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Duchess of Kent Military Hospital DKMH Catterick YorkshireInformation and the history of the Duchess of Kent Military Hospital DKMH Catterick Yorkshire: The Duchess of Kent Military Hospital (DKMH Catterick) in Yorkshire was a large army hospital and training facility for pupil nurses (SEN - State Enrolled Nurse) and ward stewardess' (later called health care assistants). 
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DKMH Catterick opened on the 6 October 1976 and replaced an old hutted hospital from the pre World War Two era (cited in the book Sub Cruce Candida: A Celebration of One Hundred Years of Army Nursing  ).
This new Duchess of Kent Military Hospital cost £3 million to build. It closed on the 1 July 1999 after a review of the Army Medical Services though a psychiatric unit remained which provided 20 in patient beds and an out patient department. No sectioned patients were admitted and these were cared for at NHS secure units. There was another defence review by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in the year 2001 which resulted in the Duchess of Kent's Psychiatric Unit closing. 
Some of the staff were transferred to nearby Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit Northallerton. Read more about it on the MDHU Northallerton page. Military psychiatric patients are now treated by their Medical Officers and Psychiatric Nurses of the QARANC (Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps) who work in Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMH). Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret Visit The then Colonel in Chief Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret visited the Duchess of Kent Military Hospital in Catterick on Wednesday 30 March 1994. HRH was met by the Colonel Commandant Colonel D.G.M. Anderson RRC and the Vice Lord Lieutenant Major General Henry Woods. They were joined by the Commanding Officer Colonel B Hannigan L/RAMC and Colonel S.B. Davies L/QARANC. Patients and staff lined the corridor of the DKMH to welcome Princess Margaret and she then went on to tour the hospital and meet patients and staff. Sadly none of the QARANC.co.uk team had a posting at the Duchess of Kent Military Hospital Catterick and would love to expand this page with more details about this former army hospital and include a photograph. If you are a former or serving member of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps we would love your help. If you would like to contribute any info, photographs or share your memories of DKMH Catterick then please contact me. Below are a collection of memories from former staff of the Duchess of Kent Military Hospital DKMH Catterick: I particularly remember the old army hospital at Catterick in the early 70s (1970s not 1870s - I'm not that old!). There was an accommodation block in which there was a QA wing and an RAMC wing with the central block divided between the two. I remember leaving the RAMC wing one winter morning and seeing the tracks in the snow between the two wings! (Ken RAMC) ********************************************** I served at DKMH in Catterick for 5 years all told, I was there when Princess Margaret came and was lucky enough to meet her. I was on the committee and organised our summer ball which was brilliant with the men in tuxedos and the ladies in ball gowns. I stayed behind when they all went off to Iraq the first time and we stayed up all night to be there when they came back at 6am. It was such a brilliant place to be at the time. I worked on every Ward and most Departments in my time there. Allyson Morgan. ********************************************** My name is Bill Haylett and I was lucky enough to work at DKMH as a civilian "senior staff nurse" on Ward 3 (orthopaedics) from1994-1998. I had been working in Saudi Arabia for their "military" at the King Abdul Azziz hospital in Tabuk. When my contract finished I came home and applied for the post of Endoscopy nurse at The Duchess of Kent Military Hospital, but at the interview with Col Mumford George it was very apparent that I new very little about endoscopies! However, Col George asked if I would be interested in a job on the orthopaedic ward ( which I jumped at), and so began one of the happiest periods of my nursing career. Unfortunately about that time the hospital went into decline, we lost the A&E consultant and therefore all the major accidents/injuries went elsewhere. On ward 3 we always seem to be busy especially with "electives" who seem to consist mainly of "old soldiers" from all over the country! Nearly all of them were convinced that their service in the armed forces entitled them to be "fast tracked" we never disappointed them by telling them that anyone could be referred to our surgeons by their GP’s. Notable members of staff that I was privileged to work with were Capt Sarah Francis (ward manager), Mrs Hillary Squires, Mrs Liz Bodenham, WO2 Bell, Maj Stevie Webster, Lt Col Quinn (matron), Maj Gac, Lt Col Stewart (surgeon),also Col Hobbs (surgeon) and his wife who was a "civi" nurse in anaesthetics. And many, many more. When it was decided to close/reduce the hospital I unfortunately was not kept on and had to return to the NHS at North Tees District General Hospital (where I had trained in 1986). It was from here that I was encouraged to join the TA by a colleague, who of a similar age to me was already a member! In December 2000 I was enrolled as a Nursing Officer with the rank of Captain in 201 Field Hospital Northern (V), based at their ‘C’ Detachment in Norton, a suburb of Stockton on Tees. In September 2001 after much negotiation I was chosen to go on Ex Saif Sareea in the first Tranche and spent two busy weeks with 22 Field Hospital Thumrait Oman, we were attached to 22 Fld Hosp along with people from 306, 212, 204 (mad as hatters!!), 208, 203 and the Dutch!, it was here that I met a lot of old (regular) colleagues from DKMH! (the QA’s world is very small as I was to find out later in my TA service!!). They found it very novel that I was a member of the TA and a Captain to boot! With the advent of 9/11 just before we went out to Oman we were all quite sure that we would be sent on to Afghanistan, little did we know that our worries would shortly be realised, but in a different country: Iraq. In March 2003 I was "called up" well that’s the official version, really, I had been pestering my CO to be sent! And as she had a soft spot for me she relented and after much toing and froing we ended up in Kuwait attached to 212 Field Hospital (Birmingham) and then on March 20th I went to war!. Later on we moved up to Iraq and took over from 34 Fld Hosp. On returning to UK in July 2003 I decided to apply for FTRS (Full-Time Reserve Service) in the hope I might get another posting to Iraq or somewhere equally exotic. On arrival at MDHU Northallerton I was interviewed by non other than Lt Col Webster whom I had known from DKMH! (and in no uncertain terms told that I would not be posted anywhere). This was to prove to be only the start, as there were lots of old colleagues of all ranks. I think they were as surprised to see me in uniform and a Captain! let alone as I was to see them all over again. I served for three years as an FTRS at MDHU Northallerton before leaving and returning to 201 Fld Hosp. In March 2008 I retired from 201 Fld Hosp still a Captain but with a lot of happy memories!!!. I am now employed by St John & Red Cross Defence Medical Welfare Service as a Welfare Officer, last year I went to Iraq again, attached to the Field Hospital on the C.O.B. at Basra, very eventful but worth the risk. Next year (2010) I am hoping to be sent to Afghanistan to Camp Bastion (at last!!!). William Haylett QA CAPT (ret) ********************************************** The Real Tenko The latest book about British Army nurses and nursing describes a dark chapter in the history of the QAs. The Real Tenko: Extraordinary True Stories of Women Prisoners of the Japanese  by Mark Felton is an account of the fall of the Far East to Japan. It comprehensively covers war atrocities performed by the Japanese troops to women stationed in places such as Singapore and Hong Kong. This included Sisters of the QAs who were stationed in hospitals such as
BMH Bowen Road Hong Kong and
BMH Singapore. Read the Qaranc.co.uk review or
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View more British Army Nursing Books - with free delivery available. If you would like to contribute to this page, suggest changes or inclusions to this website or would like to send me a photograph then please e-mail me. The photos and pictures on this page have been kindly sent to us for inclusion on this page. If you would like to contribute photographs then please contact us. For the official Army QARANC webpage please go to www.army.mod.uk/home.aspx For the QARANC Association website please go to www.army.mod.uk/army-medical-services/qaranc/9884.aspx *********************************************** Help Needed A reader of Qaranc.co.uk is researching the exhumation of Heinrich Himmler in Luneberg, Germany circa 1945-46. He thinks that two nurses from the QAIMNS attended the exhumation due to the poor state of health of Walter Schellenberg. He would like to learn if any of the nurses kept a diary of the events leading up to the exhumation or sent any personal letters home to friends or family that may have provided an insight into Walter Schellenberg and the exhumation. Please contact Qaranc.co.uk if you have any information. Qaranc.co.uk have recently learnt about two former Military Hospitals that we would like to write about. These are the British Military Hospital at Wuppertal in Germany and BMH Benghazi. If you know any information, would like to share your memories or have photographs that we can use on the site then please contact Qaranc.co.uk A reader is writing an article about the demise of the Military Hospital for the RAMC Magazine and seeks some help. There was, in Kuala Lumpur, a hospital called BMH Kinrara. He would like to know when it opened and closed, what happened to the buildings and the staff. He thinks that Kinrara closed as Terendak opened and that the staff were transferred across to 34 Company RAMC? He would also like any information about the Military Maternity Hospital, Penang. If you can help then please contact Qaranc.co.uk There is a lovely photo of three QA Midwives from the 1960s about half way down on the Royal Herbert Hospital page. If you can help with information about the Maternity Unit in Woolwich or identify the QA Officers then please contact Qaranc.co.uk The BMH Dhekelia has new photos which includes a stunning picture of the demolition of the original building and some staff photos. The contributor would like some help with the date it was demolished and would love to hear from anyone who worked with her relative. |
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