Navy Medicine March-April 1943
Jennifer Mitchum

Although the Guadalcanal campaign had officially ended, the advance in the Solomons continued. To deny the enemy bases in the central Solomons and to make them available for Allied forces, ADM William F. Halsey, Jr., set his sights on the Russell Islands, a small group of islands about 30 miles northwest of Guadalcanal. "With their good harbors and excellent terrain for airstrips, they would make a good staging point for"(1) an Allied advance into New Georgia. IN addition, with a patrol torpedo (PT) base, radar station, and airplane facilities established there, Guadalcanal would be better guarded in its role as the base of future operations. Thus, immediately after the fall of Guadalcanal, ADM Halsey activated plans for occupying the
Russells and forces landed there unopposed on 21 Feb 1943 in the midst of a tropical rainstorm. By month's end, more than 9,000 men were on islands.(2) On 13 March, the advance echelon of Marine Aircraft Group Twenty-one arrived at Banika, R.I., and began setting up camp. The remainder of the group arrived in April and all worked on the camp, usually 12-16 hours a day under almost constant rainfall and with limited food supply.

Accompanying medical personnel in the Russells were "sorely taxed."(3) Beginning in April, medicos saw their first medical crises--malaria, acute infections, jaundice, acute gastroenteritis, tonsillitis, pharyngitis,
fungus infections, and infected sores.

In addition to providing medical care, personnel had their share of camp construction as well, setting up their Quonset huts and other buildings with little or no help. They established a central dispensary, which included a dental officer, in the camp and set up an auxiliary sick call and emergency aid station at the air strip.

Navy medical personnel in the Russells consisted of 3 doctors, 2 dentists, and 39 corpsmen assigned to the headquarters squadron, and 1 flight surgeon and 7 corpsmen attached to each of the 5 aircraft squadrons.(4)

Advanced Base Components

The initial system of shipping advance base components to coastal assembly points intact was modified in March 1943. By that time, it had become apparent that Lions, Cubs, and Acorns were too large and
included many components that were not required in all theaters of war, while some facilities that were required for certain operations were omitted. To remedy this, Lions, Cubs, Acorns, CASUs (Carrier Aircraft Service Units), and PT bases were subdivided into functional components and alphabetized. with numeral subgroups for the diversified units within the group.

The medical and dental components were designated as "G" components. Over time, BUMED
designated components G-1 through G-10 as dispensaries and G-13 through G-16, which were dental units, as
subdispensaries. In malarial areas, G-17 units were staffed with well-trained entomologists and had ample supplies and equipment to remedy malaria problems. IN addition, G-18 epidemiology components were
provided when new bases were established and until sanitation standards were met. Equipped with laboratory equipment and supplies, personnel could determine the source and type of organisms producing dysentery and other epidemic disease outbreaks. In addition, there were the G-20 and G-21 optical repair components, the first being the base type and the latter being mobile. There was also a rodent control component--G-22. After time, as part of an advance base and several expansion phases, some of the larger dispensaries were
converted to fleet and base hospitals. On 15 March, the Chief od Naval Operations issued the first edition of the catalogue of advanced base functions components, from which area commanders could choose the
necessary functional components to comprise a Lion, Cub, Acorn, CASU, or PT base.

Navy Medicine in Amphibious Landings

Although the United States had entered World War II with no experience in employing medical units in opposed amphibious landings, planners had learned a great deal by spring 1943, and basic instructions for amphibious employment of medical units had been established by that time.(5) On 23 March, U.S.-advanced
amphibious training bases were established in French North Africa at Beni Saf, Mostaganem, Nemours, and Tenes in Algeria and at Port Lyautey, Morocco. A dispensary was set up at Port Lyautey and smaller medical installations were active in the other areas.

On Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, construction began on the medical facilities of Lion One. Lion One, which had been commissioned in the summer of 1942 at Moffet Field Naval Air Station, CA, was shipped to the Naval Advanced Base, Espiritu Santo in January 1943. Sanitation problems paved the way for fly- and mosquito-borne diseases in troops and hospital personnel. Hospital personnel suffered from a dengue-like
disease in epidemic form, which affected up to 12 percent of personnel at times. In addition, dysentery, which was endemic among island residents, was a problem.

To begin rectifying the sanitation situation, Army and Navy medical officers appointed a base sanitary
officer to inspect the area, report findings to the commanding officer, and recommend corrective measures. A malaria control unit was also formed.

Disease: An Ongoing Problem

The area surrounding Port Lyautey and the air base had the reputation of being the most malarial spot in all French Africa.(6) A Navy malaria control unit found that Arab huts and European dwellings near the base were infected with mosquitoes: In 1941, 40 percent of the French personnel at the base had malaria.(7)

Malaria, in turn, threatened the mission of the newly established naval air base. Control measures were necessary. Fortunately, U.S. forces had occupied the base shortly after the 1942 malaria season ended, and there would be several months before the 1943 season began. A malaria control team, composed of malaria control unit and approximately 50 construction battalion personnel, cleared drainage ditches of vegetation,
installed window and door screens, and regularly oiled collections of water that could not be drained. In
addition, malaria control specialists indoctrinated base personnel in malaria discipline and took measures to correct deviate conduct. As a precautionary measure, liberty expired at sundown, and those working in the open or in unscreened buildings after dark were required to use mosquito repellents. Freon pyrethrum was sprayed in all living and sleeping quarters daily to kill adult mosquitoes.

Knowing the potential danger posed by neighboring communities, personnel constructed an extensive
system of new drainage ditches in swamp areas near the base. IN addition, planes flew low and dusted the lagoon regularly, initially with Paris green and later with DDT. French and Arab inhabitants living nearby thoroughly opposed such treatments "but their objections were overruled in the interest of the war effort."(8)
Medical personnel also made Atabrine treatment accessible to the inhabitants. Incidentally, the Arabs, who opposed the treatment from the start, were eventually relocated beyond probable mosquito-flying range in
relation to the base.

By mid-April, U.S. and British Armies had made Atabrine mandatory as a suppressive treatment. The Navy, however, continued malaria control in the Port Lyautey area, using the region much like a testing ground to demonstrate the effectiveness of control measures. Malaria was not viewed as a problem at other U.S. naval bases in French North Africa. This was due tin part to the low incidence of the disease in the areas
where those bases were located and to anti-malarial regulations in effect at those bases.

Bacillary dysentery was also present in mild forms in North Africa as was acute gastroenteritis, which appeared in newly established bases affecting most personnel within a few days. Most patients recovered after about a week on a regular diet, a regimen of sulfaguanidine or sulfathiazole, and rest. Unsanitary conditions such as unscreened galleys and mess halls, and haphazard, incomplete fly-proofing of latrines, existed in areas
where outbreaks occurred. Subsequently, efforts were made to improve sanitary conditions. Administrative officers were indoctrinated in the basics of dysentery control and medical personnel were reeducated in the same principles and their responsibilities.

Pacific Hospitals

Malaria remained the chief disease of epidemiological concern at nearly all mobile and base hospitals. Of 870 patients at Mob-6 in Wellington, New Zealand, on 6 March, 660 or 76 percent had malaria.(9) Between 1 March and 17 March, 498 patients were admitted to hospital with 1 death occurring on 13 March from malignant tertian malaria.(10)

On 17 March, Mob-6 was renamed and commissioned Base Hospital No. 4, and excess supplies from Mob-6's original construction were used to build a new Mob-6 in the Auckland area. Following the
conversion, Base Hospital No. 4 reported that malaria remained a problem and that the greater part of malarial
infestations were due to plasmodium vivax. Consequently, the Malarial Control Unit opened a laboratory at Base Hospital No. 4 which served the activity and the 2nd Marine Division.

In addition to mainly serving the 2nd Marine Division., medical personnel continued to care for battle casualties, but in fewer numbers. There were also fractures and burn cases.

It should be noted that medical staff stayed in relatively good health. No epidemics, pneumonia, or
frequent respiratory infections were reported among hospital personnel.(11) In addition, there were only two instances of serious illnesses, one which occurred before hospital became Base Hospital No. 4. One case resulted in death, and the other, a man with carcinoma of the bladder, was evacuated to the States. From 17 to 31 March, 671 patients were admitted to the hospital.(12) In April, 1,385 patients were admitted.(13)

On 6 March, at Mob-4 in Auckland, LCDR James J. Sapero, MC, head of the malaria control program in the South pacific, discussed and reviewed the latest control and treatment methods at a conference. In
addition to Navy medical personnel, the conference was attended by the Army' 39th General Hospital and 1st Port of Embarkation medical staffers.

At Base Hospital No. 2, Efate, New Hebrides, cases of plasmodium falciparum, which initially
constituted about 48 percent of the admissions, were on a continuous decline.(14) Plasmodium vivax was also gradually decreasing. Atabrine was use to treat these conditions.

Expansion and improvements continued to be made at the mobile and base hospitals as necessary. In March, the Naval Construction Battalions began work on expanding the bed capacity at Mob-5 Noumea, New Cadelonia, to 1,000 beds, and the first nurses arrived at the hospital via USS Mount Vernon (AP-22) on 25
March 1943.

Mob-7, which had been commissioned at the medical supply depot in Brooklyn, NY, on 9 July 1942, was also set up at Noumea. Manned with 32 officers and 249 enlisted men, the hospital was situated in what had been a cow pasture surrounded by hills. Personnel received their first patients--268--on 22 April.(15) BY the end of the second week of operation, there were 630 patients on board.(16)

Training Continued

As in previous months, training remained crucial to the success of the Navy Medical Department in the war. In March, the first group of women's reserves (WAVES) reported to Hospital Corps schools for
instruction.

In aviation medical training, corpsmen were taking courses designed to qualify them as low-pressure
chamber technicians at sites such as the Marine Corps Air Station, Marine Corps Base, Quantico, VA.

Changes and Additions

As the war raged on, military-wide changes continued to occur. Earlier in the year, Ruth C. Streeter became the first woman to be appointed a Marine major. The Navy broke with the tradition "that every man in blue was a volunteer," and began selecting men from the draft.(17) Then on 4 April, the Navy launched USS The Sullivans (DD-537), the first Navy ship with a plural name.

Within the ranks of Navy medicine, CAPT Alexander G. Lyle, DC, became the first appointed rear admiral in the Dental Corps on 13 March. By April, the task of recording Navy medical war history was under way as LTJG Chester L. Guthrie, H-V(s), from the National Archives, was assigned to the Office of the Special Assistant to the Surgeon General as records coordinator for BUMED.

In addition, a convalescent hospital was commissioned at Santa Cruz on 8 March and the USNH Memphis, TN, officially opened on 17 March 1943.

Worth Mentioning a Second Time

At the end of April, service personnel at USNH Parris Island, SC, set what may have been then a record in U.S. war bond sales to servicemen. Five days after the hospital began its bond drive, 100 percent of the enlisted personnel had made allotments to purchase war bonds for the duration. The allotments, which
involved more than 10 percent of their income and were for an indefinite period, were automatically deducted from their pay.

ENS Armand P. Chartier, HC, was in charge of the bond drive. "The efforts of Ensign Armand Philip Chartier, (H.C.), U.S.N., in this bond drive and the patriotic response of the hospital corpsmen are highly
commendable,"(18) noted CAPT Clyde B. Camerer, MC, commanding officer of the hospital.

Further Back in the War

Return to WWII History index page

Foward in to the War

References

1. Karig W, Purdon E. Battle Report: Pacific War, Middle Phase, p 203.

2. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administrative History, 1941-1945, Vol. I: Narrative History, chap. III, p35.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid., p 36.

5. The History of the Medical Department of the U.S. Navy in World War II, Vol. I: A Narrative and Pictorial Volume, p 167.

6. Ibid., p 194.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid., p 195.

9. History of USN Mobile Hospital No. 6 (June 25, 1942-March 17, 1943), p 11.

10. Ibid., p 11-12.

11. History of USN Base Hospital No. 4 (March 17, 1943-December 31, 1943), p 3.

12. Ibid., p 2.

13. Ibid.

14. Annual Sanitary Report 1943, U.S. Naval Base Hospital No. 2, p 63.

15. History of Special Augmented Hospital No. 6 Okinawa.

16. Ibid.

17. Karig W, Burton E, Freeland SL. Battle Report: The Atlantic War, p 410.

18. Camerer CB. "Marine Servicemen Set Bond-Buying Record," The Hospital Corps Quarterly; 1943 16(4), p 216.