Stephen M Chase

WWI Base Hospital #12 Stephen M Chase

This book gives great detail on the WWI medical system, in particular Base Hospital #12 the U. S. A. unit from Chicago (Northwestern University) that ran the British Expeditionary Force General Hospital #18 in Camiers, France from June 1917 to February 1919. The book is based primarily on 243 letters from Captain (later Major) Dr. Martin R. Chase to his wife in Toulon, IL. It also contains information from yearly summaries of the hospital and several other sources, some of them very rare if not unique. The attitude and perspective of Martin R. Chase is clear from his letters. He was commander of the hospital for 5 weeks, so his perspective on that aspect is a bonus. Also included are tales of a fatal accident on the transport ship going over, as well as an encounter with a German submarine. A visit to Sir Thomas J Lipton in England is another bonus. The author of this book is a grandson of the author of the letters. Almost all the inherited source material, as well as their images and a database, are now in the Northwestern University Archives.