This article tells the story of the search for the best method to provide forward surgical care to the most severely wounded soldiers. During the campaign in the ETO platoons of Field Hospitals played the central role in this. For the 4th Armored Division, the first platoon, 16th Field Hospital provided this care.
First platoon, 16th Field Hospital Read More »
In this article we take a look at graves registration within the 4th Armored Division
Graves registration in the 4th Armored Division Read More »
The first convoy to Bastogne helped to evacuate many of the 1150 wounded soldiers in the city. This is its story.
First Convoy to Bastogne. Read More »
This is part 6, the final part, in the series on Tec5 Joseph N. Korzeniowski. He served as a Surgical Technician in Company C, 46th Armored Medical Battalion. Germany Early March 1945, after a period of rest in the south of Luxembourg, C/46 moved into Germany. Joseph took a photo of the first building that
Tec5 Joseph N. Korzeniowski – Part 6 Read More »
This is part 5 of a multi-part series on Tec5 Joseph N. Korzeniowski, who served as a Surgical Technician with Company C, 46th Armored Medical Battalion. In this part, we look at his service during the Battle of the Bulge and his leave to Paris. Battle of the Bulge On December 19th, 1944 Company C,
Tec5 Joseph N. Korzeniowski – Part 5 Read More »
This is part 4 in a multi-part series on Tec5 Joseph N. Korzenioski. He served as a Surgical Technician in Company C, 46th Armored Medical Battalion. This part will focus on the period of time the 4th Armored Division stayed in England and the first period of combat in France up to the Battle of
Tec5 Joseph N. Korzeniowski – Part 4 Read More »
This is part 3 in a multi-part series on Tec5 Joseph N. Korzeniowski, who serves as a medic with Company C, 46th Armored Medical Battalion. It will focus on the training period of the 4th Armored Division at the Desert Training Center, California, and Camp Bowie, Texas. En route to California Desert Training Center On
Tec5 Joseph N. Korzeniowski – Part 3. Read More »
This is part 2 of a multi-part series on Tec5 Joseph N. Korzeniowski, who served in Company C, 46th Armored Medical Company, 4th Armored Division during WW2. In this series I tell his story using the fantastic photos that he took during his service. Part 1 focussed on his induction into the Army and his
Tec5 Joseph N. Korzeniowski – Part 2. Read More »
Researching the medics of the 4th Armored Division and publishing the findings on this website has enriched my life in many ways. The most exciting experiences that it brings me are when people contact me with questions about the service of their veteran relatives or share information on a veteran’s service with me. Recently, Joe
Tec5 Joseph N. Korzeniowski – Part 1. Read More »
These famous photos show medics of the 4th Armored Division treating a wounded man on a sidewalk. They were taken on July 30th, 1944 in a street in the city of Coutances, France. After doing some more research, I found that an incredible amount of photos (as well as color film) were taken in the
A street in Coutances, France Read More »
Between June 1944 and VE-day some 175.000 GIs were admitted to a US Army medical installation in the ETO due to an infectious disease. Only 314 of these men died from these infectious diseases (0,02%). The total number of men admitted to a US Army medical installation for battle injuries in the ETO was 393,987.
Antibiotics use in the ETO during WW2 by the US ARMY. Read More »
The US Army in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) faced a tragic epidemic in the fall and winter of 1944/1945. Casualty numbers in this epidemic range from 46,000 – 71,000 soldiers (depending on whether only “pure” cold injury casualties are counted or casualties with other medical problems AND cold injury are counted). If we
Trench foot and Frostbite epidemic in the ETO Read More »
The medical concepts of shock and its main cause at the beginning of WW2 led the US Armed Forces to rely on the transfusion of blood plasma as the main therapy. For more information on this and the successful blood plasma program during the War, I invite you to read part 1 of this series.
SHOCK TREATMENT IN THE US ARMY DURING WW2. PART 2: WHOLE BLOOD. Read More »
Shock is a life-threatening condition caused by failure of blood circulation, causing inadequate oxygen delivery to the tissues and cells of the body. The effects of shock are initially reversible, but can rapidly become irreversible, resulting in multiorgan failure and death. There are several possible causes and we now recognize different types of shock: septic
Shock treatment in the US Army during WW2. Part 1: Shock and plasma. Read More »
In 1992, Frederick B. Lea recorded his experiences of April 1945, when he witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand during the liberation of two concentration camps: Ohrdruf and Buchenwald. Lea was a Captain during the War. He served as company commander of the Headquarters Company, 46th AMB; as Battalion Supply Officer (S-4), and as
Recollections of a Liberator, part 3: Prisoner 21082, Paul Sand Read More »
In 1992, Frederick B. Lea recorded his experiences of April 1945. During this month, men of the 4th Armored Division witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand when they overran two concentration camps: Ohrdruf and Buchenwald. Lea was a Captain during the War. He served as company commander of the Headquarters Company, 46th AMB; as
In 1992, Frederick B. Lea recorded his experiences of April 1945. During this month, men of the 4th Armored Division witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand when they overran two concentration camps: Ohrdruf and Buchenwald. Lea was a Captain during the War. He served as company commander of the Headquarters Company, 46th AMB; as
Recollections of a Liberator: the liberation of Ohrdruf and Buchenwald. Part 1: Ohrdruf. Read More »
This Morning Report describes one soldier suffering from “battle fatigue” and the efforts of the aid men to help him. But what is “battle fatigue” exactly? What were the symptoms and signs? And how was it treated? In this article, I will explore these questions and answer them first for the US Army in general
When a casualty’s injury warranted evacuation from the battalion aid station/casualty collecting point, and the treatment he had received had stabilized his situation enough for him to be transportable, he would enter the second echelon of the Chain of Evacuation. The second echelon was the responsibility of the medical battalion. Just as all the medical
Medical Evacuation and Treatment Series. Part 5: Medical Battalion. Read More »
I visited the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial at St. Avold, France this July. I drove there, from my family’s vacation house in the Belgian Ardennes, to see the graves of the 17 members of the 4th Armored Division’s medical units buried there. I had planned to write about my visit to the cemetery soon
First echelon evacuation meant getting the casualties away from the front line, as quickly as the tactical situation allowed, to a battalion aid station. Here, they would be seen by a doctor for the first time after being wounded. “Soon after dawn, we began to receive casualties, many of whom were severely wounded. The aid
Medical Evacuation and Treatment Series. Part 4: Battalion Aid Station. Read More »
In many of the photos and films taken in the European Theater of Operations, we find medical personnel and vehicles marked with Geneva Convention Red Crosses. The medics found that, generally, the Germans followed the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of personnel and equipment marked as non-combatants. For this, the Army had the brassards as
Geneva Convention Red Cross markings Read More »
After being wounded, a casualty received first aid (Part I). Emergency medical treatment was then started by a company aid man (Part II). Now it was time to get the casualty away from the front as quickly as possible. This evacuation followed the links of the Evacuation Chain. In this part, I will take a
Medical Evacuation and Treatment Series. Part 3: First echelon evacuation. Read More »
How do you train men to prepare them for war? How do you train them when you have to expend your armed forces roughly one hundredfold? And how do you do this when you have to do it while you are fighting a global conflict? I believe the answer inevitably will contain “compromises” and even
Medical Evacuation and Treatment Series. Part 2: company aid man. Read More »
“MEDIC!”… I think we have all seen scenes in war movies or Tv-series where one of the portrayed soldiers is wounded in battle: Men are running. There are disorienting loud noises: the rattling of machinegun fire, the “pings” of M-1 Garand clips ejecting. There are explosions. Orders are shouted. Then there is that scream: “MEDIC!”.
Medical Evacuation and Treatment Series. Part I: First Aid Read More »
Let’s talk about the logistics of the medical service. From complete medical chests and bottles of whole blood to every first-aid kit and can of foot powder ever used, all the medical items needed to be brought towards the front before any medic could use them to treat casualties. So having a medical supply system
Logistics Series. Part III: Medical supplies and the 46th Armored Medical Battalion Read More »
“My men can eat their belts, but my tanks got to have gas” – General George S. Patton Jr. Patton spoke these words on 2 September 1944. With the breakout of Normandy and the race across France during August 1944, the allied armies had outrun the transport capabilities of their logistical support. The quote shows
Logistics Series. Part II: Fuel Read More »
“Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics”. There are several variations of this quote (do amateurs talk strategy or tactics? And do professionals talk or study logistics?) It is also attributed to more than one man. Whoever may have spoken (a variation of) these words, he understood a key point in military operations: without a solid
Logistics Series. Part I: Basic logistics in an armored division. Read More »
To understand the story of the medical service of the 4th Armored Division it can be very helpful to have a brief overview of the division’s actions. I will present you with a timeline, showing the main dates of interest in the division’s history. I would like to start, however, by giving you an idea
4th Armored Division “By their deeds alone”: a brief overview of the division’s actions. Read More »
One of the things I love about doing historical research is the excitement of receiving new documents. Every time I have received or found new documents I felt like I am going on a treasure hunt! And just like a real treasure hunt, sometimes you find things that are not all that exciting. But then
Part of the results of my research are bundled into the timeline documents I have created for the companies of the 46th Armored Medical Battalion (AMB). They can be a great source when you want to understand the stories of the men that served in the medical service of the 4th AD. Here I would like to provide you with a guide on how to read them.
Guide to the timeline documents. Read More »
One of the major parts of my research was the creation of the Personnel Database. You can see the the master database I have created in the 4th AD Medical Personnel Roster. This shows you all the information I have collected on all the personnel of the Medical Department personnel of the 4th Armored Division during the entire period of World War Two.
The second part of this project was to filter the men who served in the 4th Armored Division in the ETO (European Theater of Operations), from July 17th 1944 to VE-day.
The final step was to combine this filtered list with the TO&E of all the medical units in the division.
You can see the results of these lists under the Personnel Page here: 4th AD Personnel Units Combat. Or you can see them separated by unit under the Units pages. Here is a guide that help you to read these documents.
Guide to the Personnel Database documents. Read More »
One of the most important sources for my research are the Company Morning Reports (M/R) of the different units. You can find the M/R that I have collected under the Units Pages. With this guide I would like to provide you with the information you need to read and understand them.
Guide to reading Company Morning Reports. Read More »
In different documents, especially in Company Morning Reports, we often find different numbers connected to the men. First there is there is off course an Army Serial Number identifying a person.
But there is often a second number attached to a name. These numbers, called SSN (Specification Serial Number) are the numerical codes assigned to an MOS (Military Occupational Specialty).
Simply put, these numbered codes describe the job an individual performed in the Army.
Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) Read More »
On paper the system of evacuation worked well. It did however not accommodate to the incredible speed of advance sometimes made by units like the 4th AD. The biggest problem was the lack of transport equipment of the third echelon hospital units.
Fixing the weakest link in the chain Read More »
Here I’d like to tell you about the organization of the medical service within the division. It is the story of the men of the Medical Department that serviced in the 4th AD that my research and this website are dedicated to. Understanding the structure of the medical service within an armored division can help us a lot when we read about the stories of these men.
The Medical Service in the 4th Armored Division. Read More »
As this research focusses on the medical service within the 4th Armored Division (4th AD), let us talk a bit about the organization of the 4th AD. We can understand the story of the medics better when we understand the “bigger picture” of the division they worked in.
4th Armored Division Organization. Read More »
