During World War II, the U.S. Army 32nd Station Hospital operated in the Mediterranean Theater. It supported Allied forces in two separate locations: Tlemcen, Algeria (February 1943–December 1943), and Caserta, Italy (January 1944–July 1945). This article will provide a brief history of the unit from the time it was organized in June 1942 through its deployment to French North Africa from January–December 1943.
Stateside
The 32nd Station Hospital’s records are quite fragmentary, posing a problem even in stating with certainty so basic a fact as where the unit was organized. According to the December 31, 1943, document entitled “Medical History of the Thirty Second Station Hospital” by Lieutenant Colonel Harold L. Goss, the unit’s story in World War II begins on June 25, 1942, when the unit was activated at Camp Rucker, Alabama, with the first of its male enlisted personnel reported the following day.
The unit’s first morning report was filled out on August 7, 1942, the date that the first eight officers joined the unit: Major William D. McElroy, Captain Reddin Britt, Captain James G. Eblen, Captain Raymond Hall, Captain Harry R. Staley, Captain Landon Timberlake, 1st Lieutenant Louis C. Roettig, and 1st Lieutenant William A. Carey, Jr. When the officers arrived, there were already 25 enlisted men present (one master sergeant, one technical sergeant, three staff sergeants, one corporal, two private 1st classes, and 17 privates). The majority of the enlisted cadre advanced rapidly in rank. 20 of the original 25 were promoted on August 13, 1942 (including a jump by William L. Williamson from private to staff sergeant that would be unheard of except during wartime). All but three of the privates became noncommissioned officers (N.C.O.s).
Oddly enough, a December 7, 1942, story in The Columbus Enquirer (Columbus, Georgia), “Fort Hospital is Expanded”, states: “The 32nd Station Hospital was formed a year ago at Barksdale Field, La., then went to Camp Rucker, Ala., where training was begun.” It appears this statement was based on the fact that the 32nd Station Hospital’s very first enlisted men had been stationed at Barksdale Field. A document written by Master Sergeant Charles Ballard decades later elaborated a little further: “The cadre was shipped by rail from Barksdale Field, La. to Camp Rucker (now Ft. Rucker) Alabama[.]”
Initially, the 32nd was classified as a 250-bed hospital and training began in earnest during the summer of 1942. On August 13, 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Burstein took command of the unit. Burstein was born in Ohio in 1893 and had served as regimental medical officer for the 53rd Artillery, Coastal Artillery Corps during World War I.
Lieutenant Colonel Goss’s 1943 history report stated:
The Medical Officers joined between the 6th and 20th of August. Intensive training of the Officers in Military Discipline and Administration began immediately. As more and more Enlisted Men joined the organization, their training was taken up by Non-commissioned Officers, Medical Administrative Officers, and Medical Officers. Ward training was done at the Station Hospital, Camp Rucker.
On October 26, 1942, the 32nd moved from Camp Rucker to Fort Benning, Georgia. On November 1, 1942, the unit was expanded to become a 500-bed hospital. Meanwhile, the nurses and other female personnel that would eventually join the unit were working at a variety of other U.S. Army installations. The largest contingent would come from Lovell General Hospital at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, which supplied 25 of the unit’s original 55 nurses.
With its training more or less completed, on December 27, 1942, the 32nd left Georgia for the overnight trip to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. Kilmer was a staging area for the New York Port of Embarkation (N.Y.P.O.E). On December 29, 1942, the unit’s 55 nurses joined the male personnel at Camp Kilmer, barely more than two weeks before the unit shipped overseas. (Although Principal Chief Nurse Helen W. Brammer’s “Report of Nursing Activities – 1943” stated that the unit’s two physical therapists and its a dietician joined the unit at the same day, the unit’s morning reports indicate that they were assigned on January 13, 1943.)
Main article: Convoy U.G.F.-4: The 32nd Station Hospital’s Transatlantic Crossing, January 1943
On January 13, 1943, the unit headed to the N.Y.P.O.E, with most on the unit boarding the U.S.S. Ancon, a transport under the command of Captain Paul L. Mather. 24 of the nurses were split into groups of four along with a single male officer and embarked on other ships. On the morning of January 14, 1943, the 363 members of the 32nd Station Hospital headed overseas.
At the time the unit went overseas, personnel consisted of 88 U.S. Army officers:
- 55 Army Nurse Corps officers
- 18 Medical Corps officers
- 8 Medical Administrative Corps officers
- 3 Dental Corps officers
- 2 Chaplain Corps officers
- 1 Sanitary Corps officer
- 1 warrant officer
There were 269 enlisted members of the unit, including 43 noncommissioned officers. There were also six civilians assigned to the unit: three American Red Cross staff, two physical therapists (later commissioned as U.S. Army officers), and one dietician (also later commissioned).
Arrival in Algeria
Though fears of U-boat attack ran high at times during the unit’s Atlantic crossing, the convoy arrived safely in Mers-el-Kébir (near Oran, Algeria) on January 26, 1943. The 32nd Station Hospital was part of the Mediterranean Base Section (M.B.S.), which supported operations well behind the front lines. For over three weeks, the 32nd staged at Bouisseville before being transported by road to Tlemcen, Algeria on February 18, 1943. The hospital’s first patients arrived ten days later. By this point, the Allies were fighting to the east in Tunisia. Battle casualties arrived in Tlemcen by road from Oran and rail from Algiers. Some were flown into La Sénia Airport, near Oran. Later in the year, casualties arrived from Sicily and Italy as well.
The unit requisitioned two schools for conversion into hospital buildings. Unfortunately, the fact that these buildings were ten minutes apart on foot meant the arrangements were less than ideal. Mess (food service) personnel found themselves stretched thin, serving both hospital buildings as well as two sets of living quarters (officers and enlisted, located in different hotels). The December 31, 1943 “Medical History of the Thirty Second Station Hospital” by Lieutenant Colonel Harold L. Goss explains the setup best:
Headquarters, Administrative Offices, and the Admission and Disposition Office and Dispensary, the Operating Rooms, Ex-ray Department, Orthopedic Clinic, Pharmacy, and Physio-therapy were set up in L’Ecole des Filles Indigenes (Building “A”). This building accommodated approximately 200 patients. The second building, L’Ecole des Filles, housed the Laboratory, E.E.N.T. Clinic, Dental Clinic, Prophylactic Station and G.U. Department, and 200 patients, (Building “C”). The Engineers constructed Niessen Huts (Building “B”) adjacent to L’Ecole des Filles Indigenes, to house more patients and Medical Supply. When a few weeks later the bed capacity was increased to 750, a warehouse also adjacent to “A” Building was acquired; this became known as “D” Building.
Officers (including nurses) were quartered in the Grand Hotel des Voyageurs for the first two days. 1st Lieutenant Helen W. Brammer (the 32nd Station Hospital’s principal chief nurse) later wrote in her “Report of Nursing Activities – 1943” that “most of our time was spent in the pursuit and defeat of the hordes of bedbugs that were inhabiting the rooms.” Two days later, the officers upgraded to the Hotel Transatlantique, which Brammer reported had “clean beds and linens, a spacious dining room and a lobby with a home-like atmosphere.” It also had hot water, bathing facilities, and nary a mention of bedbugs. The enlisted men took over the newly bedbug-free (maybe) Hotel des Voyageurs instead.
The 32nd Station Hospital’s first patient arrived on February 28, 1943, ten days after they arrived in Tlemcen. During the next nine months, the unit admitted approximately 7,502 patients. By June, the hospital had a capacity of 1,000 beds, though without any additional staff being assigned.
The U.S. Army had found that it was more efficient in terms of personnel to simply enlarge an individual station hospital rather than open several smaller ones. A single 750-bed station hospital, for instance, required ⅓ fewer officers than three 250-bed hospitals. The 32nd Station Hospital was now comparable in size (if not capabilities or staffing) to a small general hospital.
A New Commanding Officer
In May 1943, Colonel Burstein suffered a heart attack. Captain Lowell E. Vinsant wrote in his journal that Major Robert O.Y. Warren ran the hospital until Colonel Burstein’s replacement arrived. Lieutenant Colonel Gayland L. Hagelshaw took command of the unit around May 21, 1943. One month later, on May 23, 1943, he was succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel Harold L. Goss. A World War I veteran like Burstein, Goss was destined to lead the 32nd Station Hospital until after V-E Day. He was not popular with all members of the unit, earning the nickname “Blood and Goss” according to Technician 4th Grade Dwight A. McNelly.
On November 11, 1943, the 32nd Station Hospital participated in an Armistice Day ceremony. Willard Havemeier recalled “it was a great feeling, marching to one of our American Military bands and saluting our flag.” (A photo that Havemeier identifies as having been taken on Armistice Day also appears on a page in Ruby Milligan’s photo album, but is labeled as having been taken on Bastille Day in 1943. It is entirely conceivable that the 32nd Station Hospital participated in festivities for both, although Principal Chief Nurse Helen W. Brammer’s report that year only mentions that a platoon of nurses took part in a ceremony for Armistice Day.)
The 32nd Station Hospital’s First Tragedy
Main article: The Mystery of Rachel H. Sheridan, the 32nd Station Hospital’s Lost Nurse
On the morning of November 24, 1943, 2nd Lieutenant Rachel H. Sheridan was traveling on a C-47 from Maison Blanche (Algiers) to Oran when her plane ditched in the Mediterranean Sea. Although Sheridan and two others were rescued by fishing boats, she reportedly died while being transported to the 29th Station Hospital for treatment. Lieutenant Sheridan’s body rests in the North Africa American Cemetery near Tunis, Tunisia.
Thanksgiving and End of Operations in North Africa
According to Dwight McNelly, Thanksgiving 1943 brought an unusual sight to Tlemcen: a foot of snow. In a November 20, 1943, V-mail home to her family, Alice Griffin wrote that “We have snow inches & inches deep here now and gosh but that hotel is cold.” She added, “Ruth, Dot, Virginia, two of the doctors, & myself built a snowman yesterday afternoon & then had a snowfight.” (Ruby Milligan’s photo album gave the figure as nine inches, and the date as early December, but the contemporary letter is probably the more accurate date.) The 32nd Station Hospital managed to hold a Thanksgiving feast with Vermont turkey on the menu. Lieutenant Brammer noted that, “A bit of gloom hung over the day” as a result of the news of Lieutenant Sheridan’s death.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, on November 28, 1943, the hospital ceased operations in Tlemcen. In its first seven months of operation, the 32nd Station Hospital had admitted 7,502 patients, including 7,091 U.S. Army personnel. Among U.S. Army personnel, 4,631 patients were admitted due to disease, 1,225 due to injury, and 1,235 due to battle wounds.
Just before midnight on December 7, 1943, the main body of the 32nd Station Hospital relocated by train and truck to a staging area near Oran. The location, known as Goat Hill, was by all accounts unpleasant. Captain Lowell E. Vinsant wrote in his journal that “we went to Staging Area #1 on what is known as ‘goat hill,’ (after being there a week you smell like a goat)”. Technician 4th Grade Willard O. Havemeier later wrote that it “was nothing but a sea of cold mud with lots of rain” and “was about the most miserable spot we were ever in.” Undoubtedly, it was a relief when the men of the 32nd Station Hospital shipped out for Italy on December 15, 1943.
The nurses and other female personnel were billeted at a different staging area from the men, and remained in Algeria almost two weeks longer. They managed to hold a Christmas celebration in a villa nearby. On December 28, 1943, the 32nd’s female personnel sailed for Italy themselves.
Bibliography
Brammer, Helen W. “Report of Nursing Activities – 1943.” World War II Operations Reports, 1940–48. Record Group 407, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office. National Archives at College Park, Maryland. https://32ndstationhospital.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/32nd-sta-hosp-1943-nursing-report.pdf
Humphries, James P. “Missing Air Crew Report No. 1465.” November 29, 1943. Record Group 92, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985. The National Archives at College Park, Maryland. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/90906057
“Fort Hospital is Expanded.” The Columbus Enquirer, December 7, 1942.
Goss, Harold L. “Medical History of the Thirty Second Station Hospital.” December 31, 1943. Unit Annual Reports, 1940–1949. Record Group 112, Records of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army), 1775–1994. National Archives at College Park, Maryland. https://32ndstationhospital.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/32nd-sta-hosp-1943-report.pdf
Goss, Harold L. “Supplement to Annual Medical History Report.” December 31, 1943. Unit Annual Reports, 1940–1949. Record Group 112, Records of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army), 1775–1994. National Archives at College Park, Maryland. https://32ndstationhospital.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/32nd-sta-hosp-1943-report.pdf
Greenberg, Myron and Lipp, Frederick J. “History and Highlights of the USS Ancon.” September 1945.
Havemeier, Willard O. “Africa to Italy with the 32nd Station Hospital.” Original website c. December 24, 2003. Revised ed. on 32nd Station Hospital website, July 23, 2020. https://32ndstationhospital.com/2020/07/23/africa-to-italy-with-the-32nd-station-hospital-willard-o-havemeiers-website/
“Highlights and Shadows of the Thirty-Second.” Unpublished manuscript, author unknown, written no later than November 1981.
McNelly, Dwight A. “Crossing.” Unpublished manuscript, circa 1987, located in Box 1, Folder 6 of the Dwight McNelly and Dorothy Eggers Collection at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, Chicago. Finding aid: https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/files/5515/2147/7518/McNelly__Eggers_Finding_Aid_March_2018.pdf
McNelly, Dwight A. “Envelope labeled ‘North Africa’.” Collection of photos, located in Box 3, Folder 6 of the Dwight McNelly and Dorothy Eggers Collection at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, Chicago. Finding aid: https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/files/5515/2147/7518/McNelly__Eggers_Finding_Aid_March_2018.pdf
McNelly, Dwight A. “North Africa.” Unpublished manuscript, circa 1987, located in Box 1, Folder 6 of the Dwight McNelly and Dorothy Eggers Collection at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, Chicago. Finding aid: https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/files/5515/2147/7518/McNelly__Eggers_Finding_Aid_March_2018.pdf
McNelly, Dwight A. “North Africa Binder Photos.” Collection of photos, located in Box 3, Folder 1 of the Dwight McNelly and Dorothy Eggers Collection at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, Chicago. Finding aid: https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/files/5515/2147/7518/McNelly__Eggers_Finding_Aid_March_2018.pdf
Milligan (Hills), Ruby. Unpublished photo album, courtesy of the Hills Family.
Morning reports for 32nd Station Hospital Headquarters and Medical Detachment, 1942–1944. National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri.
Silverman, Robert. Unpublished collection including scrapbook (compiled at an unknown date with materials 1942–1944), photos (1942–1945), 8 mm film (1942–1945), and papers (1942–1945).
Smith, Clarence McKittrick. The Medical Department: Hospitalization and Evacuation, Zone of the Interior. Center of Military History, United States Army, 1956. Reprinted 1989. https://history.army.mil/html/books/010/10-7/index.html
Smith, William A. “Period Report of Medical Department Activities.” September 19, 1945. Unit Annual Reports, 1940–1949. Record Group 112, Records of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army), 1775–1994. National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
Vinsant, Lowell E. Unpublished journal, copy courtesy of the Vinsant Family.
Wiltse, Charles M. The Medical Department: Medical Service in the Mediterranean and Minor Theaters. Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1965. https://archive.org/details/medicaldepartmen00wilt
Request for Materials
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Last updated January 21, 2022
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