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Laundry Operations in Italy in World War II D plus 12,
Lieutenants Calvin A. Stetson, Vincent V. Pescatore, Jr., and the first platoon
debarked on the beach of Salerno as the advance element of the --th QM Laundry
Company, and immediately made plans to commence operation. While Lieutenant
Pescatore was consolidating the platoon, Lieutenant Stetson and Technical
Sergeant Doonan started out on a reconnaissance of the district, looking for a
site to which to move laundry trailers and platoon bivouac. Several hours'
search of the district failed to reveal any suitable sites. None the less the
medical units of the combat forces were in dire need of laundry service and
immediate operation of our units was necessary. A site was chosen and we fought
our first battle with our constant companion, mud. In this encounter, mud won.
For the next few days the weather was comparatively mild, with little rain, but
about the 28th of September the rains came in torrents. The river overflowed and
the surface water brought in considerable mud, making operation at any point
along the river impractical. During the night of the 28th high winds and more
rain added to the poor operating conditions. It blew so hard that the evacuation
hospital was put completely out of business, with tents blown down and linen and
blankets soaked and covered with mud. In view of this situation a reconnaissance
was made by Lieutenant Stetson of the various locations close to the combat
forces, and a site was chosen at the base of a mountain with an ideal source of
clear, cold, rushing water. The platoon was immediately moved over and
operations resumed. In less than a week’s time all the linen and blankets from
the evacuation hospital had been cleaned, despite the other demands made
concurrently upon the unit. A few days later
other elements of the company arrived via LST from Bizerte, and the second
platoon, under the command of Lieutenant Bob Miller, was ordered into an
adjoining sector to handle the growing demands for hospital service in that
area. The story of muddy water, common to the Salerno-Paestum section of Italy,
still held true. Lieutenant Miller chose for a unit location the parking area of
the local fire house, and with the aid of several hundred feet of hose and two
large fire pumps, water was pumped from a clear stream to this location. The
platoon remained in this area for about six weeks, keeping abreast of hospital
and reclamation activities. The war, meanwhile,
had been pushed further up the peninsula and Colonel Joseph P. Sullivan,
Quartermaster, Fifth Army, ordered Company Headquarters and two platoons to set
up in a town in one of the forward areas. On the afternoon of October 14th an
advanced detail selected a site within the grounds of the royal palace. Water
for operation was drawn from the lagoon where once swam the swans of nobility.
In an ideal location two platoons were set up in a perfectly camouflaged
position, but water disposal was another thing. Several man-holes were located
and the waste water was dropped into them. About a week later a general and his
staff moved into the grounds of the royal palace. The day following, a native
Italian caretaker questioned Master Sergeant Tom Kelly as to the manner in which
the waste water was being disposed of. It seems that the general was getting
soapy water in his shower. An investigation of the underground canals revealed
that they supplied water to the showers and latrines of the palace. Needless to
say, other disposition of waste water was immediately arranged. After a quiet month
within the royal grounds, orders came to send a platoon to an advanced area. Several
reconnaissances made over the district failed to bring to light any site
suitable for installation of mobile laundry units. Nevertheless the services of
the platoon were urgently needed and, after a conference between the G-4 and the
Engineer Officer. Infantry, -- Division, it was decided that the only practical
solution lay in driving a well. A site was chosen and an Engineer water supply
battalion moved in with a pipe-drilling rigs. The battalion set to work, sinking
a well of the artesian type to produce sufficient water to run four mobile
laundry trailers and two sterilization and bath trailers attached to the
platoon. In the meantime several 3,000-gallon water tanks were issued to the
platoon and water was trucked by tank trucks from a point eight miles away. The sterilization
and bath section working in conjunction with this platoon has bathed and
reclothed 1,000 men per day, on an average, from combat units fresh out of the
fighting lines. The clean clothes, blankets, and bath provided through the
cooperation of these two types of Quartermaster units have contributed very
materially to the morale of our forward troops. At about this time
demands for laundry service in new areas were developing more strongly each day.
The first platoon was fast winding up its operations in the Paestum-Salerno area
and was called to fill this demand. A shuttle movement was conducted by pooling
all available transportation, and in two days' time the platoon was again in
business in its new location. A unique situation developed here, water being
taken from the top of a water-fall and diverted into the laundry trailers by
gravity flow. The campaign thus
far has produced its share of trials and tribulations, and many situations not
described in training manuals and publications of the past. Each platoon leader
must be ready to assume the responsibility of a company commander-to act alone,
to make his own decisions, establish a mess, and carry on the administrative
duties common to that position. Each platoon must always be ready to handle
itself as a separate installation, complete from company commander to cook's
helper. The company commander in a laundry company operating under conditions
such as these has to think and function as though he were in command of a
battalion. The platoons
scattered over wide areas have to be supplied with all types of organizational
and operating supplies, while transportation for movement of a platoon has to be
consolidated and movement accomplished with the least practical delay.
The time element is a vitally important factor, for a platoon out of
operation holds up hospital, troop, or Salvage work of the Army at the rate of
8,000 pounds per day. Such figures run into staggering totals when, through
mechanical break-down, lack of replacement parts, or movements, a trailer or
platoon of trailers is put out of operation for any length of time. Consolidation
of work by type helps considerably in getting The utmost possible
work from each laundry trailer. Since the start of the Italian campaign many
thousands of pounds of clothing have been collected by the advanced and rear
supply units of the regiment division, corps, and Army; processed through
laundry company; resized, bundled, and turned back to Class II depots for
resupply to the troops. This has saved countless thousands of tons of shipping
space for other supplies so vitally needed by the Army. This was the first laundry company to land in Africa and, more recently, the first to land in Fortress Europe. Whether battling the hot sands and mountains of Mrica or the mud and cold of Italy, regardless of terrain-the unit has performed according the highest ideals of the Service in fulfilling the mission of the Quartermaster Corps-service to the line. Return to: Quartermaster Corps in World War II or Field Services History
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