Front Line Doctors - Norway, Italy and Germany
Learn about the devotion of Norway, Italy and Germany, the medical support countries during the Korean War
A surgeon performing an operation in the German Red Cross HospitalUnited Nations Peace Memorial
With a sharp rise in civilian damages along with the massive number of military casualties, the UN Security Council resolved to provide “relief to the Korean civilian population.”
A Norwegian field hospital tentUnited Nations Peace Memorial
Medical support countries provided not only helped with military medical operations but also contributed greatly to aid war victims and post-war restoration.
The sign of the Norwegian Mobile Surgical HospitalUnited Nations Peace Memorial
Norway
Norway planned to send a medical support unit upon the United Nations’ request and selected its personnel, who arrived in South Korea on June 22, 1951, as the Spring Offensive by the communist Chinese army reached its peak.
A Norwegian hospital ambulance standing byUnited Nations Peace Memorial
The first place where the Norwegian medical support unit settled and set up a tent was the apple tree orchard in Uijeongbu, which was nicknamed “Apple Tree Garden.”
The preparation for withdrawing the NORMASHUnited Nations Peace Memorial
As the war situation changed, they moved to Dongducheon in September 1951 to open an outpatient clinic.
A Norwegian soldier guarding the checkpointUnited Nations Peace Memorial
After receiving additional support from US forces and recruiting its own medical personnel, the clinic began using the official name, the Norwegian Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (NORMASH).
A Norwegian nursing officerUnited Nations Peace Memorial
The period of the NORMASH’s medical support is known to have been three years and three months, from July 19, 1951, to October 18, 1954...
during which they focused on treating wounded soldiers, which was their original mission as a field hospital, as well as providing medical care to civilians.
King Haakon VII of Norway visiting the NORMASHUnited Nations Peace Memorial
Committing 623 people, the Norwegian medical support unit treated more than 90,000 injured soldiers, looked after civilians, and carried out over 9,600 surgeries.
Medical personnel tending to children in front of a Norwegian hospital tentUnited Nations Peace Memorial
The Norwegian government continued to pay attention to South Korea’s medical environment even after the signing of the armistice agreement and the withdrawal of the NORMASH.
The overview of Ushin Elementary School, Seoul, where the Italian 68th Red Cross Hospital conducted medical activitiesUnited Nations Peace Memorial
Italy
Despite not being a UN member at the outbreak of the Korean War and having economic and political difficulties, Italy decided to dispatch a medical support unit following the International Federation of Red Cross’s worldwide appeal in August 1950.
The overview of Ushin Elementary School, Seoul, where the Italian 68th Red Cross Hospital conducted medical activitiesUnited Nations Peace Memorial
The Italian Red Cross organized the 68th Red Cross Hospital by selecting medical personnel to be sent, obtaining medical equipment and supplies...
... conducting training, and so forth. It left Italia on October 16, 1951, and entered the Busan Port on November 16.
Italian medical personnelUnited Nations Peace Memorial
From its establishment on December 6, 1951, to when it returned to its country on January 2, 1955, 128 people worked in the 68th Red Cross Hospital...
... performing 3,297 surgical operations, treating 7,250 inpatients and 222,885 outpatients, and examining 1,115 patients in dentistry, 8,444 in pathology, 17,115 in radiography, and more.
Italian medical personnel treating a childUnited Nations Peace Memorial
The Italian medical personnel’s dedicated medical support and relief effort were praised not just by South Korea but by countries all over the world.
Medical Support Country - Italy
Nurses of the German Red Cross HospitalUnited Nations Peace Memorial
Germany
The dispatch of the West German medical team was officially proposed by Chancellor Konra Adenauer on April 7, 1953, while he was visiting US President Eisenhower.
People waiting to be treated in front of the German Red Cross HospitalUnited Nations Peace Memorial
The UN forces-affiliated West German Red Cross Hospital was mainly responsible for treating wounded soldiers and aiding civilians.
Its advance team came to Seoul in January 1954, followed by 48 doctors and nurses, who arrived in February and prepared for the opening of the West German hospital in Busan.
The ward in the German Red Cross HospitalUnited Nations Peace Memorial
From May 1954 through March 1959, 250 hospital beds were operated at the West German Red Cross Hospital. With departments for surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, dentistry, radiology, pharmacies.
A German Red Cross Hospital employee tending to a patient in the wardUnited Nations Peace Memorial
It also carried out a project to train Korean medical technicians, in which 41 Korean doctors were trained, and ran a free nursing school, helping 60 people acquire nursing qualifications.
