original name. At the same time the officers of the Medical Staff took complete command over the personnel of the Medical Staff Corps, and their uniform was assimilated to that of the latter. Eventually, after considerable agitation on the part of the medi- cal profession, Lord Lansdowne, then Secretary of State for War, announced, at a banquet given by the Lord Mayor of London on May 4 1898 to the medical profession, that the Medical Staff and the Medical Staff Corps in future would be consolidated into one corps, namely the Royal Army Medical Corps (R.A.M.C.), with military ranks and titles from private to colonel similar to those of other branches of the army. The ranks above colonel, however, retained the title of surgeon-general until 1918, when this title was abolished and replaced by that of major-general or lieutenant-general.
PEACE ORGANIZATION
Administration. The director-general of the Army Medical Service is the administrative head. He has the rank of lieuten- ant-general. His office is a branch of the adjutant-general's department at the War Office. He is not, however, a member of the Army Council, but may be required to attend council meetings when his advice is desired on any special subject. His staff consists of a deputy director-general, who is a major- general, eight officers of the rank of colonel, lieutenant-colonel or major (some of whom hold temporary appointments only con- sequent on the World War) as assistant and deputy assistant directors-general, and colonels-on-the-staff or major-generals as directors of hygiene and pathology. The directors of hygiene and pathology have deputy directors, assistant directors and deputy-assistant directors of hygiene and pathology as assist- ants in their directorates. The administration of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (Q.A.I. M.N.S.) also forms a branch of the director-general's office under the matron-in-chief assisted by two principal matrons and a nursing sister. In 1921 an inspector of dental services was added to the director-general's staff on the formation of an Army Dental Corps, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
The director-general's administration is assisted by an in- spector of medical services, who is either a colonel or major- general of the Army Medical Service. He visits all stations at home and overseas with a view to maintaining a uniform stand- ard of training and efficiency. He reports to the adjutant-general.
In all commands at home and overseas the director-general is represented by deputy-directors and assistant-directors of medical services. In some of the smaller garrisons the senior executive medical officer acts in an administrative capacity without being graded as a deputy or assistant director. The staff of these administrative offices varies according to the size and importance of the command or the conditions under which troops are serving. Thus in the small garrisons in the tropics where medical research is of importance there is a deputy assist- ant director of hygiene and pathology, although the administra- tion may be in the hands of a senior medical officer only. In India there is a special administration for the Army Medical and Indian Medical Service. Officers of the latter, when employed on military duties, are under the administration of a director of medical services, who is a major-general or lieutenant-general of the Army Medical Service, but the administrative appoint- ments of the subordinate military commands in India may be held either by Army Medical or Indian Medical deputy directors and assistant directors. In war establishments there is a direc- tor of medical services in the headquarters of each army, a deputy director with each corps and an assistant director with each division. On their staffs are representatives of the direc- tors of hygiene and pathology and other assistants.
Advisory Boards. Connected with Army Medical administration there are several advisory boards or committees composed of military and civil members. An Army Medical Advisory Board advises on general professional questions. It is presided over by the director-general and its members are two consulting physicians, two consulting surgeons, the medical officer of the India Office and an officer of the Royal Army Medical Corns. An Army Hygiene Advisory Committee is presided over by the director of hygiene. Its members include an officer of the Royal Engineers (R.E.) and
of the Royal Army Service Corps (R.A.S.C.), and military and civil sanitary experts. An Army Pathology Advisory Committee under the director of pathology is similarly composed of military and civil pathologists of eminence who deal with technical questions connected with research into the causes of disease. Queen Alex- andra's Army Nursing Board, of which Queen Alexandra is president and the director-general chairman, is composed of the matrons-in- chief of Q.A.I. M.N.S. and Territorial Force Nursing Service, of matrons of some of the large civil hospitals and of ladies nominated by the president. There is also a Technical Advisory Committee on Voluntary Aid under the director-general. It is composed of repre- sentatives of the War Office, British Red Cross Society, Scottish Branch of the Red Cross Society, the council of County Territorial Force Associations, and the St. John and St. Andrew's Ambulance Associations. These boards and committees meet at the War Office. Personnel. The personnel of the Army Medical Service consists of officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the R.A.M.C. regular, special reserve, and territorial force, and of the Army Dental Corps, together with the affiliated nursing services of the regular army and territorial force, and the voluntary organiza- tions recognized by the British Government under Article 10 of the Geneva Convention of 1906. The ranks of officers and men are the same as for other branches of the service. Officers and other ranks of the regular R.A.M.C. are under an obligation to serve in all parts of the world in peace or war: but only the officers serve in India, where the duties of subordinate ranks are carried out by a special Indian establishment consisting of an Indian Subordinate Medical Service, an Army Hospital Corps and an Army Bearer Corps. The members of the last two are natives of India. The members of the Indian Subordinate Medical Service are Indian- born British or natives of India educated in Indian medical schools. The higher grades rank as commissioned officers and the lower as warrant officers. The special reserve is organized on a militia basis and serves on embodiment under the same conditions as the regular Royal Army Medical Corps. The Territorial Force R.A.M.C. is organized for war purposes only. It has a general list of officers for service with regimental and medical units, a special list for territorial force general hospitals ; and another for sanitary services. The rank and file of the regular R.A.M.C. are formed into com- panies, of which in 1921 there were 35, in addition to four depot companies. Eleven of the companies had their headquarters in overseas garrisons. Both at home and overseas the headquarters of R.A.M.C. companies are at one or other of the larger military hospitals. They provide detachments for smaller hospitals and general duty. The number in each company varies in accordance with local requirements. The normal peace establishment of the regular R.A.M.C. on the active list is approximately 1,100 officers and 3,800 other ranks, but this is greatly expanded in time of war by calling up reserves of every description. During the World War it had expanded to some 15,000 officers and 120,000 other ranks, in the case of officers chiefly by granting temporary commissions to mem- bers of the civil profession.
Training. The depot for training the regular R.A.M.C. is at Aldershot. Territorial Force R.A.M.C. are trained in a school of instruction in each of 12 territorial divisions by officers of the regular R.A.M.C., who act as adjutants of the schools. There is a R.A.M. College in London, where officers of the regular R.A.M.C., both on joining and before promotion to major, undergo a course of instruction in military hygiene, tropical diseases and other pro- fessional subjects. Training in field duties is carried out in the form of staff tours, camps of instruction and medical manoeuvres. Train- ing in sanitation is carried out in an army school of hygiene at Aldershot and in schools of hygiene established in commands.
Military Hospitals. Military hospitals are established in all commands at home and abroad. They vary in size from large gen- eral hospitals, such as the Royal Victoria hospital at Netley with over 1,000 beds, to small depot hospitals and detention wards in outlying posts. The number of beds normally maintained in peace- time in the United Kingdom is approximately seven thousand. In ' the World War this number expanded to more than 364,000; or, including beds in all theatres of war, to over 640,000.
Medical Stores. An Army Medical Store is maintained at Wool- wich for the supply of medical and surgical material and equipment to all garrisons at home and overseas, with the exception of India, which has its own stores. Supplies are obtained by contract from manufacturing firms. They are distributed through the central stores at Woolwich.
WAR ORGANIZATION
The organization of the Army Medical Service for war does not come into existence until mobilization is ordered. Medical units, the equipment for which is maintained in mobilization stores, are then brought into being by the assembly of personnel, material and transport at places of mobilization assigned to each unit. Three zones of medical work are recognized : The collecting zone, the evacuating zone, and the distributing zone. In these zones there are medical services for the collection, transport and treatment of sick and wounded, for the supply of medical
