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- 3rd Western General Hospital, Cardiff during the Great War -
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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
3rd Western General Hospital, Cardiff
The 3rd Western General Hospital was located in Cardiff with its Headquarters at Cardiff Royal Infirmary. The hospital quickly expanded and took over other buildings across the city and beyond, including Woolaston House (part of Newport Workhouse). It was also responsible for overseeing the Auxiliary Hospitals in the surrounding area. The hospital provided over 2500 military beds.
28th Nov 1914 Recovering
22nd Apr 1916 Feeling ill
4th April 1918 In hospital
7th April 1918 In hospital
10th April 1918 In hospitalIf you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
We are currently building a database of patients treated in this hospital, if you know of anyone who was treated here, please enter their details via this form
Patient Reports.
(This section is under construction)
Those known to have worked or been treated at
3rd Western General Hospital, Cardiff
during the Great War 1914-1918.
- Aynsley Royal Victor. Cpl.
- Bidwell George. Pte. (d.17th Nov 1918)
- Bradbury Ernie.
- Brimacombe Leslie. Pte.
- Clay Clement Cecil. Spr.
- Oakes Abraham. Sgt. (d.15th Jan 1918)
- West Harold Frederick. Cpl. (d.10th October 1918)
- Wilson Harry. Pte. (d.6th Jan 1919)
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List
Records of 3rd Western General Hospital, Cardiff from other sources.
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Want to know more about 3rd Western General Hospital, Cardiff?
There are:5 items tagged 3rd Western General Hospital, Cardiff available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
Pte. George Bidwell 5th Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers (d.17th Nov 1918)
George Bidwell was wounded on 25th of July 1918 and invalided home. He developed bronchitis during recovery and died in the Western General Hospital, Neath, Glamorganshire on 17th of November 1918. He was the son of Isaac and Sarah Bidwell, born in 1879 in Hesset, Bury St Edmunds. He had married Annie Debenham in 1899 and was living with his children James Edward (1902), Isaac (1904), Charles (1908) and Daisy 1910) in Clay Hall, Great Saxham. He worked as a hurdle maker on the estate. He enlisted in the 5th Suffolk Regiment in 1914 but transferred to the Northumberland Fusiliers.Malcolm Lennox
Pte. Leslie Brimacombe 42nd Btn.
My Great Grandfather, Leslie Brimacombe, served in France from 1915 to 1918. On the 5th of February 1918, in Lievin, France he was buried by a shell. His right foot was injured and developed gangrene. On 8th of June 1918, his right foot was amputated at the 3rd Western General Hospital in Cardiff.Anne Brimacombe
Cpl. Harold Frederick West 7th Btn. East Yorkshire Regiment (d.10th October 1918)
Harold West was the son of Frederick West of 71 Newland Avenue. Hull. He enlisted into 10th Btn East Yorkshire Regiment on 2nd of September 1914 aged 26 and was posted to the 8th East Yorks. He was then posted to the MEF embarking from Devonport on 8th of December 1915 for service in Egypt. He then moved to France arriving on 7th of March 1916, He was wounded by a shell fragment in the shoulder on 8th June 1916 and sent home to England to the Western General Hospital, Cardiff. He was posted back to France and moved to 1/4th East Yorks on 19th of September 1917. He was wounded again with a bullet to the left leg on 16th of March 1918 he was evacuated to England to the Southern General Hospital. After his wound had healed he was again sent back to France and to the 7th East Yorks on 23rd of August 1918.He was sadly killed with others on 10th of October 1918 just 32 days before the end of the war. He is buried in a cemetery at Neuvilly with 96 other service men. May they Rest in Peace their duty done.
Alan Henshall
Sgt. Abraham Oakes 7th Btn. Cheshire Regiment (d.15th Jan 1918)
Along with one of his brothers, Abraham Oakes was a professional soldier with a proud history of service. Upon completion of his Military career he joined the Sandbach Volunteers. On the outbreak of the South African war he became a member of the Baden Powel’s Mounted Police and served throughout that campaign. When the South Africa war was over Abraham returned to Sandbach and joined the Volunteers again, staying with them until they became the Territorials.
On the outbreak of the Great War the Territorials were called up to serve at Gallipoli, at Suvla Bay and in Egypt where he contracted Malaria and was invalided home in late 1917 and was placed in the Whitchurch Military Hospital where he died.
He was given a military funeral which was conducted by the Rev Armistead of Malpus with five members of the Cheshire Reserve Battalion acted as bearers. The Volunteers Band played the Dead March and a Firing Party from the Sandbach Section of the Volunteer Regiment under Lieutenant Ferrand fired three volleys over the grave. Buglers from the Reserve Battalion and two buglers from the Bradwall Training School Boys sounded the Last Post.
Carl Oakes
Cpl. Royal Victor Aynsley 54th Battalion
Roy Aynsley submitted his Enlistment application in the Australian Imperial Forcesin April 1916. On the 9th of June 1916 when he was 18 years old, Roy signed his attestation paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad. He was part of the 7th Reinforcements, 54th Battalion, AIF.On 6th of June 1916, Roy had undertaken a medical examination that listed his details as follows:
- Age: 18yrs 9 mths
- Height: 5ft 3 ½ in (161cm)
- Weight: 136lb (62kg)
- Complexion: Fresh
- Chest: 32 ½ in, 34 ½ in
- Eyes: Hazel 6/10, 6/10
- Hair: Brown
Roy completed his initial army training at the Australian Imperial Expeditionary Forces No.20 Musketry School at Liverpool in October 1916. On the 25th of October 1916, Roy embarked at Sydney on the HMAT Ascanius, bound for England. Roy disembarked in Davenport on 28th December 1916 and Marched into the 14th Training Battalion in Hurdcott, Wiltshire. Hurdcott was the site of a training facility for Australian and New Zealand troops. Roy was trained as a Lewis Gunner.
On the 14th of November 1917 Roy was transported from Southampton to France as a member of the 7th Reinforcements, 54th Battalion. He was taken on strength on the 22nd of November 1917. After Roy's arrival in France, his battalion was involved in numerous engagements between March 1918 and the end of the war in October 1918. Roy was wounded in action on the 1st of September 1918 during the attack on Peronne and the Anvil Wood engagement. He was shot in the hand and the right leg. Roy was admitted to an Line of Communication field hospital on the 2nd of September and had the bullet removed. He was then invalided to England on the 5th of September and admitted to the 3rd Western General Hospital for recovery on 6th of September 1918.
He took a furlough in London from the 12th to 28th of November 1918, by which time the war had ended. He departed Liverpool aboard the HMAT Nestor on the 12th of December. Roy arrived in Sydney on the 14th of February 1919.
He attended the Garrison Hospital at Victoria Barracks on the 18th of February 1919. Roy was discharged from the Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force with the Rank of Corporal on the 20th of March, 1919. On discharge there is a record of him availing of a free return train ticket to Parkes, in the central west of New South Wales, but no reason as to why. However, it is possible he was visiting Minnie Bell who was a nurse during those years. Records are scant during this period but it is known that Roy resumed his career at the Government Savings bank of NSW and was back in Katoomba at the time he married Minnie Bell on the 22nd of March 1922.
Arthur Aynsley
Pte. Harry Wilson 6th Btn. Duke of Wellingtons (West Riding Regiment) (d.6th Jan 1919)
Harry Wilson was born in Bradford in January 1880 to parents, Tom and Maggie Wilson. He joined the Army in 1900 and fought in South Africa. He rejoined the Army and fought in World War I. He died on 6th of Jan 1919 at Whitchurch Military Hospital in Cardiff. He is buried at Bowling Cemetery in Bradford.Evonne Randall
Spr. Clement Cecil Clay 2nd Special Company Royal Engineers
On 30th of July 1917, the eve of the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, I was digging in my garden in Reigate, Surrey when I noticed what I took to be an old crown coin sticking out of the pile of earth. Picking it up, it was obvious by the ribbon bar that it was a medal. A clean up under the tap and a Google later and it was identified as a First World War British War Medal. Or a Squeak as they are known. The edge was engraved 159514 RNR C.C.Clay R.E. Rather ironically, I was digging of all things, a drainage trench, in clay! Although my house was built in 1966 this wasn't the first time I'd dug up old stuff, mostly bottles and china but this was clearly important and belonged to another family. I needed to get it to them and still do. Hopefully, a reader might be able to help with this search. Starting the search with the Imperial War Museum's Lives of the First World War archive I matched the service number to Cecil Clement Clay, a Sapper with the Royal Engineers who had served with the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) and previously the Essex Regiment. Following census and military records it emerged that Clement was born to Frank and Elizabeth Clay on 19 May 1887. Frank was a solicitor's clerk and in 1891 they all resided in Ivanhoe Villa, 33 Princes Street, Chilvers Coton, Nuneaton. Clement had an older brother and sister, Sholto Evelyn and Mabel Constance Clay. By 1901, Elizabeth was widowed and Sholto was a clerk at the brickworks. By 1911 Elizabeth and Mabel were living together at 100 Edward Street, Nuneaton.Clement's military medal card, medical record and discharge papers were also located via the archive and it was a relief to see he had survived the war. He was also awarded the Victory Medal (the Wilfred), so I am on the lookout for this in the garden or maybe a family member still has that? That would be a fantastic reunion. The RNR were a tough bunch and were deployed ashore to Gallipoli and The Somme and were awarded no less than 12 Victoria Crosses during the war. Clement's documents disclose him as a Petroleum Worker However, a shocking truth was revealed in his medical papers. On 30th of March 1916 Clement was admitted to 3rd Western General Hospital, Cardiff suffering from Shell Gas. The cause was Premature explosion of one of our gas shells, Phosgene. After convalescing in Pontypridd, Clement was discharged to duty in May 1918. His final Discharge papers dated 11th of December 1919 cite defective vision and myalgia as being aggravated by service in last year. Having narrowed the search for Clement to Surrey in the archives, I finally found that an incorrectly registered death Cecil Clement Clay (sic) passed away 11th January 1973 in Reigate, aged 87, he was a survivor!
Maybe this information may one day ring a bell with a reader or family member. I would very much like to put his medal into the hand of a relative , this brave soldier more than earned it, as did they all.
John Griffiths-Colby
Ernie Bradbury Worcestershire Regiment
I have a letter from and photo from Ernie Bradbury sent to my great Aunt's sister, Jessie Reeves, written from the A 7 Ward, Ninian Park, 3rd Western General Hospital Cardiff. Date unknown. I am trying to find out who Ernie Bradbury was.Richard Vines
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