His timeline, as written:
Aug 27 2:30 to 1000 Move up
Aug 28 7:30 Move up
7:35 Hit
10:45 Picked up
11:15 To aid st.
1:00 Clering St.
Col. St
3:30 101st Evac
Aug 29 To 666th Air Strip
Aug 30 Fly to 347th St. 6 to 8
Aug 31 To 128th Gen near Devizes
Sept. 2:00 Operation Traction
The letter explained: A scrap of paper was found amongst the documents from Chuck's time in the service providing a timeline from the time of injury until he was provided definitive care. Clearly, the most noticeable event is the three hours he spent between the time he was hit and when he was picked up. Chuck had previously told me that he was lying in a ditch during that time, taking cover from German fire. 'Clering St.' refers to a Clearing Station. The Clearing Station’s main function was triage. Accordingly incoming casualties were sorted and classified as follows:
- Patients requiring prolonged care and who were fit enough for immediate evacuation.
- Patients requiring prolonged care but who needed immediate treatment before evacuation was possible.
- Patients ready to be returned to duty within a few hours (number depending upon the necessity to keep the Clearing Station free and ready for movement
Once in England, Chuck was treated first by the 347th Station Hospital in Marlborough, Wiltshire and then by the 128th General Army Hospital. He stated it was near Devizes, but the 128th was situated near Bishopstrow, about 20 miles away. It was a week from the time of his injury until he was able to have surgery that provided traction to his femur injury.