Capt. Hubert C Stewart, M.D

Diary entry for 10 October 1943

The decontamination squad had commenced the 9th and was spraying the quarters with a lime slurry which was later washed off. At 0900 there was a terrific blast which turned out to be in the 504th P. Inf. Area. Either a time bomb or booby trap had exploded destroying over 1/3 of a huge barracks building. A call was sent out for all available Medical Personnel to report for duty. Lt. Angel and myself were the first outside M.O.s on the scene and we went to work. The damage was terrific and some of the bodies were horribly mangled. There were between 45 and 50 wounded and some 27 known dead with over 30 missing. Digging out survivors was a ticklish hair-raising job watching to be certain that a fresh cave in wouldn't catch you too. The victims were mostly engineers. All those working were really to be commended for they worked hard and seemed to be without fear. A gasoline dump adjacent to the building also caught fire which added to the hazards.

Diary entry for 27 October 1943

While moving, a 21/2 ton truck loaded with some 7 clusters of ammunition and 25 or 30 men made a wrong turn. The driver was driving as he stood on the running board and failed to see he was on the wrong side of the road. It slipped over a low bank into the ditch on the left side of the road.

The driver, Pvt. Wm. Travis (319th F.A. Bn) S/Sgt Leo Georges and T/4th Edgar McCord were pinned under the truck and ammo. They called me out of the column and I went to the scene of the accident. Most men were thrown clear but they were still removing men pinned in the truck by ammo. clusters. I examined the men complaining of injuries but found nothing more serious than bruises & contusions. We had to entirely unload the truck, attach the ambulance to it and pull the truck upright to get the 3 bodies out. They were quite dead, all 3 bodies piled on top of one another and ammo clusters on them.

S/Sgt. Georges & Pvt. Travis appeared to have died of internal chest & possibly spinal injuries, however, their features were unmarked. However T/4th McCord had caught several ammo clusters around the head and face so that his features were battered and his neck was apparently fractured. We wrapped them in blankets and placed them near the trucks. Had some difficulty in convincing some men their friends were really dead. Put them to work to keep them from thinking and after much trouble arrived at the new position near Pietromalara, Italy, about daybreak. Got together the scattered Med. Det. and set up an Aid Station 150 yds from "B" Btry.

That afternoon, while working a cross-word puzzle, a time burst hit about 30 yds above ground some 50 yds from the Aid Stat. I heard it coming & was almost in my slit trench when it went off. I was not particularly scared until I heard the cry "Medics" and my men fanned out to see what was the trouble. I was much relieved to see them bringing in Cpl. (Pvt?) Fuller with a very small wound in the scalp above the rt. eye. However, the call for "Medics" went on and as Lt. Angel was taking care of Fuller I went to see what the call was for. I found 4 of my men over a man in a fox hole and at once on seeing him, I knew he was either dead or nearly so. It was T/4th Frank Hammond and he was lying on his back in his slit trench in a pool of blood. We lifted him out and rolled him over while waiting for the litter and cut his shirt. The wound was a small jagged penetrating wound some 1 ½ by ½ inches about 3 inches to the left of the spine and about the level of the 6th or 7thrib. He only gasped once or twice and was dead. He had been digging his trench deeper and had apparently been hit in the back and rolled over. He was covered with a blanket and placed near the Aid Station. A total of 4 deaths during the day.

Bn. fired 3 missions of 518 rounds of H.E.