Navy Medicine September-October 1943
Jennifer Mitchum
With the Sicily campaign officially ended and the Aeolian Islands under Allied control, the pathway to Hitler's Europe crossed the Strait of Messina and up the boot of Italy. The British were to land on the heel of Italy at Taranto and Foggia and then drive northward. The Americans planned to land one-third up the boot at Salerno, just south of the port of Naples. These two forces were to join and then move northward.
On 3 Sept, Italy surrendered to the Allies; however, German forces in Italy fought on. On the same day, British troops landed in southern Italy virtually unopposed. These forces began driving north to occupy the Italian boot south of Salerno.
Salerno Landings
On 9 Sept, an Anglo-American force landed on the beaches of Salerno. The Germans reacted swiftly and vigorously with a series of strong counterattacks. Within a week, German troops had penetrated as close as a mile to the Allied beach installations. By 15 Sept, the crisis had passed. Days earlier on 12 Sept, islands in the Bay of Naples had surrendered and a week later the French occupied Sardinia. But as the Allies
proceeded north toward Naples, German resistance stiffened.
Navy Medicine in Italy
The Navy medical plan for Salerno resembled that of the Sicilian campaign. Navy medics were to care for all service personnel while aboard Navy vessels and were to evacuate casualties from beaches during the operation's early phase. Army medics were to assist in treating Army troops aboard naval ships.
On the beaches, medical beach party members treated and evacuated casualties under adverse
conditions. Set up close to main roads and unloading areas, shore medical installations were susceptible to aerial attacks. In addition, their only marking, a red cross facing the sea, was not sufficiently discernable from the air, and provided little immunity from enemy aircraft. Moreover, medics could only care for about three patients at a time because sandbag splinter barriers were low and area shelters very small. Because of delays in securing the beaches, Navy beach medics also had to evacuate casualties under prolonged fire.
Evacuation
Transports, tank landing ships (LSTs), and hospital ships evacuated the wounded. Transports remained in the area until the D+2 after landings. Within the 2-day period, 513 casualties came aboard the transports (386 were Army, 106 were Navy, 21 were British Army and POW casualties); of these 16 Army and 26 Navy
patients died.(1)
Under heavy air bombardment, the transports sailed for Oran in French North Africa. There, transport personnel experienced difficulty evacuating patients to Army ambulances partly because enforced radio silence prohibited transports from making pre-arrangements for ambulances. In addition, evacuation had to be swift, for ships were on standby and had only 2 hours for evacuation. USN Base Hospital No. 9 had arrived at Oran on 3 Sept and began setting up shop. Many wounded, however, were initially treated in Army medical
facilities.
Back in Italy, hospital ships and LSTs provided evacuation. Lessons learned from the Sicilian
campaign had led to changes in the administration and operation of hospital ships. Unlike Sicily, all hospital
ships came under one central command--the Allied Force Headquarters. In the first 5 days after the invasion, hospital ships operated on a prearranged schedule, arriving in battle zone areas at sunrise and departing at sunset. They evacuated patients to several ports including Oran, Algiers, Bone, Bizerte, Tunis, Tripoli, Augusta, and Catania. These plainly marked vessels, however, were not immune from the Luftwaffe. HMS Newfoundland was lost as a result of enemy action.
LSTs
As in the Sicilian campaign, LSTs proved their worth in evacuation of sick and those with minor injuries over short hauls. About 430 such casualties were evacuated via LSTs from the northern area.(2)
LSTs carried a medical complement of one medical officer and three pharmacist's mates. Each ship had 75 litters, 60 cots, 150 blankets, and 36 units of plasma, 8 units of saline-glucose, and 8 units of saline.(3) There were also sulfonamide drugs and tetanus toxoid in liberal supply.
As in Sicily, the LSTs were underutilized. The unloading of ammunition stores resulted in delays in bringing casualties aboard. In future operations planners suggested that short-haul- hospital-designated LSTs be clearly identified. Moreover, at least one surgeon or surgically trained physician should be assigned to these LST hospital units.
New Georgia Concluded
As the Mediterranean campaign intensified, the New Georgia campaign in the Pacific entered its final stage. Within the Navy ranks, malaria ran rampant with cases rising from 26 in August to 273 in September.(4) Marines showed a slight increase going from 89 cases in August to 107 in September.(5) The Army, with 1,054 of the 1,434 malaria cases reported in September, had about a 240 more cases than it had in August.(6) Despite increases, combat phase malarial numbers for the New Georgia campaign were
favorable when compared to even the noncombat phase malarial numbers for the Guadalcanal campaign. CDR James J. Sapero, MC, malaria control officer South Pacific, credited well-trained malaria control units and cooperative line officers and troops for improved malaria numbers. "...Malaria never became a major
military threat. The low rates achieved, in contrast to the earlier experience, will go down in history as a
classic of what may be accomplished in disease prevention.(7) Sapero also added that the low prevalence of malaria was not because New Georgia was naturally less malarial than other islands in its vicinity.
Evacuations
SCAT (South Pacific Combat Air Transport) planes continued air evacuations from the New Georgia area. In September, 488 casualties were evacuated by SCATs, bringing the total number of wounded leaving the New Georgia area by these aircraft to 620 by the campaign's end.(8) The majority of the wounded,
however, were evacuated by sea. All together, 1,533 patients were evacuated from the New Georgia area,
raising the total number of evacuees from 6,693 (30 June-31 Aug) to 8,226.(9)
Area Hospitals Kept Busy
Many New Georgia casualties were evacuated for treatment at either Mob-8, on Guadalcanal, or at one of the smaller medical facilities scattered throughout the American-held Solomon Islands. Mob-8, however, became the focal point of Navy medicine in the war zone. In addition to being a large facility with
specialized staff and equipment, Mob-8 was accessible both by air and sea.
In part because of its location, Mob-8 was subjected to several air raids. One such raid occurred on 17 Sept while Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt was visiting the hospital. During the attack, the First Lady shared a bomb shelter with several ambulatory patients. On 21 Sept, an engine from an enemy plane shot down about 500 yards from the hospital's west boundary, severed the hospital's main water supply line. For nearly 20 hours, MOB-8 had to rely on one 126,000 gallon tank and two 15,000 gallon tanks.
At Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, personnel also transferred battle casualties to planes destined for the more secured southern islands of New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and New Zealand for treatment. On New Hebrides, Base Hospital No. 2 continued to provide medical care for battle casualties coming via air
ambulance until the end of September. After September, forward area casualties bypassed the hospital and were taken to hospitals further south. On New Caledonia, Mob-5 continued to operate with an increased bed capacity of about 2,100, approximately 1,100 additional beds. On New Zealand, Base Hospital No. 4 admitted
1,531 patients in September and 827 in October,(10) and Mob-6 maintained an average patient load of about 700. Navy medical personnel at Mob-10 on the Russell Islands, which had been commissioned in late August 1943, also assisted in handling New Georgia casualties.
New Guinea
In the early phases of World War II, Allied forces effectively halted the Japanese southward thrust in the Pacific toward Australia. This was only temporary, however; by the end of 1942 the Japanese controlled much of New Guinea. For the Allies, New Guinea offered, among other things, additional inland airfields. For the Japanese, the island provided a more direct Madang-Lae supply line.
On 4 Sept 1943, a U.S. naval force landed Australian troops east of Lae while airborne troops landed to the west. Other Allied troops launched a diversionary move against Salamaua. Initially, on one New Guinea beach "nary a Jap was seen" and on the other the enemy had abandoned defenses and fled.(11) However, the Japanese quickly regrouped and counterattacked.
Lae
More than 16,000 Australian troops were put ashore by 13 LSTs, 20 landing craft, infantry (LCIs), 14 landing craft, tank (LCTs), and 4 high speed transports (APDs).(12) Medical personnel rendered treatment aboard sea vessels until medical facilities were established ashore. Each LST carried one medical officer and equipment for emergency surgery. A medical officer was also aboard one of the LCIs and corpsmen served on the others. USS Rigel (AD-13) was also in Milne Bay and received Navy casualties. There were also two Army general hospitals at Buna and Army clearing stations at Milne Bay and Morobe, which together provided about 3,000 beds. The engineer special brigade and a regimental medical detachment were responsible for
evacuating casualties from the beach.
On 16 Sept, airborne troops from the west rendezvoused with troops coming from the east and trapped the enemy in a giant vise. Within 2 days, Lae fell to the Allies.
Finschhafen
Finschhafen was to be taken at leisure once Lae had fallen. With Lae collapsing sooner than expected, General MacArthur planned to push his advantage and capture Finschhafen promptly. The enemy expected the Allies to come overland, but they came by sea. Thus, the Japanese placed the majority of their troops
south and west of Finschhafen and left few at landing beaches. Several days passed before the enemy could
mount a counteroffensive. By 2 Oct, Finschhafen was in Allied hands.Sanitation on the island was poor. The tropical climate and rugged terrain made it difficult to render care and handle casualties. Although malaria, dengue fever, filariasis, and other tropical diseases were common, overall, casualties, were surprisingly few.
Rabaul
On 12 Oct, approximately 350 Allied planes bombed enemy forces at Rabaul, damaging one transport and two destroyers, and sinking two small craft. As of Columbus Day 1943, the Japanese had three offensive campaigns to counter--one each in New Guinea, in the northern Solomons, and over Rabaul. The Japanese seemed to have viewed the northern Solomons campaign and Rabaul as greater threats, and therefore
neglected New Guinea.
The New Guinea Training Center
The amphibious training center which had been established at Milne Bay, New Guinea, in January 1943 continued training troops in amphibious assault methods. Medical officers received instruction in care of and evacuation of casualties. They were also briefed on how to complete reports as well as how to improve ship sanitation and to prevent diseases prevalent in the area.
Elsewhere
In Washington, DC, BUMED was being restructured. Following an organizational study, many
divisions and subdivisions were reorganized, including the Physical Qualifications and Medical Records Division (PQ & MRD) and the Aviation Division. As an adjunct to the PQ & MRD, a neuropsychiatry section was set up temporarily. Increased work in aviation medicine dictated that the Aviation Division be expanded from two sections to five. Among the sections added were training and research subdivisions. BUMED also strengthened communication with the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), BUPERS, and Congress. Three officers from BUMED's war plans section had been assigned to the CNO's Office in the summer.
The Navy Medical Department continued its hospital expansion program. In August 1943, the medical organization of Lion One on Espiritu Santo had been redesignated as USN Advanced Base Hospital No. 6 and became a separate command. Throughout September-October improvements were made at the hospital. On 3 Sept and 1 Oct, USNH Oceanside, CA, and USNH Shoemaker, CA, were commissioned respectively.
Also at Shoemaker, CA, Navy medical personnel who were to staff Mob-12, destined for the Russell Islands, were going through final screening and training. On 17 Sept, the 12th Naval District Medical officer commissioned Mob-12. Incidentally, Mob-12 did not sail for the Russells until December.
In the United Kingdom, a 34-bed dispensary was commissioned at the U.S. Advanced Amphibious Training Base (USNAATB), St. Mawes, Cornwall, on 7 Sept. Then on 11 Oct, a 220-bed dispensary
was commissioned as part of the USNAATB at Falmouth, Cornwall. Similarly, following the establishment of an amphibious training base at Fowey, Cornwall, on 15 Oct, a 93-bed dispensary was commissioned there on 25 Oct. Prior to September-October, the Navy had commissioned two dispensaries in the United Kingdom--one a 61-bed dispensary commissioned in July at USNAATB Appledore, Devon, and the other a 325-bed facility at USN Base Roseneath, Scotland, in August 1942.
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References
1. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administrative History, 1941-1945, Vol. I: Narrative History, chap 15, p 3-4.
2. Ibid., p 721.
3. Ibid.
4. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administrative History, 1941-1945, Vol. I: Narrative History, chap 3, p 53.
5. Ibid., p 53.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid., p 54.
8. Ibid., p 64.
9. Ibid.
10. History of USN Base Hospital No. 4, March 17, 1943 to December 31, 1943, p 2.
11. Morison SE. Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier 22 July 1942-1 May 1944, p 263.
12. The History of the Medical Department of the U.S. Navy in World War II, Vol. I: A Narrative and Pictorial Volume, p 184.