No. 2 New Zealand General Hospital
New Zealand Medical Corps
The Mount Felix Tapestry which focuses on this hospital, on show at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum in Dunedin.
Geography
LocationMount Felix, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England / United Kingdom
Coordinates51°23′12″N 0°25′32″W / 51.3866°N 0.4256°W / 51.3866; -0.4256
Organisation
TypeMilitary hospital
Affiliated universityNew Zealand Army Medical Service
History
Opened1915
Closed1920
Demolished1967

The No. 2 New Zealand General Hospital was a World War I military hospital in Walton-on-Thames, England. The hospital opened in 1915 by requisitioning the essentially 15th century Mount Felix estate, a grand house with gardens, and closed in 1920.[1][2][3][4]

It was the first hospital in the United Kingdom used specifically for soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. In 1916 a new hospital was built in Brockenhurst, Hampshire, as the No. 1 New Zealand General Hospital, and Mount Felix was renamed as the number two hospital.[3] Approximately 27,000 New Zealand soldiers were treated at the hospital during the war.[3][5] The hospital was memorialised by the Mount Felix Tapestry which toured New Zealand in 2018 and the next year.[6][7][8]

The buildings were demolished in 1967 to leave the clock tower and stable block – grade II listed buildings – which is by far the most abundant category of statutory protection and recognition.[9][10]

The first matron of the hospital was Mabel Thurston who later became matron-in-chief of the New Zealand Army Nursing Service.[11]

'2 General Hospital' was a unit of the New Zealand Medical Corps. The unit was re-raised in World War II and served with the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Egypt, the Western Desert, Tunisia, and Italy.[12] The unit is now called '2 (General Hospital) Field Hospital'.

Site

The site four decades before the requisitioning was drawn by government survey as shown. The gardens to north (river) and south and east (road) came with these buildings.

The dark rectangles are marked Mount Felix in the 1870s. Click for broader map and to enable varied magnification.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Walton-on-Thames Hospital booklet" (PDF). nzhistory.govt.nz. 2019.
  2. ↑ "New Zealand and World War One – General Hospitals – 1916 – 1919". www.sooty.nz. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Crummy, Andrew (2017). The Mount Felix Tapestry. Impress Print Services. ISBN 978-1-912031-49-8.
  4. ↑ "Lost_Hospitals_of_London". ezitis.myzen.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2019. and "The Mount Felix Tapestry: Kiwi soldiers in Walton-on-Thames". Radio New Zealand. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  5. ↑ "Walton-on-Thames NZ General Hospital Roll of Honour | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  6. ↑ "Mount Felix Tapestry Tour of New Zealand WW100 New Zealand". ww100.govt.nz. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  7. ↑ "Mt Felix Tapestry tells stories of love and prosperity". Stuff. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  8. ↑ "Mt Felix Tapestry". Riverhouse Bark Arts Centre. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  9. ↑ "The Clock Tower, Mount Felix, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey". The Victorian Web. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  10. ↑ "Clock tower and stable block to the former Mount Felix". Historic England. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  11. ↑ Rodgers, Jan (1996). "Thurston, Mabel". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  12. ↑ J.B. McKinney (1952). Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45: Medical Units of 2 NZEF in Middle East and Italy. Wellington: Historical Publications Branch.

Further reading

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