Navy Medicine July-August 1943
Jennifer Mitchum

With Guadalcanal and the Russell Islands under Allied control, U.S. forces continued their offensive in the western Solomon Islands in the face of enemy opposition. On 2 July, Japanese bombers and fighter planes attacked the camp which Seabees had set up on Rendova Island. Taken by surprise, casualties piled up quickly with 59 killed and 77 wounded. For hours, Navy and Army medics cared for ship and shore wounded. Burying the dead took about 3 days.(1) On Independence Day, the enemy launched another aerial attack on the camp destroying several landing craft and damaging two landing craft, infantry (LCIs). Despite the attacks, 28,748 personnel (25,556 Army, 1,547 Navy, and 1,645 Marines) landed and approximately 30,000 tons of equipment were unloaded at Rendova Harbor between 30 June and 31 July.(2) After the Independence Day raid, the Japanese Army refused to contribute more planes for the defense of the Solomons. Instead, they concentrated on holding the New Georgia Island mainland as an outpost.

Other Movements in the New Georgia Area

Because the U.S wanted Viru Harbor as a small-craft base, U.S. forces landed at Viru Village, New Georgia Island, on 1 July to rendezvous with the arrival of Fourth Marine Raiders coming overland from Segi Point.(3)(4) En route to Viru, the Fourth advanced rapidly and front lines were not clearly developed. As a result, snipers and machine guns often operated behind U.S. troops, making first-aid difficult and the setting up of an aid station initially impossible. Later, personnel moved wounded on the trail to Viru at night, and medics set up an aid station in a native hut at Tetamere Village. Corpsmen assigned to the Fourth
carried unit 3 medical kits(5) and each battalion member had a supply of Atabrine, halazone, salt tablets, aspirin, band-aids, and a morphine syrette, all in a metal container. To the south of Viru, on Vangunu Island, where troops had landed on 30 June, medical staffers established an aid station in a Japanese mess hall.

In the Viru and Vangunu operations, medical personnel encountered several difficulties. In evacuating casualties over jungle trails, about six men per litter were needed to carry the wounded and the litter bearers had to stop and rest every 300 to 500 yards. Incidentally, many of the seriously wounded died along the way. Because ambulatory patients became litter patients when given morphine, medical personnel administered the drug cautiously. Corpsmen also found the packaging of first-aid units 1 and 3 to be impractical because the units became jumbled after several battle dressings were removed. Oftentimes, corpsmen had to empty the kits to find specific items. Thus, many corpsmen used Navy pouches in which items could be located more promptly.

Sanitation and Disease in New Georgia
Unsanitary conditions with related fly, mosquito, and screening problems as well as contact with native
civilians accounted for combat units losing 25 to 50 percent of their combat efficiency to disease.(6) Fungus infections occurred in about 25 percent of the New Georgia Occupation Force.(7) These conditions were
mainly among Seabee members because the nature of their work made it difficult to maintain good personal hygiene. Thirty percent of the troops had foot infections.(8) Early on, diarrhea and dysentery were also
problems. During the first 6 weeks of the campaign, 10 percent of the force was affected with diarrhea
weekly.(9) Medical personnel treated dysentery rather effectively with sulfaguanidine.

Because of fewer infected anopheles mosquitoes and improved control measures, malaria was not regarded as a serious problem as it had been during the Guadalcanal campaign. A malaria control unit
consisting of two naval officers, eight Navy corpsmen, and one Army enlisted man arrived on Rendova Island 14 July and immediately began surveying and oiling troop areas. Following surveys, troops abandoned areas that showed heavy mosquito breeding. Upon setting up laboratories and diagnosing blood smears, malaria
experts found little evidence of initial infection, concluding most of the cases to be relapses or reoccurrences. Atabrine continued to be used as a prophylactic as well as a suppressant.

War neurosis--which included combat fatigue, exhaustion related problems, and temporary mental
disturbances--was reported to be the most serious medical problem in the New Georgia campaign. Between 30 June and 30 September, about 2,500 were admitted with the diagnosis; 1,750 cases occurred in July, 650 in August, and 100 in September.(10) Two hundred of these cases were Navy and Marine Corps. Combat fatigue constituted about 50 percent of the war neurosis cases; fatigue and exhaustion combined comprised about another 20 percent of the cases. Given proper rest, relaxation, and good diet, 75 to 80 percent of those
diagnosed with war neurosis completely recovered.

Hospitalization and Evacuation in New Georgia

With the exception of medical units which accompanied Army, Navy, and Marine forces, area hospital
facilities were nonexistent in the initial stages of the campaign. Hospital facilities were not available in the New Georgia area until the Army established the 17th Field Hospital, a 250-bed facility on Kokurana Island, on 28 July. Before then, the nearest hospital was on Guadalcanal, about 200 miles away and 20 hours by boat. Incidentally, because the airfield at Munda was not totally secured by the Allied until later, emergency air evacuation was initially limited. By the time regular air evacuation began, fighting had decreased.

Because of the limited hospital beds, medical personnel evacuated patients within 24 hours of their injuries. Wounded from Wickham Anchorage, Segi, and Viru were evacuated by returning supply boats to the Russell Islands. Similarly, wounded on Vella Lavella, Rendova Island, and about Rice Anchorage and Enogi on New Georgia were evacuated to Guadalcanal. Rendova's East Beach served as evacuation port for tank landing ships (LSTs) going to Guadalcanal. LSTs had the capacity to evacuate between 100 and 200 casualties. During the first 4 weeks of the campaign, one medical officer manned each LST. At a battalion aid station in the vicinity of the beach, medics treated many evacuees for shock prior to their further evacuation.

Although the sailing time to Guadalcanal was about 20 hours, casualties, many who had received little first-aid treatment on New Georgia, often reached Guadalcanal medical installations about 72 to 84 hours after they had been injured. Such time gaps and space limitations aboard LSTs contributed to the incidence of gas gangrene early on in the campaign. The First Corps Medical Battalion had 24 patients with gas gangrene, of whom 6 died; Mobile Hospital No. 8 admitted 20 patients with gas gangrene, of whom one died.(11)

On 15 August, SCAT (South Pacific Combat Air Transport) planes landed at Munda Air Field and
regular air evacuation began. By the end of August, SCATs had flown out 132 patients.(12) During the period of 30 June and 31 August, evacuations by all means of transportation totaled 6,693; of these 5,736 were from Army units, 241 from Navy, 716 from the Marine Corps.(13)

New Georgia Medical Supplies

Most of the supplies used in the New Georgia operation came from the Army medical supply depot on Guadalcanal. The 43rd Army Division, responsible for medical supplies from 30 June to 28 July, had difficulty carrying out its supply handling and distribution plan. Under the plan, field units were to carry 30 days supply with them and another 30-day supply was to be transferred later. Due to disorganization in unloading and
confusion in embarking for combat, personnel carried only small portions of the huge stores. Consequently, units had about 10 days worth of medical supplies instead of 30 days. Within 3 days after landing, more
medical supplies were urgently needed. Fortunately, medical units that arrived later brought adequate supplies with them and handled them more efficiently.

Navy medical units secured supplies from MOB-8 which was officially established on Guadalcanal 7 August 1943. In cases of emergency, medics used Army supplies. In the beginning of the campaign, Navy medical personnel had scant anti-malarial supplies; they later received more when the malaria control unit arrived and when additional supplies arrived from Guadalcanal.

Sicily

Firmly affixed in French North Africa, the Allied moved quickly to take advantage of their gains in the Mediterranean with the next Allied objective being Sicily. The Sicilian campaign began on 10 July with a series of amphibious night landings. The main landing areas were Licata, Gela, and Scoglitti. Forces landing in the immediate vicinity of Licata and Gela encountered strong opposition. However, troops landing on beaches farther away from the cities were met with little resistance. In the Scoglitti area, enemy opposition was slight initially but increased as transports moved inshore and troops advanced inland.

The Navy Medical Department was to provide medical and surgical care for all personnel on Navy
vessels from the time of embarkation until they landed on invasion beaches. Navy medical personnel were also to evacuate sick and wounded from beaches during the assault until adequate shore medical facilities could be established.

In the Licata area, troops landed continuously and thrusted inward despite heavy surf and enemy
counterfire. Incidentally, the losses were initially few. Nonetheless, Navy medical personnel established land based facilities in the area quickly. On the day of the initial landings, a Navy medical unit landed and aided survivors. Then on 19 July, another unit arrived at Licata and proceeded overland to Porto Empedocle and set up a dispensary. LSTs, which were principal troop lift, were used for evacuation. Casualties were transported to hospitals in the Tunis-Bizerte area with Army overflow going to medical facilities in Bone.

Gela turned out to be the most bitterly contested landing by the enemy. Beaches were heavily mined against vehicles causing a number of DUWKs, two-and-a-half-ton, 6x6 amphibious trucks, and bulldozers to be destroyed. As daylight approached, the enemy employed air forces and later tanks. Such resistance, coupled with beach congestion and problems unloading LSTs, slowed troop advance in the area. Many paratroopers, tasked with capturing roads and high ground in which to command the plain, were lost, drowned or shot down. Survivors trickled into Gela. Doctors and pharmacist's mates aboard ships worked nearly around the clock tending wounded. Likewise, a Navy medical unit landed 11 July and set up a small dispensary and sick
bay. Despite opposition, the Allied had captured Ponte Olivo airstrip by the morning of 12 July, and the
situation became more favorable in the Gela area. Wounded were evacuated to Oran by transports (APs).

The Scoglitti landings were delayed and once underway heavy surf, lack of definite landmarks, and
inexperienced boat crews made landing and unloading difficult. Despite delays, the Navy managed to unload transports and prepare for the evacuation of wounded within three days. Army collecting companies and Navy medical components of beach parties rendered first aid to wounded prior to their evacuation to ships.

Transports, attack transports (APAs), and attack cargo ships (AKAs) were used in evacuating patients to medical facilities in North Africa. Landing craft, vehicle and personnel (LCVPs) and landing craft, tank (LCTs) were used to evacuate wounded to the larger ships. Forty-six LCTs divided into three groups carried a total of three doctors and six pharmacist's mates. Incidentally, the Army found DUKWs especially useful in evacuating wounded from shore-to-ship. The casualty load in the Scoglitti area was reported to be relatively light the first two days, allowing medics to render extensive definitive treatment aboard transports.

The third day after the assault troops had landed, 11 of 18 transports sailed from the Scoglitti area and the remainder on the following day. By that time, Army medical facilities were operating ashore. Between
H-hour on the day of the landings and arrival in Oran, Scoglitti area transports received 531 Army, 157 Navy and Coast Guard, and 16 POWs for treatment. Transports did not reach their capacity for casualty handling. The average number of casualties per AP and APA was 40 to 45.(14) At Oran, some Army and Navy
casualties were admitted to area medical facilities while others were evacuated stateside.

Included in the Allied medical element for Sicily were about 15 hospital ships and hospital carriers available for evacuation once transports left; 2 were Army hospital ships and the others were British and Canadian. However, administrative problems hampered their operations. Thus, land-based Army hospitals became overcrowded while awaiting the arrival of hospital ships.

In northern Sicily, a Navy medical unit established a dispensary at Palermo. On 28 July, the Naval Operating Base (NOB) Palermo was established. By the end of August, the smaller Navy medical units at Gela, Licata, and Palermo had been consolidated into one unit at the NOB, having a total bed capacity of 125 which could be expanded to 175.

The Mediterranean LST Pool

For the first time in the European phase of the war, LSTs were thoroughly used. Each LST had a
compact sick bay for minor and routine medical concerns and occasional major surgery. There was usually one pharmacist's mate first class aboard each and one medical officer in each division of 4 to 6 ships.

To bolster these facilities, a medical pool of 100 Navy medical officers and 400 corpsmen was set up at the Bizerte embarkation port. The Navy used 52 medical officers and 250 corpsmen; the rest were detailed for duty with the Army. Thus, each outgoing combat-loaded LST carried one medical officer and five enlisted men in addition to the regularly assigned pharmacist's mate. Approximately 72 LSTs served the Licata, Gela, and Scoglitti areas. In conjunction with the pool, a medical supply dump was established to insure that
evacuation supplies were constantly circulated to beaches. The U.S. Army Mediterranean base section
furnished the supplies.

Each LST had cots for about 150 patients. The largest number evacuated in one ship was about 120. Four hospital corpsmen and one medical officer were sufficient to care for casualties coming aboard, for many ships received less than 12 patients. LSTs were especially suitable for evacuating minor casualties over short hauls. Early on, LSTs came under criticism because corpsmen and facilities were not being fully utilized.

On 17 August, Army troops entered Messina officially ending the Sicily campaign. Lipari and Stromboli Islands, north of Sicily, surrendered to U.S. destroyer and PT boats.

The Aleutians Continued

At 1330 on 15 August, Allied troops landed unopposed at Kiska. The Japanese had seized Kiska and Attu in June 1942. U.S. forces had reclaimed Attu in May 1943. The Kiska task unit consisted of an invasion fleet and a small group of men who were to begin setting up a naval station. Because of prior enemy
evacuation, the Kiska campaign seemed to be a practice drill for future campaigns. Nonetheless, medical
personnel were kept busy.(15)

As at Attu, immersion foot and catarrhal fever were primary medical problems; there were also cases of situational neurosis. In addition, injuries resulting from booby traps and accidental wounds, caused
primarily by careless handling of equipment, were reported. Medics aboard USS J. Franklin Bell (APA-16) handled 32 casualties resulting from booby trap and accidental wound incidents.

Similarly, while on anti-submarine patrol the night of 17-18 August, USS Abner Read's (DD-526) stern hit a floating mine. Casualties were taken to the wardroom and the captain's and division commander's cabins for emergency treatment. Those suffering from smoke inhalation were carried below to the CPO quarters or
officers' country and given care.

By 0800 of 18 August, medics had completed emergency treatment and those wounded were in bunks eating. Subsequently, medical staffers re-examined and classified the wounded according to injuries, rendered definitive treatment, and recorded their conditions. Casualties totalled 48; of these one died and 34 were
transferred to a Naval dispensary at Adak.(16)

Elsewhere

The Navy Medical Department continued its expansion program commissioning U.S. Naval Special Hospital, Sun Valley, ID, on 1 July, USNH Trinidad, British West Indies on 12 August, and MOB-10 Russell Islands on 26 August. In addition, Base Hospital No. 9 sailed for Oran, Algeria on 21 Aug.

Worth Mentioning a Second Time

July-August 1943 brought more stories of courage and dedication which reinforced the Navy Medical Department's long medical tradition for service. There is the story of pharmacist's mate Thaddeus Parker who was killed in action during the New Georgia campaign on 20 July. Disregarding his personal safety, PhM2c Parker moved forward into areas swept by intense, hostile fire to render medical aid to two wounded Marines. In an attempt to evacuate the second man, PhM2c Parker was killed. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star medals posthumously. In addition, a ship, Thaddeus Parker (DE-369), was later named after him.

References

1. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administrative History, 1941-1945, Vol. I: Narrative History, chap. 3, p 41.

2. Ibid., p 40.

3. Viru Harbor was found to be unsuitable for the proposed PT base and it only function was to repair small landing craft on a marine railway installed by Seabees.

4. Morison SE. Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier 22 July 1942-1
May 1944, p 153.

5. The Unit 3 medical kit was one type of first-aid kit carried by corpsmen in the field. Within the thick purse-like bag, which weighed about 10 pounds, were first-aid materials and surgical instruments such as suturing needles, needle holders, surgical knives, tourniquets, and several types of bandages.

6. The History of the Medical Department of the United States Navy in World War II, Vol. I: A Narrative and Pictorial Volume, p 77.

7. Ibid.

8. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administrative History, 1941-1945, Vol. I: Narrative History chap 3, p 56.

9. Ibid., p 55.

10. Ibid., p 57.

11. The History of the Medical Department of the United States Navy in World War II, Vol. I: A Narrative and Pictorial Volume, p 78.

12. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administrative History, 1941-1945, Vol. I: Narrative History, chap.3, p64.

13. Ibid., p 64.

14. The History of the Medical Department of the United States Navy in World War II, Vol. I: A Narrative and Pictorial Volume, p 125.

15. According to later reports, Navy medicine was believed to be over represented in the Aleutians campaign because of the lack of action.

16. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administrative History, 1941-1945, Vol. I: Narrative History, chap. 4, p 14.