The Ontario Military Hospital, Orpington opened in 19th February 1916, with over 1000 beds. Built on the site of the present Orpington hospital; it was one of the largest and most up to date in the world. In 1917 the hospital was renamed as the No. 16 Canadian General Hospital and another 1000 beds were added. Up to May 1919, over 30,000 men had been admitted, with only 201 deaths.
Canadian soldiers returning home have always been changed by war and peacekeeping, frequently in harmful but unseen ways.
Shorncliffe was used as a staging post for troops destined for the Western Front during the First World War and in April 1915 a Canadian Training Division was formed there. The Canadian Army Medical Corps had general hospitals based at Shorncliffe from September 1917 to December 1918.
Mary Riter Hamilton was as a Canadian artist. In 1919, she painted the battlefields of France and Belgium, recording the aftermath of World War One.
