We Treated Them All the Same - impression dart par Simon Smith - signé vétéran expédition

We Treated Them All the Same
by Simon Smith

In the early hours of 6 June 1944 two medics from the 101st Airborne – Kenneth Moore and Robert Wright – arrived to find themselves in the middle of a confused and savage firefight. Undeterred by the fighting around them the two men immediately set up a field dressing-station in the little village church to treat the growing numbers of wounded. In an act of true humanity within the brutality of war, the two medics insisted on treating every wounded soldier brought here equally, regardless of the uniform they wore.

There was, however, one simple rule. No guns were to be brought inside the church. When two German paratroopers burst through the doors, machine-guns raised, the medics simply stared them straight in the eye and nodded down to the young German soldier they were treating. The two enemy paratroopers immediately understood. Both saluted and withdrew. By the time the fighting was over, all but three of the 80 wounded had survived.

Today, a stone memorial stands outside the ancient church at Angouville-au-Plain, upon which are carved these words.

In honour and recognition of
Robert E. Wright
Kenneth J. Moore
Medics 2nd Bn 501 PIR
101st Airborne Division

For humane and life saving care
rendered to 80 combatants and a child
in this church in June 1944

Overall size: 21½" x 30½"