This image of the interior of a tent decorated for Christmas at U. S. Army Base Hospital No. 50 was probably taken in Mesves sur Loire, France, in December 1918. This image is one of several photographs pasted to an album page, featuring photographs of Private First Class Donald P. Myers (1898-1991) and others in California and France. Don Myers was born in Seattle and was a clerk at Northwest Trust and Savings Bank when he enlisted in the U. S. Army on March 27, 1918. He served at Base Hospital No. 50, and was discharged from the Army on May 15, 1919.
Base Hospital No. 50 was created at the University of Washington in October 1917 as part of a mobilization of base hospitals at universities and civilian hospitals because the United States Army did not have an established medical corps when the country entered World War I in 1917. The Base Hospital unit consisted of medical staff, nursing staff, and civilian enlistees without previous medical experience. The unit was mobilized on March 27, 1918 at Fort Lawton, Washington, then transferred to Camp Fremont, California, on April 6, 1918 for further training. The unit served 7,399 sick and wounded patients in Mesves sur Loire, France from August 6, 1918 to January 20, 1919. Shortly after the war, the personnel of Base Hospital No. 50 formed a veteran’s group, and they continued to meet until around 1986.
ID Number: 1992.68.2.2
Date: 1918
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : b&w ; 1.5 x 2.5 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State. View the finding aid for this collection at https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv19207
Credit: MOHAI, Donald P. Myers Collection on Base Hospital No. 50, 1992.68.2.2
