Robert Roberts

A Medic's Story: an Autobiography of Experiences During World War II Robert Roberts

This book is an autobiography concerning my own personal experiences and impressions in the Military Service during the War Years (1942 to 1945). I was a non-combatant soldier in the First Army with the 45th Evacuation Hospital Semi-Mobile. I served as a Medical Laboratory Technician. The 45th actively entered the European conflict on D+ 10 and took part in every major First Army engagement from that day until V -E Day. The following were the highlights of my active duty: Omaha Beach and the Hedgerows of Normandy. The Breakthrough at St. Lo - Operation 'Cobra' The Falaise Gap - General Patton's Third Army enters the conflict The Battle of the Bulge The Crossing of the Rhine River at Remagen The 45th Evacuation Hospital's part in the repatriation of Prisoners at Buchenwald Concentration Camp Also included are my experiences during: Basic Training and Technical School. Tennessee Maneuvers Boat Trip on the 'Aquitania' to Britain. Life in Britain before D-Day Point System qualification for discharge Train Trip from Germany to 'Camp Lucky Strike' in France Boat trip home on a 'Liberty Ship'. Discharge at Fort Dix, New Jersey During the initial landing on Omaha Beach until the St. Lo Breakthrough we had very limited knowledge concerning our exact geographic location. What little we learned was from troops on the move, patients and the 'Stars and Stripes' paper, which we received sporadically. It was not until the St. Lo breakthrough that we learned the Beachhead was a very, very narrow strip of land. The front lines were only a few miles away and never more than ten miles from our tent hospital at any time before the breakout from the hedgerow countries in Normandy. My story begins with complications on being drafted and ends with my discharge from the Army immediately after V-E Day.