This article  is about the Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley which is now the Royal Victoria Country Park

Lord Panmure did not accept the report without further investigations of other locations. Dr. Mapleton and a Captain Ross, R.E., looked at two other sites; at Herstmonceaux in Sussex and at Appledurcombe in the Isle of Wight but reported unfavourably on both. Thus it was on 21 st August 1855 that negotiations for the purchase of the Netley site were opened with the proprietor of the land, Thomas Chamberlayne. It was a part of the Netley Grange Farm land and on 3rd January 1856 £15,000 was authorised to purchase 109 acres 1 pole and 32 perches. During the autumn, starting on 1st October 1855, permission had been given by Mr. Cadby, Mr. Chamberlain's bailiff, for the War Department engineers to sink wells and Major Ravenhill R.E., was sent to the site on 5th December. 

He became the WD's resident engineer during the construction of the Hospital. Water was found but it was surface water laying on an underlying clay strata and it was decided to build a reservoir at Hound Grove to ensure continuity of supply.

On 27th January 1856 a Committee was set up to prepare an outline plan of the new Hospital. The members of the Committee were Colonel Terence O'Brien, Assistant Quartermaster-General, Horse Guards, Dr. Mapleton and the Captain and they were instructed to communicate with the Director-general of the Army Medical Department, Dr. Smith. Another officer was sent, on Dr. Smith's suggestion, to Rotterdam to inspect the fine new hospital there, reputed to be one of the best planned on the continent. Dr. Mapleton examined the layouts of all the great civil hospitals in London and Lord Panmure himself told the Committee that, in his opinion, the new hospital should be divided into a large number of detached blocks in a similar way to the latest French hospitals as, for example, Bordeaux.

The Committee considered all these ideas and layouts but after full consultation with Dr. Smith and his deputies, they concluded that, for the size of Netley, 1000 patients, it would require too many separate blocks and would be too difficult to administer. So they decided on one vast building, ¼ mile long, and submitted
their reported plans to Lord Panmure on 15th May 1856. He agreed to the proposals and they were sent to Her Majesty the Queen who gave them her approval and blessing.

Additional premises at Netley were by now considered desirable and the 109 acres of land being acquired from Mr. Chamberlayne was insufficient. One new proposal was for a separate lunatic asylum but on 2nd April it was reported that Mr. Chamberlayne was disinclined to sell another 50 or 60 acres, because it appeared the owners of villas and country seats in the locality were becoming alarmed at the proposal to establish a Military Hospital in the vicinity. Rumours were being spread by the opponents to the scheme that the location was unhealthy in spite of the known remarkable health of the peasantry and their numerous families! Dr. Smith, accompanied by Dr. Mapleton and Colonel O'Brien, made another inspection of the ground and confirmed that it was ideally suited to the purpose except perhaps for the landing of troops for which a jetty would be required. Certainly the area was not sufficiently large for the Hospital, Asylum, Barracks and the Medical Department envisaged and there were still some doubts about the quantities of water available. In this matter it was thought that a supply from Millers Pond might resolve the problem. The plans for the Hospital consisted of a centre block and two long wings, extending 1400 ft on a straight line. The centre building was four stories in height and was to contain the administrative offices and a part of it to afford accommodation for sick officers and for nurses. Each wing was 554 ft long, consisting of three flats and forming the main body of the hospital. Each wing was designed to contain a single range of 'sick wards' extending the whole length of each storey. On the ground floor only, several rooms were to be devoted to other purposes. The wards were of different sizes, those communicating directly into the corridor, being intended for 9 beds each. At each extremity of the wings there were wards capable of holding 12 to 16 sick. The end wards had windows on two sides communicating directly with the open air; but the wards in the corridor had windows to the open air to the north-east only, while the windows on the south-west, and the milder side, were covered throughout their entire length by the corridor affording the means of access to the wards. Each wing had a separate kitchen, dining room, offices and steam engine for the lifts and these premises were situated in the court behind the hospital. The chapel was placed behind the central building.

The entire south-west side of the building had an uninterrupted view to the Southampton Water and the north-east side was enclosed by two square courts of offices and stores, part one- storey and part two-stories in height. In the centre of each of the courts was the kitchen and dining room which was the same height as the hospital building. During 1856 steady progress was made. The purchase of the original 109 acres was completed on 1 st August, the Deed of Conveyance being made on the 12th. Specifications and plans for the foundations and drains were approved by Major Ravenhill inJune and a contract was let to Mr. George Myers of Lambeth London for the erection of the Hospital from the plinth upwards. Negotiations were continued with Thomas Chamberlayne to agree a price for an additional 60 to 100 acres of land behind the Hospital, but relationships between the WD Solicitor and the landowner became rather sour when it was discovered that Chamberlayne had let 20 acres of the required land to Captain Brad by residing at Pear Tree Green, as a brickfield at £10 an acre. The question was asked, 'Was Chamberlayne using Bradby to extort money from the Government?' The matter was resolved by applying compulsory purchase under the Defence Act 1842 and the Ordnance Board Transfer Act 1855!

The layout of the roads and grounds were entrusted to the good taste of Mr. Page, a well- known landscape gardener of Southampton and all was made ready for the most joyous event at Netley in 1856, the laying of the foundation stone of the great Hospital by Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. On 24th April Major Ravenhill, R.E., the officer superintending the works, attended a meeting of the Southampton Harbour Board and applied for permission to erect a temporary jetty near Netley, about 300 ft in length, 'for her Majesty to land for the purpose of laying the Foundation Stone of the new Hospital'. The application was granted and a copy of the Port Notice is reproduced. May 12th was the day first chosen for the ceremony, but this was altered to Monday May 19th and was to become the Queen's first public engagement after peace was made at the end of the Crimean War. She arrived from Osborne in the Isle of Wight in the Royal Yacht, 'Victoria and Albert, accompanied by a frigate and 12 gunboats of the Royal Navy. Assembled at the site were digni- taries from Southampton, Officers from the Services and other important personages. Although a fine day, it was apparently windy and according to the 'Hampshire Independent' of 24th May it was too rough for the Queen to land on the jetty and the Royal Barge 'Fairy was beached on the shingle for her to disembark. A loyal address was presented from the Corporation of Southampton. The Queen then examined the plans of the Hospital and these were then deposited, together with the first Victoria Cross, a silver Crimea medal, complete with all four campaign bars, and coins of the realm, all in a copper casket.

The West Wing

Then, with due ceremony, the 2 ton Welsh granite foundation stone was lowered by pulley blocks onto the prepared mortar bed, a salute of guns was fired and the great occasion was celebrated by thousands of folk from Southampton who were entertained at its dose by a splendid firework display. 

History will always link the name of Florence Nightingale (1820 - 1910) with Netley Hospital. The 'Lady with a Lamp' fought for more than 40 years to change the status of the British soldier by giving him the medical care and accommodation he rightly deserved. Her own training as a nurse in Paris and in Prussia, and her family connections with the nobility she met at Broadlands, combined with her fervent zeal to improve standards of treatment, principles of hospital design and administration and the training and role of female nursing staff, has rightly ensured her place in British history. When she arrived in the Crimea she found the Army Medical Officers deeply prejudiced towards her nurses, she discovered almost insurmountable problems with supplies due to 'red tape' and inept and unfeeling officialdom. Conditions in the Turkish Barracks Hospital at Scutari, near Constantinople, were simply appalling. The death rate amongst patients was over 50%. The ignorance shown by those in charge of the Hospitals and medical services was unbelievable. Yet, by amazing energy and perserverance Florence Nightingale and her nurses made major improvements to sanitation, introduced proper standards of hygiene, recognised the importance of good ventilation, the care necessary to avoid cross infection and the significance of cleanliness and diet.

By the close of 1855 fighting had virtually ceased and the Treaty of Paris, ending the war, was signed on 30th March 1856. 4,600 men had been killed, 13,000 wounded but 17,500 had died of disease. That was the scale of suffering in the Crimean War and that was the battle Florence Nightingale was trying desperately to win. By May 1855 she was ill herself and her strength was flagging. But her sterling work was yielding results and the casualty rate in the Hospitals was falling. Among the soldiers she was a heroine and her fame spread back to this country and to the War Office, where plans were made to receive her home with due honours. When she did arrive, on 7th August 1856, she came unannounced but she was convinced that her real work had only just begun. Florence Nightingale felt sure that more than 9,000 men had died unnecessarily at Scutari; murdered was the word she used. She wrote to Lord Panmure and to Sidney Herbert. Through her friendship with Sir James Clark she was honoured with an audience with the Queen at Balmoral, who wished to hear first-hand of her experiences. On several visits she put her case with such fervour that the Queen, already most concerned with the conditions in India, was prepared, in October 1856, to approve a Royal Commission on sanitary conditions in the Army. This was established with suitable terms of reference. Miss Nightingale's evidence before this Commission reflected the impressive experience she gained in the Crimea and it showed her to be a lady of great vision, a clear thinker, but also a person able to present practical solutions to the problems to be overcome.

It will be seen that by being in the Crimea Florence Nightingale had no part in the design of Netley Hospital but she had been home five months when a memorial was presented to Lord Panmure from physicians and surgeons of the Middlesex Hospital, expressing their objections to the general design and some of the internal arrangements of the new Hospital. Primarily they were concerned with the lack of fresh air and the poor ventilation; both strong points made by Florence Nightingale, who had been sent a set of plans of Netley Hospital by Lord Panmure as a matter of courtesy. Under five short paragraphs these observations were made by the memorialists:-

• That the windows of the wards do not open into the external space on at least two sides.
• That the corridor which affords the means of communication between the different parts of the building is highly objectionable as it forms a permanent recepticle for contaminated effluence which will escape from the wards into it and will pass from ward to ward.
• That the wards are placed behind the corridor, open by doors and windows onto it, into one another and into a yard on the north-east aspect of the Hospital.
• That the lateral ventilation of the wards is still more objectionable since they communicate only with one another or with sculleries or latrines.
• That the few windows which really open upon fresh air face the north-east and expose the wards to that wind which is notoriously the least beneficial to the sick, moreover, that the current of air, even on that face, is in part impeded by a block of buildings and a covered way which extends across the whole yard on the north-east side of the Hospital.

The memorialists stated that they were aware of the plan to introduce a system of artificial ventilation but that they were so satisfied by experience already obtained of the uncertain efficacy of that system, and of the positive danger of drawing cold air into the floors of the wards, that they were most decided in their convictions of the necessity of it being abandoned. (The system proposed was to bring in fresh air through ducts into each ward which would, in theory, by convection, cause this air to flow from the ducts near floor level).

When the memorial was received in February 1857, a Committee was appointed to consider the points raised and to report to the Secretary of State for War their recommendations. Colonel T. O'Brien, the Assistant Quartermaster-General, led the Committee and they sought the advice from the Medical officers from the Middlesex, Guys, St. Thomas, and other hospitals and the architectural branch of the War Office.

As a result of their deliberations they were able to modify the original plans approved in May 1856 in a number of minor ways.

Firstly they replaced the corridor windows along the whole front of the building with wide arched openings capable of being kept entirely opened in fine weather, but provided with sashes to close when necessary. Secondly they recommended three, instead of two, windows in each ward looking north-east and thirdly they added a small lobby between the water closets and the wards. Finally they agreed to remove the one-storey engine-room between the hospital and the kitchen and put the engine underground and to reduce the height of the two-storey buildings which ran around the yard, to one storey. These improvements were all that could be accommodated at this rather late stage when the construction of the building was underway and they did little to make the critics happy with the plans.

These modifications were approved in June 1857, the report of the Committee being dated 28th May.

Criticism was not, however, suppressed by these comparatively small changes. The whole concept of the choice of Netley, the design of the building and its accessibility was being questioned. The demand for a reconsideration of the project was so incessant that in 1858 Lord Panmure gave instructions to the Rt. Hon. Sidney Herbert, M.P., to inspect the works at Netley, to examine the plans, both as originally designed and as subsequently altered in accordance with the Committee appointed for that purpose. He was joined by three other men, John Sutherland, W.H. Burrell and Douglas Gallon.

Their report, dated 12th March 1858, was a scathing indictment of the decision to build a Hospital of such an unsatisfactory design at the site chosen at Netley and when reading the report one feels certain that Florence Nightingale's hand must have been behind the pen that wrote it.

The opening paragraph, titled 'Position of Hospital', makes the point:-

'Three miles above the site of the Hospital the sewage of the town of Southampton flows into the estuary. Its population in 1851 was 34,000 and it is rapidly increasing. 'The report objects to the site on the grounds of it being 'of a soft and relaxing climate and opposite a large mud bank'.

Whilst acknowledging that a healthy man may find the location satisfactory it suggests that a sick man may not find it so! Chemical analyses were taken of the mud and of the gases disengaged from the decomposing organic material but these did not prove conclusively that they were injurious to health. Nevertheless the report concluded that Southampton Water was not a desirable location for a Hospital.

'No site on the banks of a tidal estuary with soft mud banks, large quantities of rotting matter giving off gases and offensive smells during warm weather and having the discharge of sewage from a large town, should be entertained. The air should be dry and bracing. Furthermore the wards of the Hospital had no sunlight except at the ends of the wings and the ventilation was only on one side through a corridor during the winter. The report continued its condemnation of the design. Too many men would be under one roof, the length, 1400 ft, was far too great and would be impossible to administer, there was a duplication of kitchens, pantries, stewards rooms, latrines and the building was incapable of extension. Wards contained only 8 or 9 men instead of an optimum of 25 to 30. Nursing costs would be high .......'

The report concluded thus:

'The Committee appointed last March proposed alterations consistant with the preservation of the foundations, then raised several feet above the ground. The present conclusion is that efforts now to make changes to wards, cost of administration and so on is not possible. In fact, the plan of Netley is not so much that of a Hospital as that of a gigantic barrack, or rather two barracks, each capable of accommodating a battalion of 1000 men. It is suggested that the change to a barracks should be made and a Hospital built elsewhere.'

Sidney Herbert was a sick man and he died at Wilton House in 1861. Florence Nightingale, however, lived to the ripe old age of 90, and in 1907 was bestowed by King Edward VII with the Insignia of the Order of Merit; the first woman to be so honoured. And Netley Hospital, with all its defects and disadvantages was completed. There can be no argument about its appearance from the Water. It was a magnificent building and it made an impressive sight. The red bricks were made from excellent clay dug at or near the site and there were special brick making gangs, seven men in each gang. Facings were in Portland stone and there was a long plinth course of Welsh granite at ground level. The windows on the south-west front were arcaded and, together with the splendid towers and the central dome over the chapel, the remaining landmark, the architect producing a design of merit, externally. In fact Lord Palmerston wrote on 17th January 1857 to Lord Panmure, following the severe strictures on its internal layout,

'It seems to me that at Netley all consideration of what would best tend to the comfort and recovery of the patients has been sacrificed to the vanity of the architect, whose sole object has been to make a building which should cut a dash when looked at from Southampton River. Pray stop all work.'

But it was too late. The 18th century Hospital was far too advanced in its construction to be stopped. Before leaving the arguments concerning the suitability of the site it must be recorded that in Southampton, in 1855, there had been an outbreak of cholera and some critics of the choice of Netley made their fears known that this dreaded disease might be spread by the exposure of sewage on the mudflats at low tide. This aspect was discussed in Parliament on 5th and 8th June 1857 and it was decided in Southampton to hold a general meeting of members of the medical profession at the Audit House on the 18th June to discuss this alleged insalubrity.

After careful deliberation they carried resolutions to declare that, 'they found the allegations unsupported by evidence and totally without foundation'. A Memorial was prepared from the Doctors to the Mayor of Southampton stating their conviction that the Netley site was eminently suitable and wisely selected, with no proof or any probability that danger will accrue to its inmates from malarious or other endemic diseases.

On the following day a similar reassuring report was received by the Corporation's Sanitary Committee from Mr. Cooper, the Officer of Health, and the Town Clerk was directed to forward a copy to Lord Palmerston.

The matter appeared to have been properly resolved by these resolutions. 'The United Services Gazette' on 20th June 1857 stated, 'After all, an official report by competent medical men pronounces the site of the Southampton Hospital quite unexceptionable.' Sir John Ramsden made an announcement to this effect on Thursday night in the House of Commons and the work will now be proceeded with. It is said that the objections raised to Netley originated with Miss Nightingale whose experience of Hospitals at Scutari, where infectious disorders prevail, cause her to be treated as an authority on the site of a hospital in England, a small mistake quickly rectified. The retention of Netley is a 'heavy blow' and great discouragement' to the writers of the 'Times' who cherished a lively expectation of converting the Royal Hospital Chelsea into a medical school. So, after these delays and uncertainties work continued, but it was a much longer time before the first patient was received than had originally been planned. Instead of a two years construction period it took seven years!

On 1st December 1860 the 'Hampshire Independent' reported that progress on the building was being made and completion was expected in two years. The paragraph continued by saying that construction of the gas works had been started and work on a 1200 ft cast iron pier to replace the temporary pier will be commenced next year. It stated that many of the men on the construction were living on the site, but about 100 are still being ferried from Woolston daily.

It is an odd fact that the first two railway locomotives at Netley Hospital were used during its construction, not to haul wagons, but to drive machines for mixing mortar for the masons and bricklayers!

This strange story starts at Ashton-under-Lyne near Stockport, where a Mr. Isaac Watt Boulton had founded an engineering business in late 1856 and soon started the hiring, alteration and purchase of locomotives. In 1858/9 he bought three 2-2-0 passenger tender engines, designed by Bury, from someone at or near Chester. Engines very like this had drawn the first trains in 1838 from Euston on the London and Birmingham Railway, but the two which were hired to Mr. Myers, the contractor building Netley Hospital, were not quite the same in detail. Nevertheless they were both of this vintage and were altered by Boulton for their task at Netley by fitting pulleys onto the spokes of the driving wheels. That was the only modification and on return to Ashton, at the end of the contract, they were intact but completely worn out After standing in the yard, for a short while, (called Boulton's Siding in 1864) they were broken up. In 'The Chronicles of Boulton's Siding', (A.R. Bennett 1926), an amusing sequel is told. It was found that the cast brass dome casing on the haycock firebox emitted a powerful and melodious note when struck. So one of them was mounted in the Works at Ashton, provided with a dapper and used as a workman's bell and this continued for two or three years until a steam whistle replaced it.

It seems Mr. Boulton visited Netley to see his hired engines installed and working, for he notes that once returning from Netley his train had thirty coaches on between Basingstoke and London!

Construction was nearing completion when, in January 1862, notice was given of a Bill to be introduced into Parliament for extinguishing two footpaths through the Netley HospitaI Estate. In the preamble it stated that these rights-of- way, if 'suffered to remain', would very much interfere and impede the useful purposes intended to be affected by the purchase of the estate and the erection of the hospital thereon and it was therefore expedient that all the rights-of-way should be extinguished. The Bill was passed on 20th March 1862, (25 Vie. iii. 507).

At last, in 1863, the Hospital was considered ready. The first patient is recorded as having been admitted in 11th March. No ceremony of opening can be traced. Perhaps the event took place too long after Queen Victoria had laid the foundation stone. More likely it was that the Queen was still grieving the sad death of his Royal Highness the Prince Consort.

Whatever the reason the Hospital was destined to play a vitally important role in the care of sick and wounded men and in the development of medical techniques, procedures and training for nearly 100 years.

Appropriately a graceful Portland stone memorial, surmounted by a cross, was erected in 1864 beside the road facing across Southampton Water. Standing about 35 ft high it was dedicated to the members of the Army Medical Department who died in the Crimean War. Sadly it was demolished in 1973 with scant regard for history and for Florence Nightingale's role in that War.

In 1865 the new cast iron pier was completed. It was sited directly opposite the central block and was about 560ft long, not 1200ft as originally envisaged to reach deep water. It was 15ft wide and at the seaward end there was an enlarged landing area< On the length of the pier there were two intermediate landing stages but no light tramway was laid along the decking as had been provided on the first constructional pier. Balustrades were fabricated of cross-braced iron sections and later seats were provided on the end of the pier for the comfort of convalescent soldiers. There were also shelters at the landward end, one on each side of the pier. For more than 30 years the pier was the normal route for landing patients from ships. They were transferred from the ships onto 'lighters' or 'tenders' for conveyance to the Hospital and one of these small shallow draft 'tenders' was aptly called 'Florence Nightingale'.

The history of the Hospital, in the period between 1863 and 1899, reflects the growth of the British Empire under the reign of Queen Victoria. Sick and wounded from the campaigns were brought to Netley from India in 1865 in some of the earliest Hospital ships from the Sudan in 1882, Egypt in 1885, from New Zealand, Canada and of course from the North West Frontier of India; the Khyber Pass. Truly, the days of the growth of the Empire meant days of suffering and sometimes, all to often, death for the soldiers and sailors of the Queen. Nevertheless they were days of progress in medical care and treatment. From the beginning of the Hospital's history in 1863, the Army Medical School had its Headquarters at Netley and many distinguished pathologists worked there and developed techniques which saved life and reduced suffering. It is said that modern tropical medicine had its foundation at Netley and the use of inoculations for typhoid was researched there. Similarly, developments in nursing methods were made at Netley stemming from Florence Nightingale's experience and the Hospital became, from the outset, the headquarters of the Army Nursing Service providing training and establishing expertise in this vital field of medicine. Lastly the Hospital gave the Army a central base for field training of medical orderlies and stretcher bearers to ensure wounded would be removed quickly from the battlefield without further injury by poor handling.

Yet, with all this activity at Netley, there was no railway and all supplies were brought to the Hospital either by sea or from Netley Station on the London and South Western Railway. The station had been opened in 1866 and that part of the history is dealt with in Chapter Two. Suffice it to say that the station was nearly 1/4 mile from the Hospital and this could be an uncomfortable transhipment when wounded were brought to the Hospital by train.

During the first 30 years of its history the Hospital had many periods of intensive activity as the following paragraph from the 'Southampton Times' in April 1874 shows:

'The military Hospital ship 'Victor Emanuel' arrived in Southampton Water on 11th April with war invalids from the Gold Coast. It anchored off Netley and remained for a time as a floating military ship in consequence of the number of invalids now in Netley Hospital. The greater part of the passage home was made under sail.'

The 'Victor Emanuel' was a wooden screw line of battleship and originally carried 72 guns. As a further illustration of the use being made of Net-ley in the 1870's, below is a table giving the number of arrivals between 1870 and 1874.

It was the South African War or the Boer War as it is sometimes called, fought between 1899 and 1902, which brought heavy casualties and led to the Hospital meeting its fullest role for the reception of large numbers of sick and wounded. For the first time the capacity of Netley was reached. Hospital ships berthed in Southampton Docks and as a matter of urgency rail facilities had to be provided to move casualties by ambulance trains from Southampton directly into the Hospital. This story is told in Chapter Four. Between 1902 and 1914 there was a lull in the level of activity at Netley and the Army Medical School moved away to London in 1903. H.M. Queen Victoria, who had taken such an active interest in the Hospital and who made a large number of visits there, died on 22nd January 1901. She had won the affection and respect other subjects to a unique degree and she had paid her last visit to Netley only a year before she died.

As reported in the 'Hampshire Independent' on 26th January 1901:

'The deepest sorrow was evinced by all classes here (at Netley) on the news of the irreparable loss of our beloved Queen. Her visits to the Hospital, which bears her name, her true womanly sympathy with her sick and wounded soldiers within its walls and her countless acts of kindness to them, has endeared her to all hearts here in a special degree. She has gone now to eternal rest but by none will she be more deeply and sincerely missed than by the 'Soldiers of the Queen'. The Royal Standard was flown at half mast immediately on receipt of the news; it was raised full mast high on Thursday, the day on which Edward VII was proclaimed King and again reverted to half mast on the Friday.'

Then, from 1914, for the second time in its history, Netley Hospital became filled to capacity with the wounded from the war. During the First World War between 1914 and 1918, casualties from many nations were treated. It was a conflict which created the most appalling numbers of wounded, especially from the trench warfare in France and Belgium. Once again Netley was the principal reception hospital and once again Southampton Docks to Netley Hospital ambulance trains brought in patients in their hundreds. The 1000 beds in the main building were supplemented by 1500 beds in the hutted and tented British Red Cross and Welsh Hospitals, which treated nearly 10,000 and over 20,000 patients respectively during the five years of war. At last the dreadful carnage of that Great War ended by the signing of the Armistice on 11th November 1918 and Netley Hospital gradually returned to its more tranquil peacetime existence. It still acted as a reception point for sick servicemen from overseas and it continued to be an important psychiatric and convalescent Hospital. Its psychiatric role had been recognised from the earliest days because a 'lunatic asylum' had been built, 'D' Block, as long ago as 1866. In fact, the psychiatric hospital was the last at Netley when it closed and its last patients left on 1 st September 1978.

This is jumping ahead of the main theme of the history of the Hospital which in 1939, and for the third time in its existence, was fully mobilised for war.

The heroic disaster of the retreat and evacuation from Dunkirk and Northern France in June 1940 was not carried out without a large number of casualties. Many came to Netley Hospital, which became filled with injured troops, including 320 French minor-wound cases and 50 British soldiers too ill to transport further inland. There were also 30 cases of German Luftwaffe prisoners admitted. Under such pressure the old pier was pressed into use and it was a time of great stress and anxiety.

Dieppe and similar raids made into enemy occupied territory sadly kept Netley Hospital busy in the 1940's but it was the invasion of Europe in 1944 which was perhaps its 'finest hour'. On 15th January 1944 the main block was handed over to the United States Forces, although the Royal Army Medical Corps retained the psychiatric wing and the hospital block behind the main building.

How the flow of traffic and the movement of personnel was conducted after D-Day is described in Chapter Six but, suffice it to say that Netley was alive with activity day and night throughout the second half of 1944. The progress of the Allied advance towards the defeat of the Axis powers was rapid and by mid-1945 the swift advances of the American and British forces had left Netley in an ever reducing role and on the 19th July of that year the Royal Victoria Hospital was returned to the British Army.

The post war years found the Hospital fully equipped with over 900 beds of which 500 were in the convalescent wing. It continued to cater for those returning from overseas service needing care and there were general wards as well as the psychiatric and convalescent sections, all in use and staffed. Perhaps it was not surprising that costs were queried and doubts raised as to the viability of such a large and unsuitable hospital as the Netley building of the 1860's.

The chapel building is all that remains of the main building 
overlooking Southampton Water

The first part of the Hospital premises to go was the pier. It was demolished in 1955. A year later the convalescent wing moved away to Chester, the general hospital moved to the more modern E Block and the original D Block became the psychiatric hospital. Apart from accommodating Hungarian refugees later in 1956, the main block was not used again and by 1958 it was completely dilapidated and empty.

For five years it laid slumbering in its past glories. Then, in June 1963, there was a serious fire, probably started by vandals, which badly damaged the building and there could be no other fate for the main Hospital than demolition.

In 1966 the bulldozers and cranes smashed down the noble brickwork and masonry. The foundation stone level being reached by the end of the year. On 7th December 1966 the copper box was lifted out from beneath the stone and its historic contents revealed. The final severance with the Army came on 1st September 1978 when the psychiatric hospital was closed. Since September 1966 this section had been the only occupants remaining at Netley using the old D Block, the Victoria and the E block, the Albert buildings. 1 st September was a memorable day. The unit, led by the Corps band, marched through Netley village to receive a scroll from the Lady Mayor on behalf of the residents who had, for more than a century, worked with the Hospital and been a part of its life.

The Hospital closed officially at the end of August 1978 with the parades, parties and fireworks when patients and staff were transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital at Woolwich. The EEG and Quartermaster's Departments continued to function until February 1979 when they finally left.

Thereafter security staff under Mr. Bill Farr patrolled the grounds, but inevitably the property deteriorated and, in particular, the Officers' Mess suffered severely from burst pipes during the winter of 1978 - 79.

In 1979 Hampshire County Council purchased the grounds and buildings for a reported figure of £890,000 and a part of the Hospital buildings, married quarters and the Albert and Victoria houses. The immediate surrounds were taken over by the County Police as a training centre. The future of the larger main Hospital building, 'The Coppice', 'Hollylea', and the Officers' Mess had yet to be decided.  The Ministry of Defence finally relinquished control on 31st December 1978 and security was taken over by a professional civilian firm on behalf of the County. Happily it was decided to keep the former 'Royal Chapel' intact in 1966 to serve as a memorial to the Hospital, its soldiers, nurses and its patients. The splendid and beautifully proportioned building with its arched ceiling full length balconies along each side of the chancel and, externally, the fine dome with its green patina still stands. The Hospital grounds were opened to the public in May 1980 as the Royal Victoria Country Park, a lovely waterside recreation area of 220 acres. The former YMCA built in 1939 is now the Park Centre. Of the railway, little remains. In the demolition of the main Hospital the station was razed and it is impossible to visualise the once bustling scene as an ambulance train steamed into Netley Hospital. But behind the Park, sheltered in the trees, is a lonely place with many poignant reminders of the part Netley paid in over 100 years of the history of this country. It is the Hospital Cemetery. Here there are graves marking the last resting place of many brave men from many counties and shires and from many countries including those who were, at the time of their passing, our enemies.

Perhaps this caring for men of all nations is the most fitting tribute to those countless thousands of men and women who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps, the Red Cross and many other units, the specialist departments, the nursing and medical schools and the research laboratories. All made Netley great.

Before leaving the story of the buildings at the Hospital, further reference can be made to the former Officer's Mess, a separate three storey Italianate style edifice standing apart from the main Hospital, which was still intact in 1984, although empty for many years. The imposing 19th century building has sadly deteriorated, but it is a 'Listed' structure and has now been purchased leasehold for conversion into luxury apartments, many of which will have splendid views over Southampton Water.

Also still standing in 1984 is the Power House, built in 1903, alongside the course of the branch line down to the Hospital.

READ ABOUT THE ACTION AT ROURKES DRIFT (The film ZULU was about this)