Hospital at War: The 95th Evacuation Hospital in World War II (review)

Zachary Friedenberg, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania, has written a memoir of his experiences as a general surgeon with the 95th Evacuation Hospital in the European Theater of Operations during the Second World War. He describes his colleagues as " civilians in uniform" with limited instruction in the customs of military life at the time of their entry into military service. Over time they demonstrated adaptability to professional military life without losing sight of their goal of providing quality care to the sick and injured regardless of national origin, military or civilian status, friend or foe.

The initial chapter describes the organizational structure of an evacuation hospital and its personnel. The staff is composed of surgical teams, who operate simultaneously on a rotational basis. Staff is also assigned to provide care for medical problems, such as malaria, trenchfoot, and respiratory infections, etc. Support functions are provided in the areas of administration, logistics, technology, and personnel by nonmedical officers, and enlisted personnel.

The campaign experiences of the author are interspersed with those of nurses and enlisted personnel. They provide a personal perspective to a hostile environment where death is a daily occurrence to those who are non-combatants. This is poignantly brought home when a hospital ship, HMS Newfoundland, is bombed, resulting in a significant loss of injured and killed off the Salerno landing beaches. At Anzio, the 95th Evacuation Hospital was bombed by a German fighter, resulting in a major death toll among the staff and patients. We have learned that the Red Cross emblem on the uniform does not guarantee the safety of medical personnel.

As the war progresses, reorganization of the hospital occurs, resulting in a greater efficiency in delivery of surgical and medical care. Emphasis is placed on proper positioning of the facility in relation to the battle front, described as within the sound of cannon fire. Following the invasion of southern France in August of 1944, French surgeons joined the surgical teams and French civilians served as litter bearers. The rapport that the author experienced with the French people remains a life-long, cherished memory for him.

Hospital at War provides limited information for the scholarly military historian. However, it will interest anyone who has served in a military medical unit. The major thrust of the book is that, as the author so aptly points out, the military medical profession needs to relearn the lessons of prior conflicts., e.g., the necessity of leaving soft tissue wounds of the extremities open after debridement of devitalized tissue in the initial surgical management.