Bronze Star Recipient
Capt Jacob Pearl
1/Lt George V Evans
1/Lt Everett C Vogt
101st Airborne WW II
Medal
of Honor Recipients
Lt Col
Robert G Cole
Pfc
Joe E. Mann
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The 326th Medical Company - 101st Airborne Division
Reports (After Action Report) - Unit Combat History (Normandy)
After Action Report for the 326th Airborne Medical Company
SOURCE: National Archives and Records
Administration, College Park, MD
Record Group 112, Box3:
History of the 326th Airborne Medical Company, 101st Airborne
Division.
HEADQUARTERS 326th Airborne Medical Company
APO 472
U.S. Army
18 October 1944
UNIT COMBAT HISTORY
The 326th Airborne Medical
Company was committed to action in the Normandy Campaign in a three fold manner
- by parachute, glider, and sea on D-Dayy.
The
parachute elements were committed directly with the regiment which they were to
support. The glider elements were divided into two waves - the first landed
directly after the parachutists; the second in the night of D-Day. The
majority of the company came in by sea in the assault wave across the
beach.
Due to the scattered formations in which the
troops initially found themselves the parachute and glider elements established
first aid posts in the vicinity of the landing fields and began the treatment of
casualties.
In the early morning hours of D-Day Major
Albert. J. Crandall, Burlington, Vermont, senior officer of the surgical team
attached to the Medical Company established himself and his group of officers,
and men in the Chateau Columbierés, near Hiesville, France. He was
subsequently joined at approximately 1300 by Captain E. Curtis Yeary, of Elmore
City, Oklahoma. The bulk of the Medical Company led by Major William E.
Barfield, of Atlanta, Georgia, arrived at the Chateau Columbierés at 1700 on
D-Day.
Captain Willis P. McKee, of Eminence, Kentucky,
jumped by parachute at the head of his section, established an aid station on
his jump field, and joined the company at 2300 on 7 June
1944.
Captain Alfred M. Slotta, 4104 N. Major
Ave., Chicago, Illinois, who had jumped by parachute at the head of his section,
had continued working with the regiment which he was supporting and joined the
company on Thursday 8 June 1944 at 1400. Although Captain Slotta had fractured
his right ankle at the time of the jump, he continued in the performance of his
duties and was not evacuated until 24 June 1944.
Captain Walter W. Meyers, of Colome, South Dakota, after jumping with his
section was cut off from the remainder of the division for three (3) days and
after establishing his aid station began treating casualties. Captain
Meyers rejoined this organization on 8 June 1944 at 2100.
First Sergeant Otis C. Banker, 7205 South Ada Street, Chicago,
Illinois was dropped at Fontenay Sur Mer and after contacting Private Bruscato
and PFC Clerk made his way twenty three (23) miles thru the enemy lines to reach
the company at 1500 9 June 1944.
At 1600 9 June 1944
contact was made between the Medical Company and the 564th Collecting Company,
and the first casualties were started forward to the beach for
evacuation.
The Hospital was dive bombed by an enemy
plane at 2335 the night of 9 June 1944 and two direct hits were scored on the
station. One crater produced by a delayed action bomb was seventy feet across
and 65 feet deep. The treatment of casualties was necessarily interrupted, and
the next day the unit moved into a new location, at which time the treatment of
casualties proceeded again in a normal manner. The Company operated in this
locality until it moved with the division to Cherbourg.
2
During the stay at Cherbourg, the Company
operated a station but was more or less static since the division was on a guard
status and casualties were only sporadic and few.
On
10 July 1944 the company moved again to the vicinity of St. Marie Du Mont
preparatory to being shipped back to England. The unit loaded on the
L.S.T. at 2200 on the night of 11 July 1944 and spent the night lying off shore.
The next morning at 1100 we sailed for England and docked at Southampton at
2300. Thence by train to our billets at Templeton House and Standen Manor
arriving at 0200 13 July 1944.
The 326th Airborne
Medical Company was committed on its present mission in two waves. The first
wave, consisting of six CG-4A glider loads transporting, two (2) trucks 1/4 ton,
and two (2) trailers, and fifty two (52) personnel, under the Command of Major
William E. Barfield, departed from Ramsbury Airport at 1030 and landed at Zon,
Holland at 1345 17 September 1944. Among the fifty two (52) personnel in the
first wave were the members of the Auxiliary Surgical Team who had
accompanied the unit into France on the Normandy invasion. Also with the unit
was Major Joseph Witter, of Detroit, Michigan, the senior officer of another
surgical Team attached to the unit. The second wave consisting of fifty four
(54) CG-4A glider loads transporting thirty one (31) trucks 1/4 ton, twenty
three (23) 1/4 ton trailers and two hundred nineteen (219) personnel under the
Command of Captain Willis P. McKee, of Eminence, Kentucky, departed Welford
Airdrome at 1125 and landed at Zon, Holland at 1410 18 September
1944.
The flight was made without incident on the part
of both waves except for light to moderate "flack", encountered in route to the
glider landing zone. No personnel were wounded while in the air, no loads
were lost, and all equipment arrived in the glider landing zone in serviceable
condition.
In the initial wave the two trailers were
loaded with two ward tents and the necessary equipment to set up two operating
tables, electrical power, in the form of two field generators, were also
transported in these two loads.
The gliders were
unloaded immediately and no difficulty was encountered in getting the equipment
out of the gliders. The treatment of casualties was begun immediately by the
officer personnel while the enlisted personnel ware setting up a temporary
station at the southern portion of the glider landing field. Casualties began
arriving at the station at 1500. By 1700 the tents were in full operation, and
the first surgical operations were being performed.
At
1800 the hospital at Zon, Holland was taken over by the company, and the
equipment and personnel was moved in by 1900. The treatment of casualties was
carried on then under ideal conditions. By 2400 17 September l944 107 casualties
had been admitted to the station.
The second wave was
met as it came in on the glider landing zone on 18 September 1944, began
the immediate treatment of landing casualties, was assembled and arrived at the
hospital at 1600.
The litter bearer and ambulance
sections were sent to the respective regiments the night of 18 September 1944.
By the morning of 19 September 1944, contact had been
established with the combat troops at Vechel, and the attached platoon of the
50th Field Hospital, under the Command of Major John L. Sharp, of [blank] was
sent to establish a station at Vechel. On the afternoon of 19 September
1944 the 493rd Medical Collecting Company, under the Command of 1st Lt.
James L. Fearon, of Cincinnati, Ohio, established contact with the company at
1500, and at 1610 sixty (60) walking wounded were evacuated to the 24th
Evacuation Hospital. At 1800 S/Sgt. Joseph Dugo, Chicago, Illinois, arrived at
the station with the remaining ambulances of the 493rd Medical Collecting
Company.
3
Due to the moving of traffic north, no further
evacuation to the south was accomplished until 0615 20 September 1944 at which
time evacuation to the rear from Zon, was non-interrupted. During the 20th of
September the unit had 30 ambulances and 14 2 ˝ ton trucks available for
evacuation to the rear. Since that time this unit has had 10 ambulances for
evacuation.
On 21 September 1944 at 1500 one surgical
team was sent to Vechel to assist the platoon of the 50th Field Hospital located
there. This unit remained at Vechel until 14 October 1944 at which time it was
moved to Nijmegen, Holland.
On 25 September 1944 at
approximately 1600 the road between St. Oedenrode and Vechel was cut by the
enemy. Evacuation from Vechel south was uninterrupted since
then.
On 3 October reconnaissance of the Nijmegen area
was made prior to moving the company to this area. On 14 October the platoon of
the 50th Field Hospital was moved to Nijmegen and the following day was sent
across the Waal River to establish a station and support the troops located
there.
On 5 October the Medical Company was moved to
Nijmegen to establish and operate a hospital in the Nijmegen Area. The first
casualties were received at the new location at approximately 0900 6 October.
The company has continued to operate in its present locality since 6 October
1944.
During the period of 17 September to 17 October
1944 the company has treated a total of 2020 patients.
[Signed]
WILLIAM E. BARFIELD
Major, M.C.,
Commanding
books
R E L A T E D B O O K S
Ambrose, Stephen E D-DAY June 6,1944:
The Climatic Battle of WW II. 6/93, Simon & Shuster ISBN: 0671673343
Ambrose, Stephen E Band of Brothers:
E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest.
Simon & Schuster, (June 2001) 336 p. ISBN: 0-743-21638-5
Ambrose, Stephen E Citizen Soldiers:
The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945.
Simon & Schuster, (Nov 1997) 528 p. ISBN: 0-684-81525-7
Badsey, Stephen & Chandler, David G (Editor)
Arnhem 1944:
Operation "Market Garden" (Campaign No.24) 1993
96p. ISBN: 1855323028
Bando, Mark A Avenging Eagles: Forbidden tales of the 101st Airborne in World War 2. Bando Publishing, (2006) 183 p.
ISBN: 0977911705
Bando, Mark A 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy. Zenith Press, (Apr 2001) 156 p.
ISBN: 0760308551
Bando, Mark A Vanguard of the Crusade:
The US 101st Airborne Division in WW II. The Aberjona Press, (June 2003) 320 p.
ISBN: 0971765006
Black, Wallace B.& Blashfield, Jean F. Battle of the Bulge
(World War II 50th Anniversary Series). Crestwood House, 48 pp May,1993 ISBN: 0896865681
Bowen, Robert Fighting With the Screaming Eagles:
With the 101st Airborne from Normandy to Bastogne. Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal, (Sept 2001) 256 p. ISBN: 1853674656
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Paratroopers in WWII. New York: St. Martin Press, (1989) 621 p.
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Presidio Press, (Sept 1999) 256 p. ISBN: 0-891-41681-1
D'Este, Carlo
Patton: A Genius for War 1024 pp ISBN: 0060927623
De Trez, Michel
American Warriors: Pictorial History of the American Paratroopers Prior to Normandy
July, 1998, D-Day Pub, 212 p. ISBN: 2960017609
De Trez, Michel
Cpl Forrest Guth: E Company 506 PIR 101st Airborne Division (WW II American Paratroopers Portrait Series)
March, 2002, D-Day Pub, 56 p. ISBN: 296001765X
De Trez, Michel
Orange is the Color of the Day: Pictorial History of the American Paratroopers in the
Invasion of Holland April, 2004, D-Day Pub, 506 p. ISBN: 2960017633
De Trez, Michel
At the Point of No Return : Pictorial History of the American Paratroopers in the
Invasion of Normandy 7/98, D-Day Pub, 200 p. ISBN: 2960017617
Devlin, Gerard S
Paratrooper! St Martin's Press, (P) c1976 ISBN: 0312596529
Gavin, James M.
On to Berlin : Battles of an Airborne Commander, 1943-1946 ISBN: 0670525170
Golden, Lewis Echoes From Arnhem Penguin
ISBN: 0718305213
MacDonald, Charles B A Time For
Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge Wm Morrow & Co
(P), 720 p. ISBN: 068151574
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On Time, On Target Novato, CA: Presidio, May 15,2000. 304 p. ISBN: 089 141 714 1
Ryan, Cornelius
A Bridge Too Far 670p. ISBN: 0684803305
Webster, David Kenyon
Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D- Day and the Fall of the Third Reich 352p. ISBN: 0385336497
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