Under the direction of the Surgeon, Mediterranean Base Section in Oran, this hospital was set up in two school buildings. A Station hospital was different from a field hospital which was at the front. Headquarters, Administrative Offices, and the Admission and Disposition Office and Dispensary, the Operating Rooms, X-ray Department, Orthopedic Clinic, Pharmacy, and Physical-Therapy were set up in L'Ecole des Filles Indigenes (Building "A"). This building accommodated approximately 200 patients.  The second building housed the laboratory, E.E.N.T. clinic, Dental Clinic, Prophylactic Station and G.U.Department, and 200 patients,  and was named building "C".  The engineers constructed Nissen Huts (building "B") adjacent to L'Ecole des Filles Indigenes, to house more patients and medical supplies.  When in June the bed capacity was further increased to 1,000, the roofs of Building "A" and building "D" were put under canvas and screening; later wood and tar paper roofs with enclosed sides and plastiglass windows were set up.

The two school buildings were separated by a ten minute walk.  The detachment was within a three minute's walk from hospital "C" and seven minute's walk from hospital "C".  The officers, nurses, dietitian, P.T.S.O and Red Cross workers lived just around the corner from the main hospital.

Because of the scattered layout of the various hospital units it was necessary to have four messes: at the main hospital, at Hospital "C", at the detachment, and at the hotel for the Officers and Nurses. This worked a hardship on both mess personnel and equipment. There was a great problem with security;  we had to post guards at all installations which took a lot of man power we could not spare.  Also, we were trained as non-combatants with no arms, so all we had to confront any intruders was a club;  I pulled this guard duty a number of times. Getting equipment and supplies from one place to another presented many problems because we had a limited number of vehicles.  We needed one or two vehicles every day to make the 90 mile trip to the docks in Oran for our supplies.  Our table of allowances and equipment was set up for a unit to handle 500 patients when we eventually were treating over 1500 patients. 

 On 8 September 1943, Italy capitulated, so some of the Italian prisoners we had as patients were hired for menial jobs, which relieved some of our own men.  We did get some "filler" personnel from a replacement depot, but they never arrived on time when we needed them; many were poorly trained for hospital duties. Some of our equipment arrived at the dock in broken crates with damaged goods. In my opinion, our superior, the Surgeon General of the Mediterranean Base Section did a very poor job preparing for us.  They were not ready for us upon our arrival in Oran; it took over a month for us to become operational.

Some of our enlisted men enjoying  conversation with the local residents

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