Courage under fire. When we hear that phrase, we picture a soldier in the trenches, a sailor manning his guns, or a pilot dodging enemy fighter planes. But how about nurses and physicians? In one of my novels, On Distant Shores, the hero serves as a pharmacist in the US 93rd Evacuation Hospital in World War II. On January 23, 1944, the 93rd Evac landed at Anzio, Italy, one day after American and British forces had landed. The armies succeeded in surprising the Germans and faced very little opposition. Due to overcautious leadership and insufficient reinforcements, the forces waited and consolidated the beachhead before driving inland. That proved to be a deadly delay. While the Allies waited, the Germans shored up their defenses. For the next four months, the Allies would remain trapped on a narrow beachhead, and over 4000 American and British soldiers would die. To care for the 11,000 wounded—and the sick—four US Army hospitals served on the beachhead at Nettuno, just south of Anzio, close to the ocean. Although evacuation hospitals were usually set up out of artillery range, the front lines at Anzio were less than ten miles from shore (Read more: Hospitalization in World War II – Chain of Evacuation and Hospitalization in World War II – Mobile and Fixed Hospitals). The khaki hospital tents were marked by enormous red crosses on a white circle, but artillery fire did land on the hospital site—both accidental and deliberate fire. The Luftwaffe battered these hospitals too in multiple air raids. On February 7, 1944, a German fighter pilot, fleeing from US fighters, jettisoned his bombs for greater maneuverability—while over the 95th Evacuation Hospital. Twenty-eight patients and hospital […]
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