Navy Medicine March-April 1944
Jennifer Mitchum and David Klubes

The Pacific Theater

In the Pacific, American forces continued their dual thrust strategy. After seizing the Gilberts and the Marshalls, ADM Nimitz's Central Pacific force was preparing for the invasion of the Marianas. This operation would begin with Saipan in June 1944.

For much of March and April, construction battalions (Seabees) transformed the Marshalls into a
forward base and staging area for the invasion of Saipan. Moreover, hospitals in the South Pacific now far in the rear, were dismantled and packed for shipping to other locations in the Central and Western Pacific. Two such hospitals were MOB-3 in American Samoa and Base Hospital No. 4 Wellington, New Zealand, which both closed in April 1944.(1)

Meanwhile, GEN MacArthur was rapidly moving toward the Philippines. To secure the eastern flank for his northwestward advance, MacArthur needed to reduce and isolate the Japanese base at Rabaul on the island of New Britain. In December 1943, the First Marine Division landed at Cape Gloucester on the
opposite end of New Britain. Over the next 5 months, the Marines proceeded to eliminate the Japanese forces outside Rabaul's strong fortifications. Meanwhile, continuous aerial bombing of Rabaul's airfields, port, and base infrastructure rendered it offensively impotent.(2)

To finalize Rabaul's isolation, on 29 Feb, units of the 1st Cavalry Division landed at Los Negros in the Admiralty Islands (located between New Britain and New Guinea). Mistakenly believing the island to be undefended, the Americans instead found 4,000 Japanese troops. Luckily, the Japanese were concentrated on the other side of the island. This gave the cavalrymen and the attached Seabees time to dig in against the
inevitable counterattacks. After a number of small attacks, on the night of 3 March, the enemy launched a massive, last-gasp "Banzai" charge. In bitter fighting, the Americans turned back the attackers and eliminated Japanese resistance on Los Negros.(3) During that battle, CPhM Harry Shields, who was attached to the 40th Construction Battalion (Seabees), disregarded orders to remain in his foxhole and administered critical first aid to the wounded under intense shellfire. After ensuring the safety of his patients, Shields was mortally
wounded. In recognition of his extraordinary heroism, he was awarded the Navy Cross.(4)

In a few weeks the Admiralties were secured and MacArthur turned his attention to New Guinea. He ignored the pessimistic advice of his subordinates and decided to leap audaciously some 580 miles westward to Hollandia on New Guinea's northern shore.(5) The intricate plan called for simultaneous assaults at Aitape, Humboldt Bay and Tanahmerah Bay, which were separated by 120 miles.(6)

The Navy assumed the Army would be incapable of caring for the wounded until base hospitals were established ashore.Therefore, the Navy Medical Department planned to treat the initial casualties. Capitalizing on knowledge acquired during earlier invasions, Navy medicine developed a more streamlined plan for
casualty care and evacuation. A medical battalion was to land at each beach to provide initial care and act as a
collecting station. Additionally, a medical officer was attached to each beach party to coordinate both the evacuation of wounded to the appropriate ships and the landing of medical supplies.(7)

The plan called for LSTs as the primary evacuation units. Consequently, medically augmented LSTs, which had 1 medical officer and 3 corpsmen, were distributed throughout the assault and succeeding echelons. Moreover, in each LST group, one LST was further augmented with an emergency surgical team of 2
surgeons and 10 corpsmen to provide more definitive treatment.(8) In the event of heavy casualties, troop transports, such as APAs (Attack Transports), APDs (High Speed Transports),and LCIs (Landing Craft Infantry) would also be used to evacuate wounded. LST 464, with its onboard medical facility, (see Navy Medicine January-February 1994) was originally stationed offshore as an evacuation way-station and hospital ship. Eventually, it moved into Humboldt Bay to become a station hospital for the construction units.(9)

A new feature was surgical specialty teams. Each team had a medical officer who specialized in
orthopedics, urology, anesthesia, EENT, and thoracic surgery, respectively, and two corpsmen. They were to care for difficult cases in their field as well as acting as consultants.(10)

On 22 April, American forces landed at Aitape, Humboldt Bay and Tanahmerah Bay. MacArthur was right; they were not well defended.(11) The Japanese were taken by surprise and the Americans quickly took their objectives with only light casualties.(12) In fact, the Japanese needed 3 months to mass sufficient forces for a counterattack. Although the Navy's medical units were mostly unused, valuable experience was gained
for future operations.

POWs

In the Philippines, sick and hungry Allied POWs languishing in Bilibid, Cabanatuan, and other camps
continued to face increasing starvation as food became even more scarce. Boiled camote tops salvaged from pitiful gardens, and rice sweepings polluted by sand and pebbles were the norm. At the infamous Bilibid Prison, food was becoming so scarce that tension had reached a new high between guards and inmates. As the Allied noose began to tighten around the Philippines, even the Japanese guards began to feel the pinch. To feed themselves, they stole food from the prisoners. More and more frequently, POWs fought amongst
themselves for the leftovers.

And there were new dangers. By the beginning of 1944, the Japanese began planning for the transfer of POWs to Japan. One of the reasons for these transfers may have been the increasing labor shortage in Japan as more men were conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army. By March, with American surface forces and troops less than 1,800 miles away in New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands, the Philippines seemed the next target. The Japanese therefore feared losing control of their POWs and having to surrender them if the Philippines were eventually overrun.

POWs at many of the camps learned through the grapevine that the war was going well for their
compatriots but many wondered if they could hold out until the "Yanks and tanks" came back to the
Philippines. Some like the commanding officer of the Bilibid Prison hospital, CDR Thomas H. Hayes, even chanced to contemplate what life would be like back home after the war. On 16 March he wrote:

"Life has gone ahead of us back there and [their] plans there have not taken us seriously into consideration. The trend of life of our people has been set in these years and we are a past issue. I can remember the pathetic instances of the last war, wherein some came back and tried to pick up where they left off. They couldn't. The past is past, and no matter how much it hurts we must realize it, accept it, adjust to it and start out new as a stranger." (13)

Later that month, suffering from progressive blindness brought on by chronic malnutrition, Hayes, in a particularly depressed mood stated that if the damage was deemed permanent, "I am not going home.... To Hell with it. My mind is made up."(14) As American bombing raids increased toward the end of March, the
Japanese began a routine of nightly blackouts in Manila and, of course, Bilibid. Forced indoors at 7:30 pm by the new edict, everyone suffered from unbearable heat and clouds of mosquitoes.

In March at the Karenko POW camp on Formosa, a Japanese propaganda crew made a film they told the prisoners would be shown in the U.S. CAPT Robert Davis, MC, former commanding officer of the Canacao Naval Hospital, wrote that the movie's "scenes are especially arranged, and make us appear as if we were living in the land of milk and honey."(15)

Hospital Ships

By this stage in the war, hospital ships had established themselves as a essential ingredient of the
medical care system, but more were needed. During early 1944, the Navy commissioned three additional
hospital ships. On 24 Feb, the hospital ship Refuge (AH-11) was commissioned and served briefly at Norfolk
Navy Yard before sailing for Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria. To augment the hospital ships Solace (AH-5) and Relief (AH-1) in the Pacific, Samaritan (AH-10) and Bountiful (AH-9) were commissioned on 1 March and 23 March respectively and were soon operating in Hawaiian waters.

Navy Medicine at Home

By early 1944, planners predicted that existing medical facilities, in addition to those under
construction, would be sufficient to meet expected war casualty needs. Thus, the Navy Medical Department began to consider post-war needs, especially long-term treatment of war casualties.(16) In addition, the Navy Medical Department designated some existing continental hospitals to care for specific medical problems. For example, USNH Mare Island, CA, and USNH Philadelphia, PA, were also designated to care for and instruct amputees in the use of artificial limbs. Similarly, USNH Corona, CA, became a rheumatic fever and
tuberculosis treatment center.(17)

There were several administrative changes in the Navy Medical Department as well. BUMED
established the Office of Rehabilitation in April to coordinate rehabilitation activities and programs in
continental Navy hospitals. The Navy Medical Department's comprehensive rehabilitation program included occupational and physical therapy, physical training, educational services, and civil readjustment. Together these initiatives helped expedite rehabilitation and enabled those unfit for further service to return to civilian life with relative ease.

By 1944, there were about 17,000 members of the Navy Medical and Dental Corps as well as
thousands of corpsmen and technicians on active duty. As testament to their diligence and dedication, 55
percent of all sailors and Marines wounded since 7 Dec 1941 had returned to active duty by 31 March 1944. Moreover, many of the 40 percent still receiving treatment were expected to return to duty. Less than two
percent of those wounded had to be removed from service. Only three out of every hundred reportedly
succumbed to their wounds.(18)

D-Day Preparations

By spring, American forces of "friendly occupation" in Britain had swelled to nearly a million and a half troops, many in the coastal regions of Devon and Cornwall, but others scattered throughout the British Isles. Augmented by forces from Britain, Canada, other Commonwealth nations, and token forces of Free French, Free Poles, and troops from other occupied nations, the Allies prepared for the greatest amphibious landing in history. The flotilla that would take them and their equipment to the Continent numbered over 1,300 warships, 1,600 merchant vessels, and 4,000 landing ships.(19)

As in North Africa and Italy, the Navy Medical Department's primary role was to provide medical service to all personnel between the British ports of embarkation and the assault beaches. Once the landings were in progress, medical personnel were to evacuate casualties from the beaches and provide hospitalization

afloat within the combat zone. Navy medical personnel were also responsible for medical care in the beach areas while operating jointly with the ground forces.(20)

The final medical plan consisted of three phases: the far-shore phase on the Normandy coast was to deal with the prompt exchange of medical supplies and equipment and evacuation of casualties from shore to ship. Afloat, casualties were to receive emergency medical care to the extent possible. The near-shore phase would deliver casualties to the Army at Channel ports in the United Kingdom.(21)

Planners expected that LSTs would provide the main casualty lift for shore to shore evacuation. However, because of anticipated underwater obstacles and mines, they would be unable to land directly on the invasion beaches at the outset to receive casualties. Therefore, other methods were tested for receiving casualties over the sides of ships unable to land. There was also to be a secondary evacuation role for LCIs, troop transports, and hospital ships.

In February and March, medical personnel designated for LST duty began arriving in the United Kingdom. In April practical demonstrations in casualty handling were held at the port of Fowey in Cornwall. The final plan included 90 LSTs with 3 medical officers and 20 corpsmen each; 13 LSTs with 2 medical
officers and 20 corpsmen; and 3 LST's with 1 medical officer and 20 corpsmen. Each LST was equipped with medical supplies and equipment to provide surgical and nursing care for 200 patients on the return to the United Kingdom.(22)

By the last week in April, training exercises for the D-Day landings had reached a crescendo. In the early morning hours of 28 April, these rehearsals took a tragic turn when nine German torpedo craft (E-boats)
surprised a night exercise off the Devon coast sinking two LSTs and damaging a third. Well over 700
American and British soldiers and sailors were killed outright or succumbed to the frigid water. Navy medical personnel were among the casualties. This so-called Slapton Sands incident remained classified until the early 1980s.

Further Back in the War

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Foward in to the War

References

1. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administrative History 1941-1945, Vol. II: Organizational History, chap. 14, p 55.

2. Leckie R. Strong Men Armed, p 198-228 & 249-257.

3. Spector R. Eagle Against the Sun, p 281-283.

4. Hospital Corps Archives Memo 776-44, Award and Citation -CPhM Harry Ellis Shields. 16 Oct 1944.

5. Manchester W. American Caesar - Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964, p 397-399.

6. Spector R, p 286-289.

7. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administration History, 1941-1945, Vol. I: Narrative History, chap. 6, p6-9.

8. Ibid., p 5-6.

9. The History of the Medical Department of the United States Navy in WWII, Vol. I: A Narrative and Pictorial Volume, p 188.

10. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administration History, 1941-1945, Vol. I: Narrative History, chap. 6, p 10.

11. Spector R, p 287.

12. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administration History, 1941-1945, Vol. I: Narrative History, chap. 6, p 8.

13. Hayes TH. Journal, 16 March 1944.

14. Ibid., 28 March 1944.

15. Davis RG. Journal, p 57.

16. Building the Navy's Bases in World War II: History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps 1940-1946. Vol I, p 366.

17. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administration History 1941-1945, Vol. II: Organizational History, chap. 8, p 367-372 & 377.

18. Fishbein M, ed., Doctors at War, p 219 & 230.

19. Hall T, ed., D-Day: Operation Overlord, p 22.

20. U.S. Navy Medical Department Administrative History 1941-1945, Volume I: Narrative History, chap. 17, p 731.

21. Ibid., p 732.

22. Ibid., p 734.