THE
ROYAL PALACE AT CASERTA: INTERIOR
Many more pictures of this great palace will follow
this one; some were taken by me in September, 1998,
when my wife and I visited my old hospital area.
I have outlined the buildings which housed the 32nd
Station Hospital while we operated here from December,
1943, to September, 1945. To be noted here
are two parking lots for military vehicles, one
on the left and the other to right of the highway
(bordered by the large trees). Note that the
vehicles are parked in straight rows, military style.
Half way up the picture on the right I have marked
the ends of two runways of Marcinese airport where
bombers like B-17's & B-24's, British Spitfire
fighter planes operated.
Today many weddings
are held in the palace.
Ruth Anderson, a nurse who was a great friend,
and I sit on a wall at the end of the long garden
path at the Palace, which is far, far in the background.
B17
CRASH
We had a B-17 crash
into those trees right next to our hospital buildings.
I was one of many men who helped clean up the crash
scene; we found 17 bodies, some badly burned and
torn to shreds. We did not have "body bags"
as are available today for this purpose; we had
only mattress covers to hold bodies, and no gloves
for this job. The smell of burning flesh stayed
with me for weeks after this. I still have
the "work sheet" I used to list the deceased.
Many times these aircraft flew very close overhead
where we lived and worked. Those Spitfires
made an awful racket when they came over our tent
area, sometimes in early morning when many of us
were still asleep.
