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Camp Patrick Henry (Hampton Roads, VA): March 1944
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| The officers and enlisted men of the 51st Evac. Hospital were
transported on a "Liberty ship", one of a 115 ship convoy, from
Hampton Roads, VA to Oran, Algeria, the trip lasting 23 days. |
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| Our nurses sailed on a fast troop transport to Casablanca, then across North
Africa by troop train to Oran. I was assigned "detached duty" to be
the medical officer aboard another Liberty ship carrying 550 Air Corps
"casuals" from "E.C.P.C.", the East Coast Prison Camp, these
men having had their sentences commuted when they volunteered for overseas duty.
In the holds below our bunks, the ship was loaded with ammunition. To make the
trip even more exciting, our ship was the last ship in the outside row—"torpedo
corner". |
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| Five days into the trip, the ship’s refrigeration failed, and all the fresh
food had to be thrown overboard. Fortunately, a few of the "casuals"
had worked in army mess duty and knew how to bake bread. But, for the remainder
of the trip, we lived on very scanty rations. |
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| On the evening of the 23rd day, we left the convoy and entered the
port of Oran, Algeria. |
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| As we approached the dock, a sudden, huge orange
glow in the N.E. sky indicated that one of the remaining ships in the convoy had
just blown up. |
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