Nursing sisters of No. 1 General were not with the rest of their hospital when it sailed in the convoy in which the Santa Elena was lost. They had remained at Colchester, where No. 1 and No. 14 Hospitals had staged prior to embarking for the Mediterranean. Matron Kennedy-Reid remembers having been instructed to "keep the nurses busy so that they wouldn't be bored. I had them do early morning exercises on the beds, under my supervision." In November the British hospital ship Atlantis carried them to Algiers. They eventually arrived in Andria ahead of the officers and men of No. 1 General, whom they welcomed on arrival with a good hot meal.
After a brief stay in Sicily, No. 4 C.C.S. at Catania, and No. 5 at Messina, the two units crossed to the mainland. The nurses of No. 4 C.C.S., having embarked on the British hospital ship St. Julien, must have almost lost hope of ever reaching Italy, as their ship was held for more than two weeks in harbour because, as they subsequently learned, Bari, their intended destination, had been heavily bombed. Landing at Taranto in mid-December, the unit relieved a British casualty clearing station at Torremaggiore, on the northern edge of the wide Foggia plain. The fighting at the Moro River was developing into the battle for Ortona, and a steady flow of wounded was passing through the forward medical installations to No. 1 General Hospital at Andria. In January, as the 1st Canadian Corps took over the Eighth Army's Adriatic flank, No. 4 C.C.S. moved northward to the coastal town of Vasto. Nursing sisters, working in continual rain and heavy mud, were indeed grateful for the high waterproof boots that rounded out their issue of battledress.
Lieut N/S H Coburn
No 1 CGH CMF CANF
11-2-44
...Life is picking up a bit we now have English movies three times a week. Tomorrow we are having a valentine dance, regret to say Helen will not be there. Have a nasty cold so perhaps I will be better at home.
In mid-February No. 4 Field Surgical Unit made history for itself, if not indeed for all medical units in Italy, by treating a compound fracture of the femur with penicillin — the new drug described by the unit war diary as being "in very short supply, and very expensive." The unit could claim another first — that of being the initial Canadian F.S.U. to employ a nursing sister in its operating theatre in the forward area. On February 26 the war diary recorded: "Lt. (N/S) Jean Hackland now on full time duty with the unit.. . . She should be of great help in developing good operating room technique, not to mention being good for morale." That she was good for the morale of at least one member of the unit would seem to be reflected in a diary entry seven months later: "Pleasant party after duty by unit to celebrate the engagement of Captain Marshall (No. 4 F.S.U.'s anaesthetist) and Lt. (N/S) Hackland."
Lieut N/S H Coburn
No 1 CGH CMF CANF
17-2-1944
... Saturday night we had a valentine dance. It was a lovely party. Some of the boys from near by had a seven day leave and were able to come over thus adding an extra ray of sunshine to our party. They have since gone back to their units and once again we drift along quietly.
Towards the end of February No. 5 C.C.S., which had spent a month at Corato, near Bari, completing its scale of equipment and organizing its field surgical and field transfusion units, began receiving casualties in a badly damaged tobacco factory at Lanciano, on the south side of the Moro River. The heavy Christmas fighting was over, but the two Canadian clearing stations did not lack for patients during their stay in the Ortona salient. Offensive action by the Canadian Corps at this stage was mainly limited to vigorous patrolling, a grim business which frequently led to small but deadly engagements with the enemy. Hostile shelling and mortaring also took their toll, and the miserable weather produced many patients for the medical wards. In the short month of February sisters of No. 4 C.C.S. had under their care more than two thousand patients, of whom 760 were surgical cases. Convoys of sick and wounded continued to pass through the long channel of evacuation from Lanciano and Vasto to Andria (where No. 1 General Hospital had been joined by No. 5 General), and then across the peninsula to Caserta, where the two large base hospitals, Nos. 14 and 15 General, were located.
No 1 Canadian General Hospital
C.M.F. CA.A.F.
23 February 1944
...Yesterday was my day off for the week. J. Robertson and I plan weekly on the same day and weekly our plans are changed. Last week we had Thursday and wasn't Jean admitted to hospital with a cold Tue. Perhaps a little too much celebrating we had some friends down over the weekend and for three nights dining and dancing. We had a grand time. Let's get along with yesterday. Monday evening we went to the movies, Tuesday morning I had an infected finger, so after breakfast I decided I should report same and found myself admitted to hospital. With constant soakings will soon be well. B. Bigley is also in hospital with dermatitis on her chin so I am not alone.
...Dinner's arrived and as eating still rates high among my pleasures of this life. I still enjoy three meals a day thus for a short spell you were neglected Sis.
... Keith Barton spent a few days with us. I admitted him one night while on night duty. He seems much older and had no doubt been through plenty. Was pleased to see someone from home. I told him all the news of the other boys that I could recall at the moment even a quick account of Murray's wedding.
... Wilfred Cameron is possibly quite near here but I don't know what unit he is with. Truthfully I doubt if I would know Wilfred should I meet him on the street.