front: Somme 1916 Messines 1917; Passchendaele 1917; Spring Offensive and Advance to Victory 1918.	Feb 1916–Mar 1919

Badges, shoulder titles and puggarees

Cap and collar badges: The rod of Aesculapius with an entwined serpent within a laurel-wreath surmounted by a crown, with a scroll below reading ‘New Zealand Medical Corps’. Motto: Semper agens – semper quietus (Always effective – always calm).