Christmas and the Bastogne Casualties
24 December - Xmas Eve - we had a big tree in the lobby (thanks to the cooperation of the Red Cross workers) and sang carols around it in the evening. The same choir and the same carols we had been practicing at Clervaux before the breakthrough. It was hard to sing around that lump that kept getting in your throats, especially when we made rounds in the wards ans saw tears in the eye of the boys there. Going back to our "barn" we opened the bottle of wine that had been given to us by a friend and toasted our continued good health until the last drop was gone (which wasn't long with 26 of us toasting). We had just rolled over and settled down for the night when out of the dark came a voice. "Well, Jesus Christ isn't the only one who spent Christmas Eve in a barn" - That eased us through another moment that was getting too tense and keyed up.
Christmas Day the church bells woke us hope and those of us who could went to church. I remember it was a clear, cold, sunshiny day with glistening white snow underfoot. As the day wore on we had news, both good and bad. The good news - a new house had been found for us and we were going to move in and have a housewarming that night (incidentally, I don't believe that house was ever warm - not even on "housewarming night"). The bad news - the ambulances had been unable to get through to the wounded in Bastogne.
When the ambulances did get through, it seemed as if there were no end to the casualties that poured into the hospital. The wounded arrived wrapped in everything from supply parachutes to table cloths, as well as civilian blankets and comforters. We improvised standards for our suction and I.V. sets by using old pieces of lumber, driving a nail in the top for the set to hang from and tying the bottom of the board to the cot. We also utilized wires that were strung across the room about 6 feet high and tied the plasma or I.V. sets to those.
27 December dawned and brought us even more patients. The Armored Divisions had finally broken through to Bastogne and we got the wounded from there. They came in, many with gangrene due to lack of supplies and operating facilities, and many more with burns suffered during the fire which resulted from a direct hit on the church which was serving as a hospital. This bombing raid was the especially severe one which the Jerries put on Christmas Day. In spite of the gangrene and burns those plucky boys still had a grin for every nurse who came near them and also a "line" that hadn't suffered at all in those raids.
New Years Eve came and went and was scarcely noticed, but New Years Night, 1 January 1945, I a date that will long be remembered byt the 107th. That was the night we suffered our first casualties in the unit due to enemy action. That nigh the Detachment area, the Mess hall which was doubling as a movie house, and the surrounding streets were strafed and bombed with anti-personnel fragmentation bombs. One of the men from the mess section was injured seriously while several others were cut by the flying glass. Later we learned by rumor that the German pilot had been shot down over Rheims and taken prisoner. He boasted about bombing our area. When asked if he had meant to bomb the hospital (some 5 or 6 blocks away) he said no, that those in the hospital were already wounded; he wanted to strike at the men who were well. Luckily for us there was only the one serious casualty.
From this nigh on our stay in Sedan was un-noteworthy. There were always a lot of patients; it was here, too, that we strated getting so many cases of trench foot. Other than the work things were routine until the 20th of January when we again received "march orders" - this time we were going back into Belgium - on the road back to Jerryland.
Christmas Day the church bells woke us hope and those of us who could went to church. I remember it was a clear, cold, sunshiny day with glistening white snow underfoot. As the day wore on we had news, both good and bad. The good news - a new house had been found for us and we were going to move in and have a housewarming that night (incidentally, I don't believe that house was ever warm - not even on "housewarming night"). The bad news - the ambulances had been unable to get through to the wounded in Bastogne.
When the ambulances did get through, it seemed as if there were no end to the casualties that poured into the hospital. The wounded arrived wrapped in everything from supply parachutes to table cloths, as well as civilian blankets and comforters. We improvised standards for our suction and I.V. sets by using old pieces of lumber, driving a nail in the top for the set to hang from and tying the bottom of the board to the cot. We also utilized wires that were strung across the room about 6 feet high and tied the plasma or I.V. sets to those.
27 December dawned and brought us even more patients. The Armored Divisions had finally broken through to Bastogne and we got the wounded from there. They came in, many with gangrene due to lack of supplies and operating facilities, and many more with burns suffered during the fire which resulted from a direct hit on the church which was serving as a hospital. This bombing raid was the especially severe one which the Jerries put on Christmas Day. In spite of the gangrene and burns those plucky boys still had a grin for every nurse who came near them and also a "line" that hadn't suffered at all in those raids.
New Years Eve came and went and was scarcely noticed, but New Years Night, 1 January 1945, I a date that will long be remembered byt the 107th. That was the night we suffered our first casualties in the unit due to enemy action. That nigh the Detachment area, the Mess hall which was doubling as a movie house, and the surrounding streets were strafed and bombed with anti-personnel fragmentation bombs. One of the men from the mess section was injured seriously while several others were cut by the flying glass. Later we learned by rumor that the German pilot had been shot down over Rheims and taken prisoner. He boasted about bombing our area. When asked if he had meant to bomb the hospital (some 5 or 6 blocks away) he said no, that those in the hospital were already wounded; he wanted to strike at the men who were well. Luckily for us there was only the one serious casualty.
From this nigh on our stay in Sedan was un-noteworthy. There were always a lot of patients; it was here, too, that we strated getting so many cases of trench foot. Other than the work things were routine until the 20th of January when we again received "march orders" - this time we were going back into Belgium - on the road back to Jerryland.