Veterinary Hospital No. 9

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Veterinary Hospital at St. Nazaire, France WW1

Headquarters Stall Officers, Major. William J. Ratigan commanding and commander of Hospital No. 9 St. Nazaire, France WW1. Note: About the little boy in the picture wearing the uniform. At first I could not quite understand why this little boy is in the picture, but my research has lead me to several cases where I have seen this. Usually a French orphan boy or a boy whose father was killed during the war sometimes took a liking to a unit and sometimes a unit took a liking to a boy and they would kind of adopt him. And I am guessing that this is the case in this picture. The men probably tried over and over to tell him to go home but he always kept coming back. He would become the unit’s mascot.

These buildings were designed by Major Ratigan to accommodate three thousand animals. They have often been over crowded. Fifteen tons of hay and the same amount of grain have been fed daily. Veterinary Hospital No. 7 and Base Veterinary Hospital No. 2 were assigned after the Armistice was signed. Animals from the front were affected with various wounds, Mange, Influenza, Pneumonias, etc. In the operating Theatre upwards of forty major operations have been performed in 24 hours. Veterinary Hospital No. 9 perhaps returned more horses to action before the Armistice was signed than any other organization.

Note: I while ago I received this email from Major Ratigan's family:

About Major William Ratigan. I cannot believe what you have put together. There is more information on my grandfather's war history than I ever knew. I will never be able to thank you enough. He died as a veterinarian in New Orleans when my mom was a child. He had many civilian accomplishments and I knew he was accomplished in the military. If you could lead me to more information I would be more extremely grateful, but I am already extremely grateful.
May God
Bless you!!!
David Brisolara

Click on the below links: Veterinary Corps in WW1 Homepage

Leonard Murphy in WW1