Hospital Trains and Base Hospitals during WW1

My grandfather served as a physician in France in WW1.  I have traced him via Fold3.com From May 1918 through October 1918, when he became ill and was transported by ambulance to Evacuation Hospital #6 at Souilly, then by Hospital Train 66 to the Base Hospital in Limoges.  Morning Reports for the Hospital Train are for staff only.  Are there patient listings for either Hosptial Trains or Base Hospitals? 

Sometime between December of 1918 and February of 1919 he was assigned to 80th Division, either HQ or Medical Department.  Is there any way to access those records?

I would also like to find records for his time in the Medical Officer Training Corps at Ft Benjamin Harrison, Indiana from August to November 1917.

  •  

    Thank you for posting your question to History Hub!

    We suggest that you begin your search by contacting the National Archives in St. Louis for their OMPF.  Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) and individual medical reports for enlisted men of the U.S. Army who were separated from the service after October 1912 and prior to 1955 are in the custody of NARA's National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. In many cases where personnel records were destroyed in the 1973 fire, proof of service can be provided from other records such as morning reports, payrolls, and military orders, and a certificate of military service will be issued. You may apply online for this file at http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/.
    The Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR) has custody of the Records of the American Expeditionary Forces (World War I) (Record Group 120).  Military unit files among these records consist mostly of historical reports, operation reports, and unit journals.  The series Records of Divisions: Records of the 80th Division (entry P 1241-80) contains division level records as well as some records for the lower echelons.  These records are arranged hierarchically, therefore, identification of the specific unit (i.e., division, regiment, and battalion) and date of interest sare necessary before a search can be conducted. They do not include personnel information and do not have a name index to these records.  If you believe that your grandfather was in the medical department of the 80th Division, we also recommend the series Records of Medical Units and Offices of Infantry Divisions, 1917–1919 (entry NM-92 2144).  These records consists of records of chief surgeons, sanitary trains, field hospital companies and sections, and other medical units and offices of infantry division numbers 1 through 99. 
    Other series within the Records of the American Expeditionary Forces (World War I) that may assist with your research are Records of Hospital Trains, 1917-1919 (entry NM-92 2138).  These records consist of correspondence, rosters, and other reports relating to Hospital Trains.  There are officer patient listings within these records within the records of transport.  The series Records of Base Hospitals, 1917–1919 (entry NM-92 2130) contains records for base hospitals, which can contain patient lists.  However, there were multiple base hospitals in Limoges during World War I.  Upon searching further, it would seem that Base Hospital #28, #13, and #24 may be good starting points when searching within the patient lists.
    While we were able to locate records relating to Fort Benjamin Harrison, we unfortunately were unable to find any records that were specific to the Medical Officer Training Corps.  We were able to find a series that may assist you with your research, which is in custody of our St. Louis location.  The series Army Reserve Officer Training Camp Rosters, 1917–1919 within the Records of the National Archives and Records Administration (Record Group 64) contains reports and rosters pertaining to individuals appointed or recommended for retention in service, as well as reports to the Adjutant General.  You can contact the National Archives at St. Louis by email at stl.archives@nara.gov.
    We will be happy to make the records and their finding aids available to you or your representative in the Textual Research Room (Room 2000) here at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland. Please visit our website for information about visiting the National Archives in College Park, MD, including how to schedule a research visit.
    We invite you to continue the conversation with community members on History Hub, but should you have follow up questions for the staff at Archives II, please email us at archives2reference@nara.gov so that we can assist you further.

    We hope this assists you with your research!

    Sincerely,

    Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR)
    [RR2RR 23-65924-LN]
  • Thank you.  This has been very helpful.  It looks as though another trip to College Park is in order.  OMPF has confirmed that my grandfather's record was one of those destroyed. I have made fairly exhaustive research of the pertinent Morning Reports, but will continue on the other avenues you have suggested.

  • My Great Grandfather was also a physician that came out of Fort Benjamin Harrison after graduating medical school at Indiana University. He was assigned to the 62nd Hospital Train in France.  I am having issues finding his deployment records as well.  I can find up to where he was at Ft BH, and then nothing until he returned home.  Sounds like they at least served together at the fort.  My Great Grandfather’s name was Maj Clyde K Startzman

  • From the context of what you wrote, it appears you saw the above recommendations sent to me. I also received a comparable set of what can be found at the National Archives in College Park MD. Few of those have been digitized so would require a trip there. If those would be of interest, please let me know. Not mentioned above, but something I found very useful were the unit Morning Reports on Fold3, owned by Ancestry.com