Books and Documents

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
UNITED STATES ARMY
IN WORLD WAR II

ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION
IN WORLD WAR II

Prepared and published under the direction of
Lieutenant General Leonard D. Heaton
The Surgeon General, United States Army

Editor in Chief
Colonel John Boyd Coates, Jr., MC, USA

Editor for Organization and Administration
Charles M. Wiltse, Ph.D., Litt. D.

OFFICE OF THE SURGEON GENERAL
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C., 1963

by
Blanche B. Armfield, M.A.

The Historical Unit, United States Army Medical Service
Colonel John Boyd Coates, Jr., MC, USA, Director
Colonel Rex P. Clayton, MSC, USA, Executive Officer
Colonel R. L. Parker, MSC, USA, Special Assistant to Director
Lieutenant Colonel R. J. Bernucci, MD, USA, Special Assistant to Director
Major Warren W. Daboll, MSC, USA, Special Assistant to Director
Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Hesford, MSC, USA, Chief, Special Projects Branch
Charles M. Wiltse, Ph. D., Litt. D., Chief, Historians Branch
Ernest Elliott, Jr., Chief, Information Activities Branch
Major Albert C. Riggs, Jr., MSC, USA, Chief, General Reference and Research Branch
Hazel G. Hine, Chief, Administrative Branch

CMH PUB 80-4
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 63-60002

Contents

FOREWORD

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I.  The Medical Department in 1939

Organization of the Medical Department Within the War Department
Medical Field Offices and Installations
Developments of Late 1939: Planning

II.  The Emergency Period: 1940-41

The Surgeon General's Office
Relations of the Surgeon General's Office With Other Agencies Concerned With Medical Service
Medical Offices in Other Branches of the Army
Relations With the General Staff
Local Agencies and Field Units Providing Medical Service

III.  The Medical Department Under the Services of Supply, March-September 1942

Changes in the Surgeon General's Office, December 1941 to March 1942
War Department Reorganization of March 1942
Effects of the War Department Reorganization Upon the Internal Structure of the Surgeon General's Office
Other Changes in the Surgeon General's Office
Service Command Medical Organization

IV.  Troop Medical Care Under Other Commands

Medical Responsibilities Outside the Surgeon General's Office
Medical Work of the Army Ground Forces
The Army Air Forces and Subordinate Commands
The Transportation Corps

V.  The Wadhams Committee Investigation

Reasons for the Investigation
Machinery for the Investigation
Testimony on Organization and Administration
Final Report of the Investigating Committee
Recommendations and Action Taken
Results of the Investigation

VI.  The Surgeon General's Office, 1942-45

Preventive Medicine, September 1942-June 1943
Efforts to Regain Control of Medical Service in the Army Air Forces
Appointment of a New Surgeon General
Internal Organization of the Surgeon General's Office
Position of The Surgeon General and His Office Within the War Department
Medical Organization in the Service Commands

VII.  The Mediterranean Theater of Operations

Prewar Army Doctrine for Theater Medical Organization
Medical Organization in the North African Theater
The North African Theater and the Services of Supply, February 1943-January 1944
Period of Growth and Reorganization, February-December 1944
Organization for Malaria Control
Typhus Control During the Naples Epidemic
Organization for Public Health Activities
Redeployment and Closeout of Activities

VIII.  The European Theater of Operations

The Beginnings
Theater Medical Organization, June 1942-January 1944
Medical Organization Under SHAEF: January 1944-May 1945
Closeout in the European Theater

IX.  The Pacific Ocean Areas

Central Pacific Area
South Pacific Area

X.  The Southwest Pacific Area

Decline of Medical Service in the Philippines
The Early Months in Australia
Medical Offices at Headquarters of the Three Major Commands
Services of Supply in Australia and New Guinea
The Tactical Forces
Control of Malaria and Other Tropical Diseases

XI.  The Pacific, August 1944 through 1946

Pacific Ocean Areas
Southwest Pacific Area
Developments After April 1945: The Pacific Theater
Summary: Medical Administration in the Pacific

XII.  The Medical Department in China, Burma, and India

The China-Burma-India Theater: 1942 to October 1944
The India-Burma and China Theaters
Summary: Medical Administrative Problems in China-Burma-India

A.  Chief Surgeons of Important U.S. Oversea Commands
B.  Summary of Functions of Divisions, European Theater Surgeon's Office, 1 May 1945

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

1. Office of The Surgeon General, October 1939
2. Organization of the Office of The Surgeon General, 15 May 1941
3. Organization of the Army, showing assignment of medical officers to major offices, June 1941
4. Organization of the Office of The Surgeon General, 21 February 1942
5. The Medical Department within the War Department structure, August 1942
6. Organization of the Office of The Surgeon General, 26 March 1942
7. Organization of the Office of The Surgeon General and medical installations under command control, 24 August 1942
8. Office of the Air Surgeon, 21 November 1944
9. Office of The Surgeon General, 10 July 1943
10. Office of The Surgeon General, 3 February 1944
11. Office of The Surgeon General, 24 August 1944
12. Typical organization of a theater of operations as envisaged by War Department Doctrine, 1940
13. North African theater medical section, August 1943
14. Development of base sections, North African (Mediterranean) theater
15. Medical Organization in Air Force commands, 1 February 1944
16. Medical Section, Services of Supply, North African theater, May 1944
17. Mediterranean theater medical section (American medical component of Allied Force Headquarters), April 1945
18. Theater-SOS surgeon's office after reorganization of March 1943
19. Medical sections at major U.S. Army Air Force commands in the European theater, March 1944.

Maps

1.  North African - Mediterranean theater boundaries, 1943-45
2.  North African theater base sections and important surgeons' offices, July 1944
3.  Territorial limits of the European theater, 1942-45
4.  United Kingdom base sections and surgeons' offices, December 1943
5.  European theater communications zone, November 1944
6.  European theater communications zone, 15 April 1945
7.  U.S. Army commands in the Pacific Ocean Areas, February 1943
8.  Services of Supply in the Southwest Pacific Area, January 1944
9.  U.S. Army commands in the Pacific, August 1944
10.  U.S. Army Forces, Pacific, June 1945
11.  New Guinea Bases, U.S. Army Forces, Western Pacific, June 1945
12.  Philippine Bases, U.S. Army Forces, Western Pacific, June 1945
13.  Area of operations, Asiatic mainland, 1942-45
14.  China-Burma-India theater, August 1944

Tables

1.  Number of personnel in medical sections, base sections, NATOUSA, 1943
2.  Authorized allotment of personnel, Medical Section, AFHQ-MTOUSA, October 1942-October l945

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT, UNITED STATES ARMY

The volumes comprising the official history of the Medical Department of the U.S. Army in World War II are prepared by The Historical Unit, U.S. Army Medical Service, and published under the direction of The Surgeon General, U.S. Army. These volumes are divided into two series: (1) The administrative or operational series; and (2) the professional, or clinical and technical, series. This is one of the volumes published in the former series.

VOLUMES PUBLISHED

ADMINISTRATIVE SERIES

Hospitalization and Evacuation, Zone of Interior

CLINICAL SERIES

Internal Medicine in World War II:

Vol. I. Activities of Medical Consultants
Vol. II. Infectious Diseases

Preventive Medicine in World War II:

Vol. II. Environmental Hygiene
Vol. III. Personal Health Measures and Immunization
Vol. IV. Communicable Diseases Transmitted Chiefly Through Respiratory and Alimentary Tracts
Vol. V. Communicable Diseases Transmitted Through Contact or By Unknown Means
Vol. VI. Communicable Diseases: Malaria

Surgery in World War II:

Activities of Surgical Consultants, vol. I
General Surgery, vol. II
Hand Surgery
Neurosurgery, vol. I
Neurosurgery, vol. II
Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology
Orthopedic Surgery in the European Theater of Operations
Orthopedic Surgery in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations
The Physiologic Effects of Wounds
Thoracic Surgery, vol. I
Vascular Surgery

Miscellaneous:

Cold Injury, Ground Type
Dental Service in World War II
Veterinary Service in World War II
Wound Ballistics