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In early 1943, the small village of Gilwern, near Abergavenny, was turned on its head when 450 soldiers and nurses of the US Army Medical Department arrived to take occupation of a newly built general purpose hospital on the edge of the village. For nearly two and a half years these strangers in a strange land carried out their duties to the best of their abilities. Some worked in isolation, but most made an effort to integrate with the local community. This is a chronicle of those times.
Times Gone By
When I moved back to Abergavenny in 2001 I realised that I had visited many battlefields in Europe over the years but had never once thought about the rich history of World War Two events that may have ocurred on my own doorstep. Over the past few years I have been slowly piecing together the evidence of the units, personnel and stories that make this story, and have made aquaintance with many interesting people including some of the actual veterans and civilians who were involved in those interesting times.
It is estimated that at one point there were around 100,000 military personell stationed in the Usk valley around the Abergavenny area.
Two particular US veterans, Carl McDaniel and Robert P Rivers, have given me a wealth of information, stories and photos on their unit, The 279th Station Hospital, so I will attempt here to chronicle some of the information I have in pictorial format.
Not much of the Hospital now remains, but as its only just down the road from me, what is left, holds a fascination for me and I think the story of it is worth telling.
I will try and upload pictures in a chronological order so this site is best viewed by starting from the bottom (very first thread in the archive).
Richard P
It is estimated that at one point there were around 100,000 military personell stationed in the Usk valley around the Abergavenny area.
Two particular US veterans, Carl McDaniel and Robert P Rivers, have given me a wealth of information, stories and photos on their unit, The 279th Station Hospital, so I will attempt here to chronicle some of the information I have in pictorial format.
Not much of the Hospital now remains, but as its only just down the road from me, what is left, holds a fascination for me and I think the story of it is worth telling.
I will try and upload pictures in a chronological order so this site is best viewed by starting from the bottom (very first thread in the archive).
Richard P
I just discovered an aerial photo of the hospital that my father, M/Sgt Emmett C. Bentley, had among his papers. If you would like to see it, email me at mebentley@utexas.edu.
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