Frances W. Richardson Oral History Side A

title:

Frances W. Richardson Oral History Side A

creator:

Richardson, Frances (Waterbury) (1917 June 17 - )

subject:

American Red Cross

description:

Side 1 of 2. This is the original, unedited interview audio. Frances W. Richardson (formerly Waterbury) was born on June 17, 1917 in Cleveland, Ohio. She was working at a radio station in Portland, Oregon when she heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although she initially planned to join the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, a former professor reached out to recruit her for a position at Sperry Gyroscope in Brooklyn, New York. She moved to New York, and one day she read an Ernie Pyle column about Red Cross Girls serving overseas. She already felt she could do more, so in February 1943 she applied for a job with the Red Cross in Washington, DC. She trained for hospital work and her first assignment was in Tullahoma, Tennessee. In May 1943, she was sent on a troop ship from Norfolk, Virginia to an unknown destination. They landed in Algiers and saw the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps celebrating the defeat of German General Rommel. Her assignment was with the 26th General Hospital in Constantine, Tunis, where they treated both Allied forces and POWs, especially POWs from the Afrika Korps. Although they treated POWs, her primary job was as a recreation and social worker with Allied troops, including writing letters and arranging games and movies. The hospital moved to Bizerte to prepare to go to Italy, crossing to Taranto, Italy in December. Her troop ship made it to Italy safely, but the ship that contained all the hospital’s materials was bombed by German forces, forcing them to scrounge for materials. They mostly treated wounded from the 12th Air Force, as well as Tito partisans who had snuck across the Adriatic. She was then assigned to the 9th Evacuation Hospital in Naples, mostly serving the 5th Army as they moved from Caserta to Rome and treating mostly wounded French colonials and soldiers. After Rome was taken, they prepared to move into France. After landing, they moved inland to Draguignan, France, where they witnessed women who were accused of collaborating with the Germans publicly have their heads shaved and get marched through the city, which she found distressing to witness. They moved through France leading up to the Battle of the Bulge, after which she was transferred to a front line evac hospital. They crossed into Germany and set up in Schloss Nymphenburg. While there, doctors and Army officers were ordered to the Dachau concentration camp to help pick out the most likely prisoners to survive, being forced to prioritize some patients for care over others. They were there when they heard the war in Europe had ended, and after traveling through more of Germany they were sent to the Red Cross Headquarters in Paris, France to help war brides and Americans who had been trapped in occupied France. They shipped out from Le Havre, France and she made it home to Bedford, Ohio by Christmas Eve 1945. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Driver, Wanda

date:

2004-01-12

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

786; 2004.786

source:

Greensprings Collection | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

378623

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1943-45

rights:

Unrestricted