Healing amid the ruins: The hôpital irlandais, Saint-Lô, 1945-46

by Phyllis Gaffney

During the Normandy landings of June 1944 the German-occupied town of Saint-Lo, in the path of the invading armies, was bombed into rubble. Thousands died in the subsequent battle. When peace came the survivors struggled to rebuild their lives among the ruins. Help arrived from an expected neutral Ireland. -- The Irish Red Cross assembled a 100-bed hospital and shipped it over to France. Fifty young Irish doctors, nurses and support staff gave of their best, bringing hope as well as healing to the shattered town. Most had never been to France, although the storekeeper was a little-known Dublin man of letters, who had spent the war in France and was a member of the Resistance - Samuel Beckett. -- The Irish got on so well with the local people that their eventual departure gave rise to a political scandal, with bitter recriminations against local doctors who campaigned to remove them. Drawing on original documents, interviews with eye witnesses and archival research in France, Ireland and Scotland, Healing Amid the Ruins is the vivid story of a pioneering adventure in overseas aid and postwar reconstruction.

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Eldon.shirkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well told interesting story about the establishment by the Irish Red Cross of a hospital in the town of St Lo, Normandy following the D-Day allied invasion of June 1944. St Lo was described at the time as the 'capitale des ruins' by none other than Samuel Beckett who features in the book as Sam.