Article about: Hello All, This compass belonged to a doctor my grandparents knew and I have inherited it. Any comments welcome. Capt. E. Catford RAMC is mentioned below, but I'm not certain that it is him
This compass belonged to a doctor my grandparents knew and I have inherited it.
Any comments welcome.
Capt. E. Catford RAMC is mentioned below, but I'm not certain that it is him
This material is held at Leeds University Library
Reference Number(s) GB 206 Liddle Collection EP 008
Dates of Creation 1917-1975
Name of Creator Catford, E.
Language of Material English
Physical Description 1 file; typescript, photographs, and press cuttings
Scope and Content
2 photographs (nd); Press cuttings, including obituary of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia (26 March 1975, nd); Bound typescript recollections, Beersheba to Damascus, in the form of transcript copies of letters to his parents, 10 November 1917-23 October 1918 (nd).
Administrative / Biographical History
E. Catford was a Captain, RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps), serving in Egypt/Palestine. He later became a Colonel.
Captain Eric Catford RAMC entered France in May 1915 was Mentioned in Despatches in April 1918. Entitled to 1915 Star British War and Victory Medals. Address shown as 30 Crouch Hall Rd, Crouch End London N.
With the positive responses to this post, I was encoured to do a bit more searching on the net
and I found some more info on Eric Catford. I have edited the article down as it was a little long..
BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL VOLUME 295
10 OCTOBER 1987 901
Portraits from Memory 21
-Dr Eric Catford OBE (MI)
1891-1982
JAMES HOWIE
In April 1941 I was suddenly transferred from 35 to 56 General Hospital RAMC,
which was mobilised at Gillingham, Dorset, and all set for departure overseas.
I was warmly greeted by the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Eric Catford,
in civilian life a very successful and popular general practitioner in Torquay.
He had served in the first world war and had continued in the Royal Army Medical
Corps until 1923. Thus he was part of the regular army reserve of officers and so
was mobilised on the outbreak of war in 1939. He had served in France but was
now on his way to Ibadan in Nigeria. This information he had somehow managed
to collect although exact destinations of units were not supposed to be known
even to their commanding officers.
(paragraphs omitted)
..Old colonial style
On our way north to the Clyde by overnight train from Salisbury,
Catford unrolled his papers and told his officers that he could now
reveal that we were en route for Ibadan, Nigeria. He had found this
out by his own methods and had thoroughly "cased the joint."
Ibadan was in what was formerly known as the White Man's Grave;
but we had all been immunised against yellow fever, and if we could
control malaria we should probably survive. Moreover, unless the
Vichy French helped the Germans to overrun north Africa, we
might well find ourselves having only garrison duties to safeguard
the airfields to keep open the transAfrican air route to Cairo and
Karachi. We might therefore have a phase of the war in which our
duty would be to keep up our morale without enemy action to
stimulate us. In these circumstances our duty was not so likely to be
ready to die for king and country as to avoid boredom.
He knew what he was talking about. In the first world war he had served in
France, in Alexandria, and in both Allenby campaigns in Palestine.
He had twice been mentioned in despatches-no light honour.
Against the risks of isolation and boredom in Nigeria he had
ascertained the names of leading citizens and officials in Ibadan, and
it would be to our advantage to get on good terms with them in the
old colonial style. This might well be on its way out-but not just
yet. He had a very encouraging photograph of a society wedding in
Ibadan, taken a month -earlier. Clearly we could have a relatively
civilised and comfortable place in which to do our duty.
So it proved. Catford at once called on all the local officials, paid
his respects, signed their visitors' book, and invited them to dine in
our mess. Tangible and intangible benefits accrued to our hospital
with what seemed to be incredible good will. The mess itself was a
happy and very well run affair thanks to the commanding officer's
determination to have it so, and to his second in command's strong
sense of reality and logistics…
(Lengthy discussions of golf and bridge playing omitted)
….In looking after the best interests of his unit Catford spared- no
trouble. He entertained not only handsomely but with insight and
discretion. One "very big master" was due to visit us. Who but
Catford would have found out that he was not fit to talk to until he
had downed two pink gins? But so it was; and the two pink gins were
ready and waiting; and the unit benefited enormously from the good
will thus engendered….
He was loved by his patients; he had a full and happy family life;
and after serving in west Africa he went to the 1944 invasion of
Europe in charge of the first field hospital crossing over on D + 3
day. He told me modestly that -that part of his war was "quite
exciting"-not at all like our time in Ibadan. He went on to become
assistant director of medical services for the Normandy and later the
Belgian-South Holland area, for which services he received the OBE
(Mil). He was promoted to full colonel….
British Marching Compass R.A.M.C
.
its just an opinion.
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