Exhibit

The 65th General Hospital treated wounded soldiers who had been evacuated from front-line hospitals in Europe and also served as the first line of treatment for airmen of the 8th U.S. Air Force returning from their missions over Europe.

Unlike most general hospitals which received casualties that had been evacuated backward from the front lines through a series of medical corpsmen, first aid stations, and field and evacuation hospitals, the 65th treated freshly-and often severely-wounded airmen returning directly from bombing runs over Germany in bullet- and shrapnel-riddled airplanes. While the majority of other Army general hospitals remained comparatively idle during the build up to the D-Day invasion, the 65th handled a constant stream of casualties from heavy bomber crews as well as all of the acute diseases and emergency cases from the surrounding air bases. It was also a designated specialty center for neurosurgery, thoracic and plastic surgery, burns, and hand injuries from hospitals throughout eastern England.

Audio

Duke University Medical Center Archives
Box 3702, Durham, NC 27710

(919) 383-2653
dumc.archives@mc.duke.edu
https://archives.mc.duke.edu

65th General Hospital staff operating on a patient. Note the blackout panels over windows and battery-operated O.R. spotlights to the left. At Redgrave Park, the 65th found itself acting as an evacuation hospital receiving freshly wounded casualties direct from planes as well as a general hospital providing definitive and specialty care and outpatient clinics for the large number of troops in the surrounding area.

Duke University Medical Center Archives, Photograph Collection, Box 19

A morphine syrette was a standard part of a medic’s equipment during World War II. Developed by the pharmaceutical company Squibb in 1940, a syrette could be used on the frontlines to administer a controlled amount of morphine to wounded soldiers.

Duke University Medical Center Archives, 65th General Hospital Collection, Box 2

This case of medical instruments belonged to 65th General Hospital member Dr. Ralph Arnold, a Professor of Otology and an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology at Duke during the 1940s and 1950s.

Duke University Medical Center Archives, Ralph Arnold Papers and Medical Equipment

An aircrew helmet with flak hole. Some of the most common and serious injuries suffered by patients treated at the hospital were due to flak, the enemy anti-aircraft fire that often sent varying-sized shell fragments tearing through planes and wounding men. Due to the work of the 65th staff, the individual wearing this particular helmet survived, despite serious injury.

Duke University Medical Center Archives, 65th General Hospital Collection, Box 2

In 1944, British painter Frank Beresford entered the 65th General Hospital as a patient after falling ill while serving as a war correspondent. During his convalescence, he captured what he saw around him, drawing the hospital’s doctors and nurses at work or, as he later put it, “the good work being done” by the staff. He produced five major pieces from his stay: “The Blood Test,” (depicting a lab technician), “TPR” (short for temperature, pulse, respiration and featuring a nurse taking a patient’s pulse), “Flak” (depicting an operating room scene), and “Modern Miracle," (of a patient being x-rayed). This illustration of a surgeon is an early sketch for the painting "Flak."

Duke University Medical Center Archives, 65th General Hospital Collection, Box 8

British artist Frank Beresford's operating scene painting, "Flak," is based on sketches he did as a patient while recuperating at the 65th General Hospital. About his experience at the hospital, Beresford later said: "Surgeons are used to being watched at their work. They always welcomed me and explained what they were doing whilst the Nurses put me where I could see best what was being done. Sometimes there were over 60 operations a day and when a Hospital train of over 300 cases came in, 200 of them on stretchers, there was no let-up for days till all had been properly treated. Everyone worked incessantly for long hours through the day and night." Today Beresford's 65th paintings are owned by Duke and may be viewed on the 3rd floor of the Medical Center Library.

Duke University Medical Center Library, Artwork Collection

A nurse preparing a hypodermic needle for injection. Nurses' common tasks included changing dressings, adminstering medications, and record keeping. Duke University Medical Center Archives, Photograph Collection, Box 19

Click on the arrow to hear an excerpt from an oral history with Dorothy Ray Salerno, conducted on November 5, 2008. A 1940 graduate of Duke’s School of Nursing, Salerno served as Head Nurse of the orthopedic ward at the 65th General Hospital. Patients with wounds involving bones and joints were very common, making orthopedics one of the busiest services at the hospital. In this clip she discusses working with patients on the orthopedic ward.

Duke University Medical Center Archives, Oral History Collection, A2008.096

« Previous

Created for medical staff of the European Theater, this illustrated pamphlet describes exercises to help patients strengthen their muscles and improve their mobility. It belonged to Dr. Ivan Brown, Jr., Captain of the unit’s Neurological Service.

Duke University Medical Center Archives, 65th General Hospital Collection, Box 1

65th General Hospital nurses attending to patients in a ward.

Duke University Medical Center Archives, 65th General Hospital Collection, Box 1

Staff working with a patient in the 65th General Hospital's Dental Clinic. To the far right is Dr. Norman Ross, the unit's Chief Dental Officer.

Duke University Medical Center Archives, 65th General Hospital Collection, Box 9

65th General Hospital Staff staff examining x-rays

Duke University Medical Center Archives, 65th General Hospital Collection, Box 1

Patient Care