Recommended: The Scrapbook of an American Army Nurse in the First World War

 

Nurse Edith MacDonald at Cape May, New Jersey,
two months before shipping out for France
with Base Hospital 115

By B.J.  Omanson
Presented in History and Lore of the Old World War

When Edith Lois MacDonald returned to her home in Columbus, Ohio, in the summer of 1919, after a ten-month stint of overseas service as a U.S. Army nurse with Base Hospital 115 in Vichy, France, she brought with her a sizeable collection of photographs ranging in size from 9 × 7" enlargements to tiny shots just 1.5 x 2.5". In addition, there was the usual stack of individual souvenir postcards and postcard booklets from Vichy and neighboring towns (Dijon, Digne, Monte Carlo, Nice), and an assortment of other paper ephemera acquired during her overseas service: a handwritten and signed note from King George to “Soldiers of the United States” welcoming them on their way through the British Isles to “…take your stand beside the armies of many nations now fighting in the Old World the great battle for human freedom…”; a formatted postcard sent by the A.E.F. to the folks back home, informing them that their daughter has arrived safe in France; a Special Order on onionskin paper granting Nurse MacDonald and her traveling companion, Nurse Elizabeth Payne, permission to visit Nice and the nearby Alps for one week in February of 1919; a foot-long itemized and illustrated receipt from Hotel Westminster in Nice, filled out on both sides; and a French Transport Order permitting Nurse Edith MacDonald to travel by train from Tour to Bordeaux (probably the first leg of her journey back to the States).

Hotel Ruhl in Vichy, home of Base Hospital 115

Upon arrival at Vichy it was found that the hospital was to be a part of what was known as a Hospital Center, which was the usual manner in which the hospitalization of the A. E. F. was handled. There were in Vichy when No. 115 arrived, two Base Hospitals, No. 1, from Bellevue Hospital, New York City, under the command of Major McKee, and No. 19, from Rochester, New York, under the command of Major, afterwards Lieutenant Colonel, John M. Swan. . . . .

Eye Clinic, Base Hospital 115

No. 115 was assigned to the Hotel Ruhl, a magnificent concrete building nine stories high, said to be the tallest building in France. The maximum capacity of this building was 1657 beds, and it was said to be one of the largest hospitals under one roof in the world. It had been occupied as a hospital by the French since August, 1914,, but was closed for a while, and had been reopened by Base Hospital No. 1 a short time before the arrival of No. 115. The building was in charge of Captain Thomas Atkins, of Base Hospital No. 1, and he remained in that capacity till No. 115 was ready to take charge, giving valuable and much appreciated assistance, and helping greatly in all matters concerning the transfer. The building was taken over by No. 115 on September 11th, with 822 patients in the wards.

By the opening of the Battle of the Argonne, the carrying capacity of Hotel Ruhl had been more than doubled, to a total of 1657 beds.

Army Nurses Lottie M. Mumbauer and
Lorena S. Ingraham

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