American Base Hospital No. 57

American Base Hospital No. 57 was an American military hospital formed in Georgia, United States. During the First World War the hospital moved to Paris, where a 1,800-bed hospital was set up to deal with war casualties.[1]

American Base Hospital No. 57
Military Hospital No. 57 Surgical Assistants: Pte Nicholas Romeo, Alice Cahn, and Sergeant H.T. Aardweg
Geography
LocationParis, France
Organisation
Care systemGovernment
FundingNon-profit hospital
TypeMilitary
Services
Beds1,800
History
Opened1918
Links
ListsHospitals in France

History

The United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, during World War I. At Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, the American military set up a Medical Officers Training Camp (MOTC) called Camp Greenleaf. Authorized in May 1917 until it was decommissioned in December 1918, the camp trained 6,640 officers and 31,138 enlisted men.[1]

Among some units were the doctors and staff of Base Hospital No. 57.[2] The members of the hospital were organized on April 2, 1918. Most of the men were drafted from Oil City, Pennsylvania.[3] After training they shipped to Camp Merritt, New Jersey where they embarked on the Madingo on July 31, 1918. After stopping briefly in England they boarded the Londonderry and landed in France on August 21, 1918. They moved around France until on September 16, 1918 it was ordered to Paris where they took over 1,800 beds in a large school building in Paris.[2] During the offensives of 1918, the hospital had as many as 2,000 patients.[4] From taking over the Paris school in September 1918 to when the unit left France on August 13, 1919, the hospital unit treated 8,505 surgical and medical cases, and 7,292 dental cases.[5]

Of the nineteen members of the Siamese Expeditionary Forces who lost their lives during their WWI deployment, eleven died in hospitals. In February 1919 five of these hospital-bound Thai soldiers died at the American Base Hospital No. 57 in Paris.[2]

The unit returned to America on August 22, 1919, aboard the Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, and was demobilized soon after.[2][4]

Panoramic picture of a military camp
Medical Officers Training Camp, Camp Greenleaf – 1918

Personnel
Old cars outside a building
Outside American Base Hospital No. 57 in Paris during World War I

Commanding Officer

  • Col. Edward C. Mitchell, M. C., April 2, 1918, to August 22, 1919[6]

Chief of surgical service

  • LC Frank D. Smythe, M. C.[6]
  • Maj. David M. Henning, M. C.[6]
  • LC Junius Lynch, M. C.[6]

Chief of medical service

  • LC Theodore L. Boutillier, M. C.[6]

See also

References
  1. United States Foundation for the Commemoration of the World Wars 2017
  2. Whyte & Whyte 2008
  3. Ford 1927, p. 681
  4. Budreau & Prior 2008, p. 155
  5. Ford 1927, p. 682
  6. Ford 1927, p. 683

Sources
  • Budreau, Lisa M.; Prior, Richard M., eds. (2008). Answering The Call: The U.S. Army Nurse Corps, 1917–1919: A commemorative Tribute to Military Nursing in world War I. Government Publishing Office. ISBN 9780160869365. (Total pages: 244)
  • Ford, Joseph H. (1927). "Base Hospitals". The Medical Department of the U.S. Army in the World War. Vol. 2. U.S. Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018.
  • United States Foundation for the Commemoration of the World Wars (2017). "Camp Greenleaf". The United States World War I Centennial Commission. Archived from the original on October 15, 2017.
  • Whyte, Brendan; Whyte, Suthida (2008). "The Inscriptions on the First World War Volunteers Memorial, Bangkok" (PDF). Journal of the Siam Society. 96. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 31, 2023.
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