15th Evac Hospital

[Walt's Daughter]

When my father was injured by a mortar shell during the breakout of Anzio in May of '44, he was sent to the 15th Evac Hospital.

 

This morning I was curious to see if I could find anything regarding this unit on the web. Well I did, and learned some interesting facts...

 

As the first hostilities of World War II began, the 15th Evacuation Hospital was again activated in a training status at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. Shortly thereafter, the hospital was alerted for overseas deployment. Preparations for this move included the assignment of new personnel and equipment. On 8 February 1943, the 15th sailed aboard the "Susan B. Anthony," a converted passenger and cargo liner designed for 300 passengers, but redesigned to accommodate 2,700 troops. At this time, the unit had an assigned strength of: 39 officers, 48 nurses, 1 warrant officer and 248 enlisted men. Three days into the trip, the 15th learned that its destination was North Africa. On 21 February, the ship docked in Algeria, where the 15th unloaded its men and equipment and went into a staging area to await its first operational assignment. On 10 April 1943, the unit moved a distance of approximately 600 miles east to Tunisia, where it set up and began receiving patients. The 15th operated in a number of locations within the North African Theater until just prior to D-Day, 10 July 1943. At this point, the hospital sailed for the southern coast of Sicily, where it supported the beach-head established by allied forces. At one point during the Sicilian Campaign, the patient census rose to an astronomical figure of 978 inpatients. It is interesting to note that during this period (3 August 1943), Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Commanding General, 7th United States Army, paid a thirty minute visit to the hospital, from that visit the often talked about "slapping incident" materialized.

 

The hospital moved to Italy, and participated in both the Salerno and Anzio beach-heads. It was during the Anzio beach-head that the 15th came under heavy artillery attack, suffering numerous casualties. Several members of the unit were decorated for heroism during that period.

 

The 15th continued to move north through Italy, and on 10 June 1944, established itself in a schoolhouse near Rome. This was the first permanent- type building the 15th had operated out of in over 18 months. The hospital's comparatively comfortable life in Rome was short lived, and on 21 June 1944, the 15th moved north in support of combat operations through Florence and the Po Valley into Milan, where it served until the end of hostilities.

 

In addition to several campaign streamers, including: Tunisia, Naples-Foggle, Rome-Arno, Po Valley, and North Appennines, the 15th Evacuation Hospital received the most prized award of all, the Meritorious Unit Citation, for its outstanding performance during World War II. Having served honorably and well, the unit was deactivated on 8 September 1945.

[Walt's Daughter]

Just found this too - Excerpts taken from the Army Nurse Corps

 

Anzio

To speed up the slow pace of the Allied northward advance through Italy against the fierce German defenses at Cassino and the Gustav Line, Allied strategists planned a landing behind the German lines. On 22 January the British and American troops launched a successful surprise attack and landing on the Anzio beachhead. Because surprise was complete, the projected 12 percent casualty rate was held to less than 1 percent throughout the initial landing. The Germans, however, quickly regrouped for a stubborn defense that pinned the Allied forces in the beachhead for four months and stalled hopes for a rapid advance. Within the congested invasion perimeter, casualties mounted as the Allies repulsed persistent Luftwaffe and ground attacks.

 

The 33d Field Hospital and the 95th and 96th Evacuation Hospitals landed with the Anzio beachhead assault force and quickly set up operations. Approximately two hundred nurses were assigned to these units. On 24 January 1944, two days after the landing, the first bombs fell near the medical facilities. That night three British hospital ships, H.M.S. St. David, H.M.S. St. Andrew, and H.M.S. Leinster, were attacked by Luftwaffe aircraft while evacuating casualties from the beachhead. As in the case of the Newfoundland, the ships were well lighted and clearly marked with the red cross. The St. David, with 226 medical staff and patients aboard, received a direct hit and sank. The two Army nurses on board were among 130 survivors rescued by the damaged Leinster. One of these nurses, 2d Lt. Ruth Hindman, had survived the earlier bombing of the Newfoundland.

 

On 7 February a German plane attempting to bomb the port at Anzio was intercepted by a British Spitfire. While trying to gain altitude, the German pilot jettisoned his antipersonnel bombs on the 95th Evacuation Hospital. The direct hit on the surgical section killed 26 staff and patients, including 3 nurses; 64 others were wounded. The day before, several news correspondents had decided among themselves that the constant shelling had rendered one nurse

 

Page 19

 

too nervous to carry on much longer. Yet after the bombing, this nurse calmly took charge, rallied the surviving staff (nurses and corpsmen), and guided their treatment of the wounded. Nevertheless the commander of the medical installations in the Mediterranean theater decided that the 95th Evacuation Hospital had lost too many key personnel to function effectively. He replaced the unit with the 15th Evacuation Hospital, formerly stationed at Cassino. The 15th arrived at Anzio on 10 February, just in time to witness the bombing of the 33d Field Hospital. Long-range enemy artillery fire killed 2 nurses and I enlisted man and wounded 4 medical officers and 7 enlisted men. Both nurses were off duty at the time of the attack. One nurse had stopped at the tent of the other to borrow a book when a shell hit the tent, killing them instantly. Meanwhile, another shell smashed the generator of the operating tent, which caught fire. Medical personnel evacuated the forty-two patients by flashlight without incident, and for their bravery four nurses—1st Lt. Mary Roberts, 2d Lt. Elaine Roe, 2d Lt. Virginia Rourke, and 2d Lt. Ellen Ainsworth— received the first Silver Star medals awarded to women in the U.S. Army. Ainsworth, who was killed during the attack, was awarded the medal posthumously.

 

Throughout February and March, medical installations on the beachhead continued to receive direct hits. On 29 March the 56th Evacuation Hospital was shelled, leaving 3 officers, 1 nurse, 14 enlisted men, and 19 patients wounded and 4 patients killed. Whenever the air raid sirens at Anzio sounded, those patients who could put on their steel helmets and crawled under their cots to avoid flying shrapnel. Nurses and corpsmen lifted others to the ground. Patients whose condition rendered them immovable became very nervous, and nurses ignored the danger to stay with them.

 

In April the 36th Engineer Regiment excavated 3 1/2-foot foundations for the hospital tents and reinforced these protective earthworks with sandbag walls. Patients and medical personnel inside the hospitals were finally protected from flying shrapnel although not from direct hits.

 

A later observer explained that the medical detachment at Anzio was "part of a front that had no back. The beachhead was 15 miles wide and 7 miles deep and allowed no retreat from enemy fire." The large, impassable Pontine Marsh forced the invaders to locate their antiaircraft batteries, airstrips, maintenance shops, food' gasoline, and ammunition dumps (all lucrative targets) on the edge of the medical area. Enemy bombers often missed their targets and hit the hospitals. The frequent enemy hits on the congested corner occupied by the main

 

Page 20

 

medical installations earned it the nickname "Hell's Half Acre." Many soldiers believed that they were safer in their frontline foxholes than they would be in the hospitals.

 

The Fifth Army command allowed the nurses to remain at Anzio regardless of the danger and the mounting casualties because they were desperately needed. Between January and June the Anzio field and evacuation hospitals admitted 25,809 battle casualties, 4,245 accidental injuries, and 18,074 medical casualties (disease). These soldiers were stabilized and evacuated rapidly and efficiently. The performance of Army nurses at Anzio reinforced the fact that women could function effectively under fire on the front lines.

[Walt's Daughter]

A website - Veteran's Testimony - George P. McLaughlin - 59th Evacuation Hospital (which included the 15th)

 

 

http://med-dept.com/testimonies/george_mcl.php

[Walt's Daughter]

Found this reunion info. I'd like to contact them. Man, wouldn't it be cool if someone were still alive who might remember that time period and possibly my father. It may be a stretch, but everyone here is witness to the wonders we've all discovered!

 

 

15th Evac Hosp Reunion Assn

Mr. Andrew Baumerich

51 Mountain Avenue

Hawthorne, NJ 07506

(201) 427-0191

[Walt's Daughter]

Interesting tidbit regarding Bob Dole. Looks like the 15th Evac not only had a famous incident - THE PATTON SLAP - , but also cared for Bob Dole when he was horribly wounded.

In 1942, Dole joined the United State Army's Enlisted Reserve Corps to fight in World War II. He became a second lieutenant in the Army's 10th Mountain Division.

 

In April 1945, while engaged in combat in the hills of northern Italy, he was hit by German machine gun fire in his upper right back. His right arm was also badly injured. As Lee Sandlin describes, when fellow soldiers saw the extent of his injuries all they thought they could do was to "give him the largest dose of morphine they dared and write an 'M' for 'morphine' on his forehead in his own blood, so that nobody else who found him would give him a second, fatal dose." He had to wait nine hours on the battlefield before being taken to the 15th Evacuation Hospital. He began a recovery that would last until 1948 at Percy Jones Army hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan. His right arm was paralyzed; Dole often carried a pen in his right hand to signal that he could not shake hands with that arm.

[Walt's Daughter]

I would love to get my hands on records from the 15th Evac during May, June 44...

[dannyd]

I would love to get my hands on records from the 15th Evac during May, June 44...

M-1 I think it was the 39th That prepaired the tents per Gen trusscot may be it was both groups. And if I Perish pp.296 GOOD reading!

[Walt's Daughter]

Danny, I'm sure it was both units, along with possible others who assisted the 15th during their duty in Africa and on the European continent.

 

I knew about the 540th because I have all their records from 1943 and on. Such a wealth of knowledge available to me.