102 Medical Group • 102 Geneeskundige Groep (102 Gnkgp)

Last updated: 14.03.2017

102 Medical Group
102 Geneeskundige Groep (102 Gnkgp)

Unit	Location	Peace Strength	War Strength
Staff and Staff Detachment 102 Medical Group	Ermelo	14/11/16 (41)	5/7/16 (28)

Staff and Staff Detachment 103 Medical Battalion [a]	Ermelo	5/8/14 (27)	7/10/25/2 (44)
Staff and Staff Detachment 101 Medical Battalion [a] [b]	–	–	7/10/25/2 (44)
Staff and Staff Detachment 201 Medical Battalion [a] [c]	–	–	7/10/25/2 (44)

132 Casualty Collection Company [d]

–

13/13/97 (123)

163 Field Dressing Station Company	Ermelo	8/16/86 (110)	13/19/120/2 (154)
261 Field Dressing Station Company [e]	–	–	13/19/120/2 (154)

176 Ambulance Company	Ermelo	5/9/74 (88)	5/9/98 (112)
177 Ambulance Company	Ermelo	5/9/74 (88)	5/9/98 (112)
172 Ambulance Company [f]	–	–	5/9/98 (112)
280 Ambulance Company [g]	–	–	5/9/98 (112)
281 Ambulance Company [h]	–	–	4/8/86 (98)
282 Ambulance Company [h]	–	–	4/8/86 (98)
284 Ambulance Company [i]	–	–	5/9/98 (112)

191 Reception Company [d]	–	–	8/7/77 (92)
192 Reception Company [d]	–	–	8/7/77 (92)

153 Stretcher Company [d]	–	–	5/7/174 (186)
252 Stretcher Company [d]	–	–	5/7/174 (186)

110 Specialist Company [d]

–

107/64/237 (408)

Notes

a.	Would take a number of companies under command, as needed.¹
b.	GRIM unit, largely filled by mobilisable subunits that had fulfilled their active-duty period in Staff and Staff Detachment, 103 Medical Battalion between four and twenty months prior to mobilisation.^{2 7}
c.	Filled by mobilisable personnel from Staff and Staff Detachment, 101 Medical Battalion (GRIM) after their fourteen to sixteen-month RIM period in that unit had expired, up to eight and a half years prior to mobilisation.^{2 7}
d.	Filled by personnel from the general pool of mobilisable reserves (vrij-indeelbaar bestand) that had fulfilled their active-duty period in relevant functions up to twelve and a half years prior to mobilisation.²
e.	RIM company, filled by mobilisable platoons that had fulfilled their active-duty period in 163 Field Dressing Station Company between four and twenty months prior to mobilisation.^{2 7}
f.	RIM company, filled by mobilisable platoons that had fulfilled their active-duty period in 176 Ambulance Company between four and twenty months prior to mobilisation.^{2 7}
g.	RIM company, filled by mobilisable platoons that had fulfilled their active-duty period in 177 Ambulance Company between four and twenty months prior to mobilisation.^{2 7}
h.	Filled by mobilisable personnel from 172 Ambulance Company (RIM) after their fourteen to sixteen-month RIM period in that unit had expired, up to eight and a half years prior to mobilisation.^{2 7}
i.	Filled by mobilisable personnel from 280 Ambulance Company (RIM) after their fourteen to sixteen-month RIM period in that unit had expired, up to eight and a half years prior to mobilisation.^{2 7}

(Symbols)

Unit	Location	Peace Strength	War Strength
111 Transit Hospital Battalion [a]
Staff and Support Company	–	–	7/15/72/2 (96)
Hospital Detachment	–	–	39/36/149 (224)
			45/51/221/2 (319)

112 Transit Hospital Battalion [a]
Staff and Support Company	–	–	7/15/72/2 (96)
Hospital Detachment	–	–	39/36/149 (224)
			45/51/221/2 (319)

113 Transit Hospital Battalion [a]
Staff and Support Company	–	–	7/15/72/2 (96)
Hospital Detachment	–	–	39/36/149 (224)
			45/51/221/2 (319)

117 Transit Hospital Battalion [a]
Staff and Support Company	–	–	7/15/72/2 (96)
Hospital Detachment	–	–	39/36/149 (224)
			45/51/221/2 (319)

214 Transit Hospital Battalion [a]
Staff and Support Company	–	–	7/15/72/2 (96)
Hospital Detachment	–	–	39/36/149 (224)
			45/51/221/2 (319)

215 Transit Hospital Battalion [a]
Staff and Support Company	–	–	7/15/72/2 (96)
Hospital Detachment	–	–	39/36/149 (224)
			45/51/221/2 (319)

Note

a.	Filled by personnel from the general pool of mobilisable reserves (vrij-indeelbaar bestand) that had fulfilled their active-duty period in relevant functions up to eight and a half years prior to mobilisation.²

(Symbols)

Unit	Location	Peace Strength	War Strength
130 Recovery Centre Battalion [a]
Staff and Support Company	–	–	9/25/74/4 (112)
Hospital Detachment	–	–	23/9/85 (117)
A Rehabilitation Company	–	–	2/3/2 (7)
B Rehabilitation Company	–	–	2/3/2 (7)
C Rehabilitation Company	–	–	2/3/2 (7)
D Rehabilitation Company	–	–	2/3/2 (7)
E Rehabilitation Company	–	–	2/3/2 (7)
F Rehabilitation Company	–	–	2/3/2 (7)
			44/52/171/4 (271)

143 Medical Supply Point Company [a] [b]

–

4/17/86 (107)

102 Medical Group Peace Strength: 37/53/264 (354)

102 Medical Group War Strength: 555/616/3412/26 (4609)

Notes

a.	Filled by personnel from the general pool of mobilisable reserves (vrij-indeelbaar bestand) that had fulfilled their active-duty period in relevant functions up to twelve and a half years prior to mobilisation.²
b.	Active-duty unit until 1982. Would set up and operate three independent medical supply points in the Corps Rear Area.³

Operational Role

102 Medical Group, falling under Corps Logistic Command, oversaw all corps-level medical support operations. Corps troops placed under divisional command or present in a divisional sector were supported by the medical companies of the corps support battalions directly subordinate to Corps Logistic Command, whilst the brigades had their own medical companies. Troops remaining under corps command would be supported directly by 132 Casualty Collection Company and 163 and 261 Field Dressing Station Company. The ambulance companies, 153 and 252 Stretcher Company, 110 Specialist Company, the transit hospital battalions and 191 and 192 Reception Company would operate in the Corps Rear Area, forming the rear echelon of the corps medical support system. Throughout the system the evacuation chains were, in short, organised as follows: a wounded soldier would be evacuated via battalion first aid stations to collection points at brigade or corps level, then to field dressing stations at brigade or corps level for provisional treatment (life- and limb-saving), and from there to transit hospitals in the Corps Rear Area. In the transit hospitals, counting about four hundred beds each, patients would receive definitive treatment or such medical treatment as to prepare them for further evacuation. The two reception companies would deploy intermediate stations between the transit hospitals and hospital facilities in the Netherlands. Repatriation, by ambulance, barge, train, or aeroplane, would be handled under the responsibility of National Logistic Command.⁴ <

Organisational Obsolescence

Apart from the formation of the brigade medical companies in 1966, the organisation of medical support within 1 (NL) Corps had basically remained unaltered since 1952. By 1985 combat tactics and operational concepts had changed profoundly, emphasising speed, mobility and flexibility at all levels. The corps medical support system, still fundamentally lacking such characteristics, had become obsolete and, in essence, inadequate. Modern mechanised warfare came with ever more fire power and thus with ever higher expected casualty rates, rates that 102 Medical Group would likely not be able to handle in a satisfactory manner. The mobility of several of its units was too low, negatively effecting the system's evacuation capacity, whilst the already scarce surgical capacity was concentrated too far to the rear, in the transit hospitals. Furthermore, some units, like 130 Recovery Centre Battalion, did not even have a useful operational role anymore. What did not help either was the fact that 102 Medical Group was mobilisable for more than ninety percent. In wartime all this could result in the presence of large numbers of unevacuated wounded personnel in the Forward Combat Zone; objectionable from both a tactical as well as a humanitarian viewpoint.⁵ <

Reorganisation 1988-1992

In 1988 a reorganisation was started to amend most of the deficiencies referred to above. Obsolete units were disbanded whilst the means of transport, notably the ambulances, were redistributed in a more efficient manner in order to increase the mobility of (sub)units and their ability to evacuate and treat wounded personnel. The surgical capacity was reorganised into three light and three heavy field surgical hospital companies, one of each type on active-duty. They would operate closer to the front line, in the rear of the brigades and in the rear of the divisional sectors respectively. These and other field hospital units were highly mobile and comprised interchangeable subunits (modules) that were able to function independently, thus enabling commanders to concentrate and relocate medical support as needed.⁶ <

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1.		Feijen, Herstructurering, 311. Gommans, Welke weg, 308.
2.		NIMH 205A/10, Aflossing van mobilisabele eenheden en -aanvullingen d.d. 27 mei 1980. Ibid., d.d. 11 november 1983. Ibid., d.d. 17 juni 1985.
3.		NL-HaNA 2.13.182, inv. nr. 452, agendapunt 6 en nota "Mobilisabel stellen 143 Gnkavplcie" d.d. 8 september 1981.
4.		VS 2-1392 (1979), 5-6. VS 2-1350/K1, Hoofdstuk III. Gommans, ibid., 307. Feijen, ibid., 312-313.
5.		NL-HaNA 2.13.182, inv. nr. 585, "Planconcept herstructurering legerkorps-geneeskundig systeem" d.d. 11 november 1983. Hoffenaar en Schoenmaker, Met de blik, 411-412. Gommans, ibid., 308, 310. Feijen, ibid., 308-309.
6.		HTK 1987-1988, kamerstuknr. 20200 X ondernr. 2, 26. Hoffenaar en Schoenmaker, Met de blik, 412. Feijen, ibid., 311-312. Feijen describes the new organisation of 102 Medical Group in more detail. The reorganisation, "far from realised" in 1989 (Feijen, ibid., 308), was probably completed around 1992. NL-HaNA 2.13.182, op. cit., 8. Schoenmaker en Hoffenaar, op. cit., 412.
7.		RIM was the Dutch acronym for Direct Influx into Mobilisable Units (Rechtstreekse Instroming in Mobilisabele Eenheden). GRIM was a variant of this system, meaning "Largely RIM" (Grotendeels Rechtstreekse Instroming in Mobilisabele Eenheden). For a survey of the Royal Army's unit filling and reserve system see Gijsbers, Blik in de smidse, 2222-2231; Selles, Personele vulling; Berghuijs, Opleiding, 14-23. In English: Isby and Kamps, Armies, 341-343; Sorrell, Je Maintiendrai, 94-96; Van Vuren, The Royal Netherlands Army Today, Military Review April 1982, 23-28.