121053: Killearn Hospital

Killearn Hospital was commissioned in 1938 as one of seven Emergency Hospital Service facilities in the United Kingdom, for Second World War casualties. Building was commenced in 1939 and completed by 1940.

Its location in Killearn, 15 miles north west of Glasgow, was chosen because it was well away from Glasgow’s associated industries, which would have been targets for bombers. The hospital received casualties during the Clydebank Blitz in March 1941 following air raids on the shipbuilding and munition-making town of Clydebank; it also treated sick and wounded servicemen, navy personnel, essential civilian war workers and Prisoners of War.

The hospital consisted of wooden huts; these continued to be used for civilian purposes after the Second World War. It had provided 640 wartime emergency beds; this was reduced to 404 in peacetime. The hospital joined the National Health Service in 1948, specialising in orthopaedic and neurosurgical services. However, its remote location made it inaccessible for both patients and staff, leading to its eventual closure in 1972.