were able to make the place more welcoming than it might have been.


The 750 bed hospital opened almost immediately and initially functioned as a general hospital in the Plymouth area for the US army, US navy and coastguards, and some British army units. Between August and the end of 1943 it cared for more than 10,000 patients, of whom more than 4,000 required diagnostic hospitalisation and nursing. The out-patients department at the dental clinic dealt with 8,000 sittings in the same period. Throughout the unit’s time at Plaster Down official reports from the camp to higher command complained about the shortage of manpower. The basis of the problem was that the manpower resources allocated were for an already- established army post, not one miles from anywhere on an isolated moor. Not only did the unit have to operate the hospital, it also had to run the post, including guarding, maintenance, construction and repair. Several job openings were filled by British civilians, one of whom was Miss Harris, a secretary in the laboratory section. Miss Harris, later Mrs Richards, died in 1995, and afterwards her album of photographs showing the wartime camp was donated to the museum. As the numbers of American troops


built-up all over southern England in late 1943 and early 1944, the hospital’s work load increased. In May 1944 the hospital received orders for its function during the forthcoming invasion of mainland Europe, and was designated for the reception of casualties expected from the invasion and follow-up. It was realised that 750 beds would be far below the anticipated demand. Capacity was accordingly increased by adding ward tents, first to make it a hospital with 1,180 beds, and later 1,487 beds. This was achieved by adding ten beds to each of the regular wards, and having bed space for 345 men in 23 ward tents, each with 15 beds. Covered walkways were also made connecting the new ward tents and all the patient areas.


The invasion itself occurred on D-day, the 6th June 1944, and the first train load of casualties arrived on the 28th June with 292 men. Contrary to expectations the hospital’s overall workload fell after D-day because the invasion casualties were less than expected and general hospital work was reduced since most of the American forces had left for the war in Europe. It was to be much later in the year when large numbers of casualties arrived at the hospital; 292 on the 6th October, 270 on the 9th November, 319 on 27th November, 244


The Operating Theatre


on the 14th December, 270 on the 21st December, and 279 on the 25th December, pushing patient levels to an all time high of 1,364. During this period the work pressure on all personnel at the hospital was immense. Four hundred operations were carried out after the three December receptions. The last trainload of patients in December arrived at the railhead on a cold night after a heavy snowstorm. Under such conditions the roads leading from the town up to Plaster Down were slippery and icy. The 115th’s motor pool made improvised v-shaped snowploughs with boards at the front of the vehicles. Many householders came out to help and some threw cinders and slag from their own fireplaces into the roadway to help the wheels of the hospital ambulances gain traction on the steeper sections of roads. The story of how local people helped the military ambulances reach Plaster Down is a nice story, and one which I think ought to be recorded in more detail. I would really like to hear from anyone who was present on that night.


In Spring 1945 the number of casualty receptions to Plaster Down started to drop as new field hospitals were set up in mainland Europe closer to the fighting troops. In April 1945 the unit was given advance verbal warning of its impending transfer to the


continent. Subsequently all the wards were closed down and the forty eight patients left in the hospital were transferred to the 112th Field Hospital based near Newton Abbot. The 115th Field Hospital officially closed on the 28th April 1945, twenty two months after it first opened. All large items of medical and military equipment were packed and sent from the camp by the 20th May 1945, leaving only hand-packs to be moved with the unit. In darkness during the morning of the 23rd May 1945 the 115th Field Hospital left Plaster Down camp and the whole unit


was transferred by a fleet of army lorries to Tavistock railway station where they boarded a train to Southampton, and from there embarked for Le Havre. Such was the


thoroughness of the evacuation from the camp that very little was left behind. There is a story that the entire paperback library from the day rooms was destroyed, on orders, rather than being allowed to fall into the hands of the ‘bookworms’ in Tavistock. What a calamity!


The unit were initially based at Metz in north-east France for two months but later went on to Augsburg in Bavaria, west of Munich. Here the hospital served mainly as a general hospital, and took an increasing role as a community dispensary for the families of the American army of occupation. During 1946 the hospital’s bed capacity was down-sized in stages from 750 to 150 beds, and it was finally closed on the 20th July 1947. As a result many of the staff and enlisted men were either sent back to the United States to be demobilised or were transferred to other hospital units. Later that year the 115th Field Hospital, which by then existed only on paper, was re-designated the 829th Field Station. No real use was found for the camp on Plaster Down in the post-war period. Various British military units were temporarily based there, and one of its last uses, in 1973, was as a transit camp for Ugandan Asians. In 1976 the camp area was demolished and the site returned to moorland.


a friendly young local 37


Feeding


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