THE grandson of an army doctor who was mentioned in despatches eight times in the Second World War will travel to Blackpool from Inverness on Saturday to see a new Territorial Army centre named after his grandfather.
John Fell will see the current head of the Army Medical Services Major General David Jolliffe open the Sir Mathew Fell House in Parkinson Way, off Waterloo Road.
The centre will be used principally as the headquarters for a field hospital squadron.
General Sir Mathew Fell was born in Ulverston and educated at Sedbergh School. He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps from 1899 to 1929. He became the RAF's first director of medical services in 1918
The new centre will replace the Yorkshire Street premises and will allow healthcare professionals to undergo military and medical training.
It will house C Squadron of 208 Field Hospital, the Mortar Platoon of the Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers and detachments of Lancashire Army Cadet Force.
Blackpool has a long association with the Army Medical Services. In 1917 all Royal Army Medical Corps training centres were transferred to the town. Men were placed in billets and were trained on the seashire or along the promenade. The King's Lancshire Military Convalescent Hospital, the largest in the country, was at Squires Gate.
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