November 1917 Part II

When I last left off, Jack had just been taken off the lines and invalided back to England due to acute appendicitis. After leaving the casualty clearing station, Jack would have been put on a transport and taken back to England. There he was admitted to the 1st Southern General Hospital in Birmingham on November 10th. By 1917 the 1st SGH had a capacity of 2400 beds. On November 17th, Jack was Struck off Strength from the 123rd Pioneer Battalion.



All though military hospitals could be upsetting places to be for the soldiers there, especially if one had lost a limb or the use of his legs, they were also seen as a refuge from the battlefield. After many months of living in trenches, a hospital must have seemed like a dream come true. Regular meals, clean sheets, baths, activities and leave to cities or towns, were all luxuries a soldier might not have experience in a while.

Jack was placed in Ward B1 and continued to recover from his surgery. Whether there were complications or Jack was just a slow healer, the Doctor noted that it was not till the 28th that the stitches were able to be removed and the surgical wound began to heal properly.

At the close of November, Jack still resided in the hospital, awaiting to be discharged and sent to one of the many convalescent hospitals in England.