Faithful in Adversity (Hardback)
The Royal Army Medical Corps in the Second World War
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Pages: 339
Illustrations: 32
ISBN: 9781526749550
Published: 16th September 2019
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On 28 September 1945, Field Marshal Montgomery expressed his ‘admiration and high regard to a corps whose contribution to victory has been beyond all calculation’.
The Royal Army Medical Corps was active during all engagements in the Second World War. From the defeat in Norway in 1940 to the hell of Dunkirk and the fall of France, from the chaos of the retreat through Greece and Crete to the war’s turning point in the vast deserts of North Africa, from deep into West and East Africa to the ferocious combat of the Burma campaign, from the intensity of D-Day and the Normandy campaign to the reverses at Arnhem and the eventual liberation of the German death camps and Far East prison camps, RAMC personnel were frequently at the heart of the action, risking their lives to provide medical support to a mobile army in a highly mechanised war. For those taken prisoner by the enemy, maintaining the physical and psychological well-being of their fellow captives became an urgent necessity whilst for a small number of exceptionally brave and hardy souls, attachment to commando units saw them provide medical support for some of the most daring raids of the war. Nearly 3,000 RAMC doctors and orderlies were killed during the war as a result of enemy action or exposure to dangerous tropical diseases.
Using previously unpublished archival material and personal family papers, this book sheds fresh light on the experience of the regulars, volunteers and conscripts who gave expression to the motto of the RAMC: Faithful in Adversity.
Faithful in Adversity: The Royal Army Medical Corps in the Second World War is a wide ranging survey of the many different challenges faced when treating the wounded in World War II. Each theatre of the war is considered using numerous personal accounts from private diaries, letters and official accounts. An excellent single volume overview.
WW2 Today
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Using previously unpublished archival material and personal family papers, this book sheds fresh light on the experience of the regulars, volunteers and conscripts who gave expression to the motto of the RAMC: Faithful in Adversity.
In the Footsteps
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This publication is littered with personal messages sent to and from the prison camps. This book will be of interest to those who are not only military, but also those who are medically minded. The result is a well written and informative book about one man’s father and his experiences during the Second World War.
Armorama
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The formation of the RAMC before the start of WWI revolutionized medical care for British troops and WWII was to see this corps expand and make further significant advances in combat medical care. This thoroughly researched work tells a story that has long been taken for granted – Most Highly Recommended.
Firetrench
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Nearly 3,000 RAMC personnel lost their lives during the fighting and this book is a testament to them.
Army Rumour Service (ARRSE)
A book I will read again and again.
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Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon Customer, Richard Domoney-Saunders
Of all the books I have read on medics in the war this has to be the best one around.
The book itself has been very well reaserched and written in an I formative but easy to read way which ensures that the author gets the details in but also doesn't bog the reader down.
In terms of theatres of operation, this books covers all areas of the war which makes it different from the rest.
All in all this is the only book you need on your shelf that tells the story of the RAMC.
Using much previously unpublished material from public and private family archives, this book charts the story of those who remained true to the motto of the RAMC: Faithful in Adversity.
Bookseller Buyers Guide
This is a fine account of the RAMC in WW2 which follows the service of a number of individuals supported by sources from family archives. Their service is interwoven with the general narrative of the RAMC working in inevitably difficult and challenging conditions on all battle fronts in WW2.
Michael McCarthy
Michael McCarthy. Battlefield Guide
About John Broom
After graduating in History from the University of Sheffield in the early 1990s, JOHN BROOM pursued a career in teaching, firstly in his chosen subject and latterly with children with autism. He has been awarded a PhD on Christianity in the British Armed Services by the University of Durham. John has a wide-ranging knowledge and interest in social, sporting, industrial and military history, and is the author of eight published books: Cricket in the First World War: Play Up! Play the Game (Pen & Sword, 2022), Cricket in the Second World War: The Grim Test (Pen & Sword, 2021), Reported Missing in the Great War: 100 years of searching for the truth (Pen & Sword, 2020); Faithful in Adversity: The Royal Army Medical Corps in the Second World War (Pen & Sword, 2019); Opposition to the Second World War: Conscience, Resistance and Service in Britain, 1933–45 (Pen & Sword, 2018); A History of Cigarette and Trade Cards (Pen & Sword, 2018); Fight the Good Fight: Voices of Faith from the Second World War (Pen & Sword, 2016); Fight the Good Fight: Voices of Faith from the First World War (Pen & Sword, 2015).
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