51st Field Hospital at Normandy and other sites
Creator(s)
- Jack Stein
- Bertha (Bessie) B. Wachtel (Subject)
Biographical History
Beatrice Wachter (1906-1979) from Philadelphia, PA married Harry Wachter, a circulation agent with the Philadelphia Daily News, in 1931. She enlisted with the Army Nurse Corps at the age of 37 on June 7, 1943 and arrived in Europe on March 11, 1944. She served with the 51st Field Hospital in the campaigns of Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe, and returned home on November 29, 1945. She received a Certificate of Merit: "With unselfish disregard for her own comfort and safety, Lt. Wachter contributed immeasurably to the care and well being of the many seriously wounded patients of the 51st Field Hospital in France, Belgium and Germany."
Scope and Content
The 51st Field Hospital campsite in a dusty landscape, probably in France. They laugh and tease one another as they walk along the road. A plane flies low to the ground. LS, pan of tent camp grounds with some military men, vehicles, and wooden stakes (gravesites?). 01:09:17 Large ships docking close to the Normandy shore on June 12, 1944. People wait and unload boats. The 51st Field Hospital nurses arrived at the Normandy beaches on D-Day plus 6 (June 12, 1944). 01:09:28 Beatrice waves to the camera by a tent. Pan of a campsite with grass after the Normandy invasion, probably in the summer 1944. Men walk toward camera, joke and pretend to fight one another. One holds up artwork. Another plays with the unit's puppy, Punch, who was born on a Normandy beach; cows graze in the BG.
Note(s)
Detailed film condition and transfer report from Brodsky and Treadway in departmental files.
Subjects
- SHIPS
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (AMERICAN)
- WOMEN
- DOGS
- TENTS
- AIRPLANES
- NURSES
Genre
- Film
- Amateur.