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No ~,: 6 " OIOOOU:' :oe c '\ 1944, 312400A Dec '1944

I03rd , "

Me dical B~ttalion, APO· 28 , ,i

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GSGS 4336; 1:100;000 GSGS 4416, '1:100,000

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1. am SITUATION:

a. Location of troops, command posts; and b6uildaries~ " l;

(1) At the close of the ' period" the three collecting companies of 'I

this battali on were in ope~tion, each supporting i 'ts respective .combat - 1 team. Their locations, a s shown on the a ttached overlay, were at the fol- " lowing pOints.

Company A Company B Company C

Peti tvoir, Belg ium ' (P303408, . She 17) 1 Mi W of St'raimont" Belgium (l?332282, Sh17) Bomal, Belgium (:P428999; Sh 13)

(2) The Division Clearing station. had one plat'con in ope~ti'on at Epioux" Belgium (P246311, she 17). The other platoon was in reserve at ChiD,ey~ BelgiUm (P277294, Sh 17).

(,3) The Battalion OP, Division Me dical Supply, and Ba,ttalion 2nd Echelon Mainte'nance Sec'tion were ' loca ted in proximity to the' Clearing sta­tion and Battalion CP, at Epioux, Belg ium (P246311, She 17).

b. Location of a djacent medical units and supporting elements.

(1) At the close of the period the following medical units were adjacent. Right flank - Collecto-Clearing Co. of CC "An, 9th Armd Div.,

Longlier, Belgium (P359420) Sh 17. Left flank - Division Clearing station, 87th lnf Div., Vie

Bouillon, Belgium (PO?0362) She 17. (2) Supporting t he evacuation of the Division Clearing station

were the followin g uni ts: < ' ,

(a) Ambulance s of the 595th Ambulance Co., 170th Med' Bn", 64th Medical Group (C~ at Gerouville, ,Belgium F335160, Sh 17. '

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(b) casualties were being evactated to the, 10?th Evacuation Hospital at Sedan, France (0-980260, Sh 13) and 635th Clearing Station at Villers (P262162) Sh 17. :During the month the f ol lowing medical units also serviced this ba t- ( talion. The 580th Ambulance Company, the 32nd~ 102nd, 103rd, 106th, 109th a nd 110th Evacuation Hospitals, the ' l 42nd Field Hosp ita l, the l30th Genera l Hospital, and the ':

'I, c • . OpeIfi tions 6~:::n:l:::i:r:::ion. " lit '7;2~ .~ , The medical ba ttalion ' "out i t '$ no~a~ 'funct:~ on' dfj, ~; Support ing t he 28th Infantry , treating ' ~ni~ ' di sposi~~ >:" ' . "",.;. ,;,{:,)J t. . ... ~~. .' :.;>. .~;:f~h ;" ... ~,.f _ ~~~~~f

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of the casualties su1'fWed by t • ~~e.· ~~.~~'t [ki~ ·~;~i;;·~~ ;;': month the Division carried out defensive operct.ti6nson a wide '·'front. --.: Tlile~~"-'" . width of this front and concurrent wide separation of the ' me:dfeal u:nfts ' n:ec ~~~ essita ted the split of the clea ring company, with section,s so loca tedl> as to.: best support the collecting stations. ' :. \, '. ", ,,' " :'. '0 , ~~!

This was a continuation of theSyst·em;. uSed': the i(pri3·v&o~~ · .. ~onthl·~Vlh~';' ·: in three separate clea ring sta tions were maintaine<i ·"e~~.fh ·rece:iv;ing. the~' . 7; casualties from one of the collecting stations. A.tnb'Ulances ·at·tache'd to ' eac : ~ clea ring stati on evacuated casual tie s directly to the nearestevac'lii tion . hospital.

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During the first half of the month, with a · v:,drf.> lOW \<di;\':i"sf'6h !~'ca:~~' I : : ty rate, a training and re-equipping program wascontin\led anq:\ e:tfQrts ,made ". to correct a ny deficiencies previously noted. ' All' of t'he .. un-itsWere com- .?

rortabley billeted in available buildings, and all o.ur ·stat.fon::s 'wete ' ;~2 '~: wi se set up in comfort able surroundings. , " };;' .~, , # " "'.;"":;';': I

'. " . <,:. ~\':, ~ . : ~.': M"'-" ;;-i In the latter half of the month, the enemy oli oun' fron~t ' beea~ ". ,\.' ,,'1

most active and a ggres s ive. Our medical units wer'e 'constantlyt s.'Ubj.ected .~o ', shell fire and sometimes small arms fire. , They were fo'rced "oti;t of /their ' :, 1

positions by the tactica l situation whi'ch became . very fluid. ,The units wertli kept on the move continuously endeavoring to best continue the).~ . support of / tre t a ctical units and a void enemy capture. Companies A and G;: , with their ',' CT' s, were atta ched temporarily to other Divisions as t ;he tactical sltua tic '; cause d the ir relea se from control by this Division. The .clearing sta,tion .. i supporting A Company remained with that OT until thel09th CT .':rejoined the :j Division. The clearing s·ta tion supporting C Company returned to the clE?ar- ,: iug company CF just before C Company, with its' OT became attaChed to an- f;

other Division. B Company continued t 0 evacuate casual·ties to our :'clear- ~ ing station, a nd when conditions allowed, established medical department _1 straggler point for the Division. B Company also eX,amined all stragglers ,,1.

for medica l disabilities , as in a most critical period, it was necessary 3 for the Division to use all a vailable personnel and stra gglers for ' the de­fense of the front. Medical service in these rapidly changing. situations , was ma intained by the formation of provisional medical detachments to serve ~ too ha stily organi zed defense units, utilizing medical personI1el an.d equip- ·. ment from available medical deta chments, our col'lecting company and med- ". ical department stra gglers.

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Towards t he end of t he month the clearing .s ta t'ion -,whid';h . nad 1)':ee1

n ; a t t a ched (with A Co a nd the l09th CT) to another Division, re~urned to our contrOl, when the I09th RCT rejoined the Division. At the close of the month C Company with the 112th CT was inOorps reserve, and evacuating its casualties to the nearest clearing station.

" d. Estirrate of comb a t efficiency of ' the command: 1'1

During this month, as in t he p'revious period, the" periiio~~eJ G,t th~ .' . command, carried out their assigned duties i 'n ,a htghly ' efflci(i)':int:,\ *lie~.:. .. This wa s evidenced very noticeably at times when the units were " in~;:'; iminent danger of capture by the. enemy, a s was the case during . the critical sta"geis . of t he t a ctical si tUl tion. In the a ttempt to · maintain the uS1lat high d·e- .: gree of efficiency of this uqit, twenty one (21) members of the ·,eo#ma.nd;; :; were captured by the enemy. Under such conditions the personnel" of t~he:: the cOIlllW-nd continued the medical support of the Division and manageq. to save all bu t a n una voidable from falling int,o ,'''' .......... ''''y.,c.

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hands, i n spite transpo'~ta t ion. 6 Purple Hearts

e. Results of opera tions. ,~ "; :~.' ", '.:. ' .. ~.

(1) The following numbers of patients were treat'eo:" during tile '" month by the companies indicated:

., Company A - 573 patients Company B - 418 patients Company C - 515 patients Clearing Company - 1958 patient s (including 151 enemy and 35

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Reproduced at the National Archives

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