Canada. Canadian Armed Forces. Medical Company (Vancouver), 12 : A unit of the Canadian Forces Army Reserve, 12 (Vancouver) Medical Company's main tasks are to provide trained individuals and sub-units to augment 1 Canadian Mechanised Brigade Group (based in Edmonton) and to prepare its personnel to provide medical care during military operations throughout the world.
12 (Vancouver) Medical Company is a unit in the Canadian Forces Medical Service. Within 39 Canadian Brigade Group, 12 (Vancouver) Medical Company provides first line medical support to other brigade units during training and operations. Tasks range from providing one or two Medical Assistants to teach first aid, to setting up a field establishment for medical coverage during Brigade-wide training exercises.
Three platoons make up 12 (Vancouver) Medical Company. The Medical platoon is the main sub-unit deployed in the field. It is comprised of most of the Medical Assistants, vehicles, general and medical supplies of the unit. The Training platoon consists of soldiers who have been enrolled but have not yet completed their general military training (QL2). Training is conducted within the platoon in basic military and medical skills. Training platoon members also assist in tasks and participate in training exercises. The Service platoon supports the medical function of the unit in areas such as administration, supply and transport. The Headquarters element oversees the operation of the unit and ensures that the unit fulfils its role within the Brigade.
This unit has a long and distinguished history that lives up to the medical corps tradition of being faithful in adversity. It is the latest in a line of Vancouver army medical units dating back to 18 Field Ambulance of World War I. After the war, it was set up as a reserve unit and renamed 12 Field Ambulance. The unit was called to active service in World War II in 1939. In 1942, 12 Field Ambulance sailed to England with the 4th (Canadian) Armoured Division. The unit's most significant action was in support of the 4th Armoured Division during the battle of Hochwald Forest.
In the German town of Sogel, 12 Field Ambulance made medical corps history as the only field ambulance to engage the enemy in combat. German soldiers, firing rifles and machine guns, approached the advanced dressing station (casualty treatment facility) under cover of darkness. The Commanding Officer quickly organized two platoons and placed them at the approaches to the dressing stations. They held off the enemy for two hours with weapons borrowed from the wounded (at the time, medics didn't carry weapons) until a squadron of tanks arrived to relieve the situation. Incredibly, the dressing station continued to operate throughout the action.
After the war, 12 Field Ambulance reverted to the Army Reserve (Militia) and was renamed 24 Medical Company. In the early 1970's, the unit was disbanded along with all militia medical units across Canada. After existing as a medical station at 12 Service Battalion for several years, the unit was raised as 12 (Vancouver) Medical Company in 1980 and moved to its present location at Jericho Garrison later that year.
