USAF Hospital in South Ruislip

[TenTonTone]

I used to drive past a US military hospital which was sited just off Victoria Road, Sth Ruislip, W.London. It doesn't exist now, the buildings being used for commercial purposes. I'm pretty sure it was designated with 4 figures, - as in '5920th' or some such, & I seem to recall that it was to serve US personnel posted to London. Can anyone tell me more?
Also, why did the US forces give their formations such high numbers?

[Carnaby]

From Google:
7520th U. S. Air Force Hospital, South Ruislip, England ..

Unfortunately page (and cached version) reveals nothing.
Also, why did the US forces give their formations such high numbers? Very good question ! Someone will know.

Graham

[P Bellamy]

why did the US forces give their formations such high numbers?

With the repeated restructuring of the USAAF and USAF from early 1945 many older units were amalgamated and/or retitled into new units to fit into an overall scheme.

As an example, beginning in April 1945 the various seperate ground support units assigned to a Heavy Bomb Group were amalgamated into an Air Service Group, with an Air Engineering Squadron and an Air Materiel Squadron.
These new Air Service Groups were numbered in the 3xx-4xx range, the engineering squadrons in the 8xx range and the materiel squadrons in the 6xx range.

Similary, by the early-mid 1950s the various medical units were downsizing and changing function.
USAF Medical Groups (formerly Station Medical Groups) tended to be numbered in the 3xx-4xx range, these were assigned to Hospital Groups which were usually in the 75xx range.
A Medical Group could be upgraded to a Hospital Group while retaining it's 3xx-4xx number for a while, and a Hospital Group could also be downgraded while keeping it's 75xx number.

I'm sure it made good sense at the time, allocating distinct blocks of numbers to the same type of units, but as ever there are exceptions. A number of medical units formed in Germany in the late 1940s were numbered in the 3x-4x-5x range for example.

Back to the hospital at South Ruslip, it's first tenants were the 494th Medical Group who moved in as soon as it was built in 1952 and handed over to the 7520th Hospital Group in 1955.
The 494th were assigned to the 7515th Hospital Group based at Middleton Stoney.

All the best,
PB

[TenTonTone]

Thanks, PB. I live in Oxford & often go through Middleton Stoney on the old A40. Where was the Hospital there?? It is, of course, not a million miles from Upper Heyford...

[P Bellamy]

I would think THIS is the site, along the eastern side of Middleton Park.
7515th Hospital Group were under the command of the 7503th Air Support Wing who were responsible for Upper Heyford, amongst other things.

All the best,
PB

[canberra]

As for the numbering systems used by the USAF, flying squadrons are in the low numbers ie the 351st Air Refuelling Squadron at Mildenhall. Its simialr to the RAFs numbering system.

[Dennis Lee]

I used to drive past a US military hospital which was sited just off Victoria Road, Sth Ruislip, W.London. It doesn't exist now, the buildings being used for commercial purposes. I'm pretty sure it was designated with 4 figures, - as in '5920th' or some such, & I seem to recall that it was to serve US personnel posted to London. Can anyone tell me more?
Also, why did the US forces give their formations such high numbers?

Sure, I was stationed there prior when it was an administrative center/hospital for the US Air Force in England. That was 1961-1965. At the time it was called South Ruislip Air Station. We had a 100 bed hospital. I was attached to the 59th Veterinary Inspection Flight. We inspected all food sources for military consumption in Europe. I have great memories of my time in England. As a matter of fact, there was a theater up the road, I can't remember the town, but I went to a concert of Elton John and Cecila Black, when they were just getting their start. Cheers, Dennis in California

[cbrjock]

Nice to get a first hand account of these sites thanks Dennis, and welcome to AiX too.

Pete

[Powers]

In the 1960's myself and several RAF Uxbridge colleagues used to visit the USAF Ruislip Base on Saturday nights for free entertainment in the Social Club. It was a popular and very well run club and individual tables had to be booked in advance. If there was any hint of trouble during the evening the rather large club 'bouncers' would calmly and quietly advise the perpertrators that their table had been 'cut off' which was a polite way of saying 'get out immediately or suffer the consequences'.

The club served American food and drink of which Budwieser seemed very popular and also very cheap in comparison to my usual Watneys Brown! The free entertainment was always of high quality with performers such as Acker Bilk, Long John Baldry etc. I particularly remember one Saturday when I decided to have lunch there and shared a dining table with that night's entertainer, the American actor/singer Guy Mitchell who was on a USA Forces tour.

All in all it was an excellent place of entertainment for many hard up RAF airmen. Happy days'.

Regards....Paul

[sumter]

Mention of the US hospital at Ruislip reminded me of the important role played by its medics at the Harrow rail crash in October 1952, which killed 112 people. I read somewhere that the Americans’ triage and ‘golden hour’ methods were later adopted by British rescue services. Lt Abbie Sweetwine was heroine of the hour, according to the newspapers.