VI. Othelia's Story. 95th Evac Hospital: The Bombing

#6 Othelia's Story - 95th Evac Hospital: Anzio (part 2)

Lt. Rosten

Editor Note: At Anzio on February 7, 1944, the 95th Evac unit made world news when a German plane dropped fragmentation bombs in their midst, killing 28 and wounding dozens. The damage was so great that the hospital was rendered non-functional and the 95th survivors were sent to the then "static" Monte Cassino front, where it was re-equipped and re-staffed.

08 Feb 1944 Stars and Stripes article

Editor note: This account is taken largely from accounts of 95th Evac Nurse Mary Fischer and others

On February 7, 1944, in the middle of the afternoon, an air raid was going on and a German plane dove over the area and dropped several anti-personnel bombs among the ward tents - near the place where the large cloth Red Cross was located. A Spitfire was right after him and later we learned that the German pilot, an 18 year old boy, was a patient in one of the adjoining hospitals, having bailed out after the Spitfire shot him down. 

[Editor note: Ironically, the young German pilot shot down by the Spitfire was delivered as a patient to the very hospital he had just bombed. He was given the treatment accorded to wounded and was evacuated from the beachhead aboard a LST.]

Fatalities: The boys who were on litter detail - one was still clutching a letter from home he had been reading, two others still held the pasteboards of their card game, the fellow who came to the hospital to visit his brother, a patient, the technicians in the X-ray tent grouped around their table taking their last picture when they could have been safe in a foxhole just a few feet away, but sense of duty held them by their patient; the Red Cross worker who was passing out cigarettes, candy and toilet articles - building the morale of the wounded men; the nurses who were bandaging the wounds of the injured; the soldier who was carrying a patient to X-ray when the plane dropped death and covered the man with his body, thus receiving fragments in the back; the medical man who was wounded and said “Take care of the other fellows, I’m not hurt bad.”; the wounded men and officers who carried litters and administered first aid to others while their own blood reddened their clothing.

Bombing aftermath

We found dead and wounded all over. Everyone got busy and first-aid was given to those that needed it. Pulses were taken and blankets provided. We had seen death many times in our hospital but it never affected us as it did now when we faced the immediate sorrow. It all happened so fast and the patients from the bombing were evacuated as quickly as possible to the nearby hospitals. Our Chief Nurse and assistant were working side-by-side giving blood plasma. They were both killed instantly.  In all, 3 nurses, 1 Red Cross worker, 3 doctors, 16 enlisted men and 50 patients were killed. [Editor note: The official casualty report is below .] Many of our personnel were wounded and had to be evacuated.

Editor note:  Lt. Rosten was wounded in the bombing attack, catching the shrapnel fragment pictured below.

Shrapnel fragment from anti-personnel bomb

It had come from nowhere but in a short time everything was back in order. Our X-ray equipment was ruined, ward tents looked like moth eaten bathing suits. The patients and personnel who needed surgical attention were sent to other hospitals. The medical work of the officers, nurses and enlisted men in this tragic moment is worthy of the highest praise. Our surgical section was stymied but our unit continued to function as a medical hospital.

Wounded evacuation to hospital ship

The night was solemn with thoughts of what had happened. An “88” shell dropped in the enlisted mens’ area throwing dirt on the tents. No one seemed dismayed or frightened. Their thoughts were elsewhere.

The hospital continued its duties. Hundreds of Flying Forts and Liberators flew over the next day to bomb the enemy lines. We followed them all the way until they turned around for the flight back to their base. We watched them brave the thick hail of enemy flak to pound the enemy with our hatred.

We waited to be replaced by another unit so we could move back and reorganize.

The night before our departure, “Whistling Willies” guns exploded in the hospital across the road again terrorizing the sanctuary of the medical units. The catastrophes of war are not supposed to strike hospitals but when they occur the non-combatants handle the situation with the coolness of a front-line veteran.

I shall never spend another vacation at the beach.

From the book, "They Called Them Angels" by Kathi Jackson

It was at Anzio that the Army's medical units suffered the most casualties: 92 killed, 387 wounded, 19 captured and 60 missing in action.  "... Anzio was undoubtedly the worst place I have been in.  We were under continuous shell-fire ... the cases we got were the worst imaginable - blown off arms and legs, sucking wounds of the chest, injuries that demanded continuous nursing care - but even the nurses were being hurt, and their was a grievous shortage of them."

Excerpt from Major Arthur B. deGrandpre` diary, a surgeon attached to the 95th Evac Hospital

Feb 7 , 1944 the blackest day in the history of the 95th Evacuation Hospital. About 1430, a German bomber came over being chased by a British Spitfire. The enemy pilot dropped his load of bombs in our area – seven small antipersonnel bombs. Spitfire shooting at him. Two bombs land in our OR. Headquarters, Receiving, X-Ray, Pre-Op and Post-Op Evacuation. Several wards are hit. Colonel Paul K. Sauer is wounded in the leg and shoulder. Major Truman in the knee; Captain Henry A. Luce in the chest; Captain Henry A. Korda in the chest and arm. Al Shroeder is killed with a head injury while sitting at his desk in the Receiving. Lieutenant Kaywood suffers a compound comminuted skull fracture, cerebral herniation and dies promptly. First Lieutenant Carrie T. Sheetz, our Assistant Head Nurse and First Lieutenant Blanche F. Sigman, our Head Nurse, are both killed. Lieutenants Raymond F. Berent, Mallon, and William W. Haiten are seriously wounded. There are about 20 killed. First Lieutenant Marjorie G. Morrow, another Nurse, also dies. Miss Ester Richards, one of our ARC workers, dies of her wounds. Many Enlisted Men lost their lives. Between 40 and 50 are wounded. Twenty-seven ward tents are destroyed. The equipment is gone. Our electricians have all been wounded, and all X-Ray Technicians, except one, are casualties. The Pharmacist is killed. Best figures I can obtain talk about 28 killed, and 50 to 60 wounded. A boy visiting his wounded brother, falls across him to protect him and gets killed. Another Mexican boy with us has his head blown off while hanging out clothes to dry. Chaplain Winter B. Luskett is struck in the face. One of my patients with a fractured skull receives another fractured skull, while being x-rayed and is killed. Numerous German shells explode nearby. Lots of dogfights today. Big counterattacks last night, but all have been repelled so far. Story told us last night by a Captain who came in with the Rangers about our rocket gun ships (Landing Craft, Support (Rocket) –ed) which deliver 500 5-inch rockets in one and a half minutes and blasted a path several hundred yards wide and deep preceding the Rangers’ landing at the three beaches. The noise is terrific, indescribable. Directions are given by British Officers in small boats who advance near the shore, guided by compass only, and shine small lights in order to direct British naval fire. 

Official Account - Hospital Bombed

Tragedy struck on 7 February 1944. With about 400 patients in the hospital, loaded ambulances coming in with freshly wounded, and the operating rooms, shock wards, and x-ray sections working at full capacity, at about 1545, an enemy plane dived, chased by two British Spitfires. Before anyone could realize what was happening, five anti-personnel bombs had been dropped on a corner of the hospital area causing death and damage to personnel and equipment.

A German plane (type undetermined) dropped 5 antipersonnel bombs within the area of the hospital. Eyewitnesses stated that the aircraft was being tailed by, and was the target of a friendly (British) fighter. Small caliber gun fire landed in the area without damage. The bombs fell in the following areas:

• 10 feet from Headquarters tent
• on the Evacuation tent
• 4 feet from the Pre-Operative tent
• midway between the Receiving tent and Ward # 1
• on the large canvas Red Cross marker spread out 50 feet from the Hospital’s Laboratory

Hospital personnel casualties were:

• killed – 2 Officers, 3 Nurses, 1 Red Cross worker, 16 Enlisted Men
• wounded – 9 Officers, 1 Warrant Officer, 4 Nurses, 36 Enlisted Men

Patient personnel casualties were:

• killed – 4 Patients
• wounded – 10 Patients

Other personnel casualties were:

• killed – 2 Enlisted Men

To be continued ...

Copyright © 2015 Dave Hoplin