TOPIC:

Arthur Oliver Bird Wroughton

2 X M.I.D.; D.S.O. M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.

Captain, 2nd Bearer Company, 2nd Brigade (Hildyard’s), Royal Army Medical Corps
Medical Officer, Burgher Camps Department, Transvaal – Anglo Boer War
Major & Officer Commanding, No. 3 Advanced Depot of Medical Stores
Colonel & Officer Commanding, Convalescent Camp at Le Havre, Royal Army Medical Corps - WWI

- Distinguished Service Order GVR
- Queens South Africa Medal (Cape Colony, Tugela Heights, Orange Free State, Relief of Ladysmith, Transvaal, Laing’s Nek) to Capt. A.O.B. WROUGHTON. R.A.M.C.
- Kings South Africa Medal (South Africa 1901 &1902) to Capt. A.O.B. WROUGHTON. R.A.M.C.
- 1914 Star with 5TH AUG -22ND NOV.1914 clasp to MAJOR A.O.B. WROUGHTON. R.A.M.C.
- British War Medal to LT.COL. A.O.B. WROUGHTON
- Victory Medal with M.I.D. Oakleaf to LT.COL. A.O.B. WROUGHTON

Arthur Wroughton was born on October 29, 1872 in India, the son of Colonel William Nesbitt Wroughton and his wife Morgiana Charlotte Bird, daughter of General John Francis Bird. At the time of his birth the family were living at Douindale in Lower Bengal where Wroughton senior was a Captain in the Madras Army.


At the time of his nuptials in 1905

Wroughton was educated privately before studying medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospital where he qualified M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. in 1898. He then held house appointments at St Bartholomew’s before entering the Royal Army Medical Corps where he was commissioned, as a Surgeon on probation, to be a Lieutenant. (LG 21 February 1899) Later that year he sailed for South Africa for his baptism in a theatre of war – the Anglo Boer War between the two Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal against the might of imperial Britain.

Wroughton had a busy war. Posted to the Natal theatre, he was present at the action at Colenso on 15 December 1899 where, in his first attempt to relieve the beleaguered garrison of Ladysmith, General Sir Redvers Buller failed miserably. Operating with No.2 Bearer Company, Royal Army Medical Corps he was attached to the 2nd Brigade under Major General Hilyard. Hildyard and his men, comprised chiefly of the 2nd Queen’s West Surrey Regiment; the 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment; the 2nd Devonshire Regiment and the 2nd East Surrey Regiment, were tasked with forcing the main drift by the demolished Colenso railway bridge and the road bridge.

In the centre of the advance, they had the crucial role of launching an attack through Colenso across the Tugela. For unexplained reasons instead of leaving camp at 4am Hildyard did not move until 7am by which time Hart and Long were already in trouble, having been led into the infamous “loop” by an errant native guide. Buller told Hildyard to send forward two battalions to try and extricate Long’s guns with an attack against Colenso. The 2nd Queen’s and 2nd Devons advanced, this time in open order, and made considerable progress, moving into Colenso and even onto the road bridge over the river. Hildyard had made much progress but Buller lost his nerve along with his guns and sent orders to Hildyard to withdraw the two battalions from Colenso.

The men now retraced their weary footsteps to the camp at Frere where Wroughton’s skills as a Surgeon would have been put to good use among the wounded.


A typical operating theatre

Having recovered his will to fight and been able to add reinforcements to his numbers, Buller planned his second (and equally disastrous) attempt to liberate Ladysmith. On this occasion Spioenkop was to be crested, clearing the way to the town. History tells us that the British troops, after three days of skirmishing (Spioenkop was a four day affair) arrived at the top of the mountain only to realise that they had been deceived by their intelligence – they weren’t at the top but on a plateau beneath the real summit and, once the early morning fog had dissipated, were subjected to a withering fire from the Boers clustered above them.

There was no where to run and even less place to hide as the ground was predominantly shale and very difficult to dig anything resembling a trench with the rough tools they had to hand. Men were mown down in swathes and it was only the onset of evening when the retreat was sounded that allowed them to crawl back down to the safety of the camp below.

Once again Wroughton would have had his work cut out severing mangled limbs and performing all the necessary operations required to patch up men who were wounded.

Shadowing Buller’s army’s movements through Natal, Wroughton was again in action at Vaalkrantz from the 5th to the 7th February 1900 where Buller, managing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, once again withdrew his men when they were poised for victory against a Boer force which had been virtually shelled into oblivion and were streaming away from the battle.



He was on the spot in the operations at Tugela Heights between 14 and 27 February and, finally, was at Pieter’s Hill, the last decisive action which, with Buller finally triumphant, paved the way into Ladysmith on the 1 March 1900 to be welcomed by an emaciated and skeletal army thronging the streets to welcome the liberators in.

What now followed was a period of rest and recuperation for a relieving army which had been tested to the limits both physically and mentally. It took Buller several weeks before he felt that his men were sufficiently rested that he could continue the pursuit of the Boers with the aim of expelling them from Natal.

In May 1900 his ponderous army were on the move again, through the Biggarsberg and onto Dundee and Newcastle. Along the way they fought the last battle on Natal soil – that of Laing’s Nek from the 6th to the 9th June 1900. Here they prevailed and the Boers fled, in a most ungainly fashion, over the pass and back into the Transvaal – pursued more vigorously by Buller, it has to be said, this time round. Wroughton had, in the meanwhile after the Laing’s Nek action, fallen ill and was sent down to No. 7 General Hospital at Estcourt for treatment. Once recovered he stayed on their staff for a short but undetermined period.

Having recovered and having entered the Transvaal, Wroughton now parted company with the Natal Field Force (as it became known) and headed for Pretoria, recently entered by Lord Roberts in June 1900. Here he became attached to No. 7 General Hospital again – it had moved from Estcourt in Natal where its services were no longer needed and had relocated to Pretoria. A 692 bed affair, it commenced operations in Pretoria from 9 November 1900 until the cessation of hostilities on 31 May 1902.


The old IY Hospital near Pretoria

On 5 January 1902 he was posted to No. 22 General Hospital in Pretoria – this was the old Imperial Yeomanry Branch Hospital of 520 beds.

But Wroughton’s operational stay in South Africa during the Anglo Boer War wasn’t only confined to Hospitals. He was also appointed a Medical Officer, under the Burgher Camps Department, Transvaal. He was stationed for a while at Belfast, the scene, the previous year, of the bloody battle of Bergendal.

In 1901 Kendal Franks wrote this report about the Belfast Refugee Camp. At the time of writing Wroughton was in charge of the refugee hospital situated in the Transvaal Hotel, in the town of Belfast, though he also took an active interest in the camp hospital.

BELFAST - August 24th, 1901.

I visited this camp on August 24th, 1901. It is distant about two miles from the railway station. In the middle of the town is a large clear space sloping downwards towards the north, upon which one division of the camp, composed of 60 tents, is pitched. Somewhat to the west of this is another good vacant site, upon which the second division of the camp is located; this consists of 50 bell tents. More to the north-west again is a large, healthy area, with the late Landrost's Court on one side and the gaol on the other, where it is proposed to pitch a third division of the camp as soon as possible. There are 1,399 refugees in Belfast, of which 239 occupy the tents in No. 1 Camp, of which 203 occupy the tents in No. 2 Camp, and the remainder, 957, are accommodated in the houses and stores in the town. Of these 1,399 refugees, 210 are men, 517 women, and 672 children. The town and camp are surrounded by blockhouses; the people have perfect freedom within the circle of these blockhouses and move about where they like. The town and camp are out of bounds to the military, and a strict watch is kept that no soldier makes his way within the circle of blockhouses. There are no police, burgher or military, employed in the camp, and they apparently are not needed.

All the officers connected with the camp seem to me to be as capable, energetic, and thoroughgoing as any I have yet met, and there seems to be a most excellent spirit, permeating this camp between the people and the several officers. The Superintendent, the doctor, the schoolmaster, and the matron of the hospital seem to have gained, not only the confidence but the affection of the refugees in this town, albeit the discipline is as strict as any I have met with in any of the camps.

The Superintendent is Mr David Murray. The camp was started on June 4th, and the manner in which the camp was laid out, and the tents pitched is deserving of the highest praise. There is as yet no camp matron here. Mrs Du Pries (Du Preez), a Dutch lady, whose husband is still on commando, is acting for the present as camp matron, and visits the tents. The people report to her cases of illness; she makes a list and goes round with the doctor. This has worked fairly well up to the present, because the camp has been small; but for many reasons it would be better for a regularly appointed camp matron, experienced and properly trained, to take charge of the entire camp, with probationers under her.

There is an inspector over the camp, Mr Coetzee. He is a lay preacher, and has much influence with Boers in camp. He visits the houses and tents to see that they are kept clean and in order. It is proposed to adopt a system here which the Superintendent says has proved most effective in Barberton. If it is reported to the Superintendent that a tent or its inmates are not clean, the names of the delinquents are to be posted in the rations tent, where all, when they go for their supplies, can see it. The force of the public opinion has been proved to be sufficient to cause a reformation. It is the duty also of the inspector to look after the latrines; this has proved to be one of the most difficult duties to perform in the camp, in spite of the fact that the refugees here are middle-class people, and come from well-to-do dorps. The women show no delicacy of feeling in this matter.

The water supply for this camp is derived from wells. There are four wells in camp No. 1 and three in camp No. 2; the water seems very good, but samples have been sent to Pretoria for analysis, and the results have not yet been received. There are no cases of enteric in the hospital or outside it, and very little sickness in the camp. The rations here are the same as in the other camps. The supplementary ration of rice has been issued during the past fortnight; the rice having been brought up from Delagoa Bay.

It is a well-known custom with the Boers to keep coffins ready for use in their houses, a wise precaution considering the hot climate and the isolated condition of many of the farmhouses. Two old Boers who came into camp brought their coffins with them and propped them up against the outside of their tents. They were removed to a place of safety by order of the Superintendent.

The building in the town which was formerly the Transvaal Hotel has been converted into a hospital. The officer in charge of the hospital and of the camp is Dr Wroughton, R.A.M.C. He is also in charge of the military stationed at Belfast Station. He has taken very great interest in the hospital in the camp, and has brought it to a great state of efficiency. I think, however, that there is too much work for him to attend to the camp as well. I would recommend that a civil medical officer be sent here to live in and take charge of the camp, but that the hospital, where Dr Wroughton has done such good work, be left in his charge as heretofore. The rooms in the hospital make excellent wards. There are 35 beds, all supplied with wire wove mattresses. Dr Wroughton has borrowed some of these from the military hospital, where they were not being used, to relieve the pressure in the camp hospital. There were 34 patients in the hospital when I visited it, many of them being measles. Some of the very small children were put two in a bed, one at each end.

The matron of the hospital is Sister Herbst, under her are two trained nurses, one for day work and one for night. One of these, Sister Lambart, who has had much experience as a district nurse in the slums of Sydney and Melbourne, the Superintendent considers would make a most excellent camp matron. He is very anxious that another nurse should be sent up from Pretoria to work in the hospital to take Sister Lambart's place, so that the latter should be set free to undertake the duty of camp matron. I think this would be a wise step to take.

The number of sick in hospital when I visited it was 34, the average number for each week in July was 20, and for each week in August was 30, this increase being entirely due to the epidemic of measles. The total number of deaths in the hospital has been five; four occurred in July, and one from pneumonia, one from bronchitis, one from measles, and one from membranous croup. Only one death occurred in August up to the 23rd from an extensive burn. Altogether 75 patients have been admitted to the hospital.

(Signed) KENDAL FRANKS.

The Monthly Report, September, by Superintendent Murray of the Burgher Camp at Belfast dated October 5, 1901 read, partially, as follows:

“Hospital. – I am glad to say that this department is as well managed and as popular as ever. Dr Wroughton, R.A.M.C., is in charge, and is ably assisted by matron (Sister Herbst]) who seems to have won the confidence of the refugees, two nursing sisters and five probationers. There have been 44 admissions during September. The total number of deaths for the month has been 15, six of whom were admitted during August, and nine in September. There are at present in the hospital 13 in the general ward, and seven in the measles ward. I attach the doctor's report.”

From what was written above it was evident that Wroughton was not only highly efficient and highly thought of but that he also had the affection of the camp inmates as well – no mean feat given the hostility that prevailed in these camps.

Wroughton, promoted to Captain on 28 January 1902, soldiered on until the last shot was fired in anger in the war before sailing back to England. From 1903 until 1908 he served in India, where he began to specialise in Dermatology, returning home to wed Roberta Stenhouse Stenhouse at St Matthew’s in Redhill in the Parish of Reigate on 23 August 1905. Roberta was the second daughter of Major General William Stenhouse, India Army. At 33 years of age she was a year older than Wroughton. Their addresses at the time of their nuptials were, respectively, 33 De Pays Avenue Bedford and Highfield Lodge, 64 London Road.

On October 28th, 1910 he was promoted to Major but, on account of persistent ill health he was reduced to half pay on 20 March 1911 – a difficult time for him and his wife. Stationed at Canterbury Barracks, he was called on as a witness in what the Whitstable Times & Herne Bay Herald of 4 November 1911 called “Young Soldiers Tragic Death at Canterbury Barracks.” A young Royal Engineers Corporal, Robert Howard, had committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with his rifle, death resulting instantaneously and an inquest had been convened.

“Arthur Oliver Bird Wroughton, Surgeon Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps, stationed at Canterbury, said that at 9.15 an orderly came to his house and said a man had shot himself at the Barracks. Witness was just leaving for his ordinary morning work on his bicycle and got to the Barracks at 9.23. He went straight to B Block Artillery Barracks and saw body of deceased lying in front of the fireplace. He was fully dressed. His head was in a pool of blood, and there was a lot of blood on the face. Witness flet his pulse and listened to his heart, but of course there was no sound. There was a large wound in the back of the head, and there were some pieces of bone on the floor nearby.”

A verdict of Suicide during Temporary Insanity was returned.

After this Wroughton was restored to full pay in September 1912 but, ere long, the war clouds hanging over Europe burst resulting in hostilities being declared by Imperial Germany and Great Britain on 4 August 1914. Wroughton was stationed in Maidstone when that day dawned and, immediately travelling to Woolwich, he formed No. 3 Advanced Depot of Medical Stores of which he was the Officer Commanding. The unit was mobilised on 12 August 1914 and, having sailed from Southampton aboard the S.S. Clement at 9 p.m. on 17 August, Wroughton entered the theatre of war at Rouen on 19 August 1914.


the No.4 Convalescent Depot can be clearly seen on this map.

On 30 November 1914 Wroughton handed over command of the Medical Stores Depot at St Omer to Major D.L. Harding thereby severing ties with the unit. On 1 March 1915 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and placed in command of a No. 4 Convalescent Depot at Le Havre. Although dubbed “convalescent camps” the men who were admitted were subjected to a rigorous round of drill, physical exercise and route marches on an almost daily basis. This was finished off by lectures on soldierly etiquette and, with Wroughton presenting, lectures on the evils of venereal disease among other subjects deemed pertinent to the inmates. The War Diaries of this Depot show that he was in charge until the end of May 1918 at which he point he handed over command and was posted to India. Whilst with the Convalescent Depot he was twice Mentioned in Dispatches for valuable services rendered – on 1 January 1916 and on 24 December 1917.

There was, initially, doubt as to whether or not Wroughton was eligible for the award of the clasp to his 1914 Star but common sense prevailed and he was awarded the emblems after the necessary motivation had been provided. That his medals reached him at all is a miracle – they were first to be sent to 36 Waterloo Road, Bedford, thereafter to D.A.D.M.S. (Distribution), India and, finally, c/o Holt & Co., 3 Whitehall Place, S.W.1.

The second address above refers to where Wroughton was posted to – he served in the capacity of Deputy Assistant Director of Medical Service (Personnel) based at the Army Headquarters in Simla. Leaving there in 1923 he returned to England and was placed in command of the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital in Cosham, later returning to India. On 15 February 1926 he gained promotion to the rank of Colonel in which rank he remained until his retirement was announced in the Government Gazette of 4 June 1929 – at which point he was the Assistant Director of Medical Service in the Meerut District.

Wroughton returned to the United Kingdom to enjoy his retirement. He passed away at 14 Southfields Road, Eastbourne on 31 December 1957. His obituary, which appeared in the January 25th, 1958 issue of the British Medical Journal, carried no additional information that what has already been imparted above.

At the age of 85 and after a lifetime of service and dedication to his profession and his country he had answered the final call.

Acknowledgements:

- “Further Papers Relating to the Working of the Refugee Camps" (Cd. 853, HMSO, London, 1901). Superintendent David Murray’s report.
- "Reports, &c., on the Working of the Refugee Camps" (Cd. 819, HMSO, London, 1901). Kendall Franks
- British Medical Journal
- Members of the Great War Forum especially David Owen and JMRH.
- R.A.M.C. website for obituary

Rory, great story, thanks. Just a minor remark. You write "and headed for Pretoria, recently liberated by Lord Roberts in June 1900". To me this reads like "and headed for Salzburg, recently liberated by Adolf Hitler in March 1938"

Hi Everhard - I have changed the word "liberated" to "entered"