Wales
Llandudno, Wales, 1943
Eight months after arriving at Sudbury, England, the 108th received orders to move to a Hospital Training Area in Llandudno, Wales. In Llandudno, the 108th trained for seven weeks with other general hospitals including the 19th, 30th, and 298th. Physical conditioning developed stamina while lectures on the treatment of gas casualties and bomb disposal were emphasized. Technical training was stressed in all departments during their final months in the United Kingdom.
Allied bombers over Germany, 1943
Nurses were housed in private homes and worked in a local dispensary. They were issued army kits and field gear, leading them to believe that they would soon find themselves on the continent. This suspicion was confirmed as they witnessed the invasion of France with wave after wave of aircraft flying overhead. On 29 July 1944, the 108th General Hospital Unit sailed from Southampton on the Llangiby Castle, along with two other general hospitals, to land on Utah Beach in Normandy. The nurses of the 108th were about to embark on their primary mission.