WW1 RAMC Named Field Surgical Set with Pay Book, Pickelhaube Matchbox holder and photographs. 
An evocative First World War RAMC grouping to Corporal (later Sergeant) Herbert E. Chipperfield, service no. 60327, Royal Army Medical Corps.
​
​The collection centres on a compact wooden field surgical set by Arnold & Sons and marked with the military broad arrow, internally fitted for scissors and scalpels with most components marked for Arnold & Sons, London, one of the leading British surgical makers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Several pieces retain their original brass securing clips, and the lower compartment also holds sharpening stones clearly configured for use in a forward medical post rather than a base hospital. Three of the four scalpels are marked for Arnold & Sons, a fourth by Greville Medical Supply, one pair of scissors marked for Arnold & Sons the other, Thackray; nearly all components bear the military broad arrow.
​
​Accompanying the instruments is Chipperfield’s “Active Service” soldiers’ pay book, named in ink to “60327 Pte (later Cpl) H. E. Chipperfield, R.A.M.C.” with attestation dated 21 June 1915 and entries for cash payments in France during 1916. The book provides an excellent service timeline and confirms his medical corps status throughout the war. Corporal 60327 Herbert E. Chipperfield served in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) during the First World War and appears to have risen to serjeant by the end of his service. The RAMC provided frontline and rear-area medical care, including field ambulances and operating teams in places such as St Omer, where British medical units were active from 1914 onward. The RAMC operated field ambulances, casualty clearing stations and base hospitals, with St Omer serving as an important medical and administrative centre for the British Expeditionary Force from 1914, handling large numbers of wounded from nearby fronts. RAMC personnel like Chipperfield would have been responsible for triage, stretcher-bearing, surgery support and evacuation—roles that explain his ownership of a compact field surgical set rather than a large hospital theatre kit.
​
​​Two period photographs give powerful visual provenance: a small framed portrait of Chipperfield in uniform, and a larger group photograph of RAMC personnel taken at St Omer and annotated 29 December 1918, when the town was an important BEF medical and administrative centre. Also included is his brass matchbox holder decorated with a relief Pickelhaube helmet motif, a typical trench‑souvenir piece that connects the group directly to the Western Front. 
​
​Overall, this is a scarce, named World War One RAMC field surgical set with complete research potential: the combination of instruments, pay book, photographs and personal effects presents a coherent picture of a non‑commissioned medical orderly who served in France through to the end of the conflict. An excellent opportunity for the collector of medical, RAMC or Great War material, and worthy of further genealogical and service research.