Nursing Staff

6 Nurses of the 279th Station Hospital
On the left is 2nd Lt. Elizabeth J. McEwen N735575, she later married Captain Charles Glascock. Elizabeth was still alive in 2004.

Detachment Commander.

Captain Charles L. Glascock O1547309, detachment commander. Apparently, a bit of a hard liner, but that may be because the stories have come from those busted by him (naughty boys)!!
He passed away in June 1986.

Emmett C. Bentley.

The most senoir non-commissioned officer in the 279th Station Hospital, and only in his early 20's !
He passed away in 1998. His son is an Attorney in Austin, Texas.

Senior NCO's

Left to right;
39161560, T/Sgt. Frank Panian Jr. (Transportation Dept.), originally a native of Utah, he came from Los Angeles, 26 years old and a mechanic before the war.

36175922, T/Sgt. Bruce W. Olver Jr. (Registrar Dept.), enlisted at Ft. Custer, Michegan, was 21 years old and was a driver before the war.

38065715, M/Sgt. Emmett C. Bentley (Headquaters), from Martin county, Texas and was 22 in 1943.
and his brother;
38065569, M/Sgt. John J. Bentley (Medical Supply), who was 24 and was an electrician before enlistment.

X-Ray service.

Head of the X-Ray Service.
O441523 Captain, Carroll P. Tatum.

Postal Department

Left. O1547510, 1st Lieutenent John W. Wood.
2nd Left: Alvin G. Edgell 36451111
3rd from left, 36645103, Pfc. Robert K. Meyer.

On the right, 39616575,Tec/5 Willard Holyk.
Willard Holyk was a married farmhand from Daniels County, Montana and was 21 in 1943.

Laboratory Staff

13175630 Tec/3 William C. Lupton third from left.
From Centre County, Pennsylvania.
NCO of the reserve Corps on active duty, Medical Administrative Corps (MAC).

2nd from left.....34883917 TEC/5 Arthur A. Mc Murray, from Davidson County, Tennessee, aged 22.

Headquaters Staff.

33612153 Tec/5 Max E. Mitchell, 5th from right.
He was 21 and from Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Detachment office ? what did they do ?

The Detachment Office personnel.
On the left 31002210 S/Sgt. William J. Pratt
he was 24 and from Essex County, Massachusetts.

Time to get paid!

Finance Office.
The Officer on the left has 3 or 4 medal ribbon bars mounted above his left pocket and displays DUI's (distinctive Unt insignia) on his lapels, I have not been able to find out what these DUI's are yet. This officer liked to be smart !

Senior Medical Staff

Some of the medical staff. Colonel Decker in the front middle row.
Nice sunny day!

Carl

Carl, shortly after the war back in the Sates. A keen photographer, he is still busy and spends his time now creating a photo record of the covered bridges in his area.
Check out his Flickr site.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/macswitch/

X-Ray

One of the patients undergoing an X-Ray. The accomodation may have been basic, but the machines used were the best available at the time.

X-Ray Department.

Carl (bottom right) was a technician in the X-ray Department, this is where he developed most of his photographs, in the x-ray developing fluids !
Top row, left to right; O441523 Capt. Carroll P. Tatum (from Fort Worth, Texas), Tec/4 Anthony J. O'Connor 32139281, Tec/5 William P. Kessler 37497997, Tec/4 Harland B. Beckman 39559486, Tec/5 Theodore A. Buergler 35534011.
Bottom row, left to right; Pfc. Clarence W. Gonder 39131932, Lacer, McDaniel.

Hanging Around.

Three of the guys hanging out outside the X-Ray Department.
From left -Wa Hop Chop, 'Speedy' O'Conner and ??

Carl & Bunny.

Carl and his wife Bunny, enjoying some nicer surroundings more recently.

More fun at the utilities hut !

I guess this is a portable toilet as it does not appear in the other photos. Carl McDaniel is standing on the left.
Wilkerson on his knee and Eli Mast on the toilet!

At the back on the left, 36745235 Tec/5 Charles J. Doyle.

Utilities building.

Not sure where the utilities building was on site, but here are a likely looking bunch of lads!
Rear row second from left - T4 32139281 Anthony J. O'Connor (Monroe County, New York).
Front row left - 33718547 Pfc. Carl W. Wilkinson (Washington County, Maryland), right - 36658554 Cpl. Eli J. Mast

Tony Chavez.

Pfc Tony Chavez 38372975 came from Wichita county, Texas. He now lives in Minnesota.

Bridgend Inn

Where we met with Bob and Betty at the Bridgend Inn. Bettys house was on the right. (as a group of friends from the MVT, we paid a visit to the Hospital Camp in April, with our vehicles, mine is first on the right).

At the pub still!

Same wall, same pub, same Bob & Betty. 66 years later.

At the pub..

Bob met Betty when he was waiting for the pub to open opposite where she lived in Govilon.
Wedding day 1944.

Married..

Bob Rivers married Betty Morgan from the nearby village of Govilon in 1944. Bobs best man was Tec/4 James V. Godfrey 34801055 (on the left).

Bob Rivers & Co.

Bob Rivers married a local girl in 1944 and settled in the locality after the war. This picture taken outside the main administration building. This is now the home of a heavy goods vehicle training centre.
Left - Tec/5 Max E. Yost 35146037
Middle - Tec/5 Robert P. Rivers Jr. 34765883
Right - Tec/5 Paul J. McNamee Jr. 15343127

Time for a Cigarette?

Left - S/Sgt. 37125311 Clarence G. Brewster
Right -T4 32139281 Anthony J. O'Connor (Speedy)
These jackets were known as the 'M-1941 field jacket' or the 'Parsons Jacket'.

Leather Jackets and Cardigans.

Second Lieutenent Anne F. Stanewicz, in the cold with a woulded US Aircrewman, making good use of his 'Type D-1 Mechanics Shearling Jacket' (and dressing gown!).

Sun is Shining.

2nd Lieutenent Anne F. Stanewicz N721691 (Nurse, General Duty). Even though the sun is shining its still cold! One of the nurses outside one of the ward building.

Cold tents !

Posing outside one of the tents, nursing and medical staff.
On the left - Tec5 36656203 Tony Palermo
On the right - Pfc 39131608 Flaviano Martinez
Martinez was from the San Francisco are and was from Mexico originaly and did not have US citizenship upon enlistment.

Time for some Dolls!

Snowballs and iceicles ! One of the nurses enjoying the wintery scenes by one of the many tents used for extra accomodation.
All nurses were automacically given officer rank, 2nd Lieutenant or above.

Winter of 1944.

It was a cold one. Cant think it was a warm one in those Nissen huts !?

Pharmacy

Medicines being handed out in the Pharmacy. They seem to be happy about it !! I think that is a helmet on the table, not sure what that is doing there?
Standing up.......Tec/5 Robert Mashburn...........
In front of Mashburn.(short).........Tec/5 Samuel Katz
Extreme left..........Billie Roberts

Chow.

Eating was quite popular too! Mac and Wa-Hop-Chop in the mess hall. I am not sure where the mess hall and kitchen was in the camp. I would guess there was a separate Officers mess as well. It would be interesting to know what British produce was consumed and how much US produce was brought over?

An Hawaiian in Hereford

Mac and Wa-Hop-Chop visiting Hereford. The Yanks were let out on occasion to visit the local towns and night-spots ! In those days even Merthyr was a popular destination for a night out !

Wa-Hop-Chop

Wa-Hop-Chop was from Hawaii, one of carls good friends. Notice the shoulder badge for US 'Service Forces'.

Friends together.

Carl is at the back with the tie on! This is taken at the top end of the camp at the OR's accomotation. In the background can be seen the railings surrounding the cess pit workings of the nearby Ty-Mawr house. The railings are still there today and I took my Jeep to this exact position last week. One of the accomodation barracks and one of the shower blocks remain, but under thick vegitation. The whole area is now overgrown.

Cycle Japes !

Fooloing around near the boiler and power house. Notice the power lines and the fire water tank.
Pfc. Harry S. Hershall riding the bike with Bill Lacer on top and Mac hanging off the front.

Cycle ride on a sunny Day.

Get the shades out. These Nurses prepare for a ride in the country.

Mac on his bike...

Carl MacDaniel riding on the canal between Govilon and Gilwern.

More Cycles..

Three Nurses out for a ride, on the lane heading West from the camp towards Gilwern Lower Common.

Cycles..

One of the Nurses near the ward buildings.
Easy for getting around. Bicycles were used a lot more than they are today. I dont know if these would have been British bikes or if the Yanks brought their own.

Haircut ?

And they had a barber shop! Notice the bicycle racks.

Education.

They had a library in one of the Nissen huts.

A warm day !

What looks like a nice day in 1944. From the accommodation area, loking towards Dyffryn-Bach Farm and the Blorenge mountain.

Warm ?

With only a pot belly stove at each end you can bet there may not have been as much heat as was needed during the winter of 1944 !

Nissen Huts

A lot of the accommodation on the site was provided by the simple 'Nissen' hut. Usually sleeping up to 20 men, it was invented by Colonel Peter Nissen in 1916 as a shelter structure during the first world war, a design that endured for many years, well into the 1960's. The huts shown here are in the Northern area of the camp for the enlisted men.
Left - T5 35725125 William Lacer Jr., from Elberfield, Indiana.
Middle - T4 32139281 Anthony J. O'Connor (Speedy!), from Rochester, New York.
Right - Sgt. 38113195 Oscar Lozano, from Brownsville, Texas.

Tents also.

Even 130 solid buildings were not enough to accommodate the 279th. Many tents were also used in spaces between the buildings. I dont know what exactly they were used for, probably stores. In the middle of the camp was a large open water tank for fire fighting purposes.

On the left, T/5 Ted Buergler and Pfc Harry Herschall (guy with hat unknown)

Looking South.

This is looking from the small parade ground up to the camp entrance. Where you can see a Jeep just coming onto the site is where the guard hut is. The building on the right is the Camp Office and the building on the left is the Admissions and Dispersals Office.