Description

Please note: this object uses outdated and offensive language towards disabled people.

ID: A brown paper ticket that reads ‘Liverpool Corporation Tramways Pass for Invalid or Convalescent Solider at Military Hospital’. It has a space for their name, and for the signature of the Officer in Charge. It is signed off by ‘C.W Mallins’, general manager.

This tram pass could be used by a disabled, injured or ill soldier who was recovering at a military hospital during the First World War (1914-1918). It permitted them one free ride, to the value of 2d or two pennies, on the Liverpool Corporation Tramways.

After receiving initial treatment at a military hospital or a specialist unit (e.g. for shell shock, blinding, or amputation), many soldiers who had been disabled by their injuries were moved to convalescent homes for the later stages of their rehabilitation.

During the War, the number of wounded men being brought back to England was greater than the number of hospital beds that could accommodate them. To meet the urgent need for more hospital beds, many large country houses, hotels, schools, and community centres were used as convalescent homes and auxiliary hospitals, either voluntarily or under the instruction of the War Office.

The need for beds for incoming casualties meant that recovering soldiers often had to leave before they felt ready to do so. In some cases, disabled soldiers were supported further by specialist charities, such as St Dunstan’s or the Douglas Haig Memorial Homes Trust, to adjust to their new lives.