Washington University School of Medicine Oral History Project

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Surigcal ward, Base Hospital 21
Interior of a surgical ward at Base Hospital 21 in Rouen, France. Heat throughout the hospital was furnished by small, coal-burning stoves, similar to the one in this photo. During the war a sharp knife hung by a string from a nail on the wall on the Surgical ward. Its purpose was to cut the ropes that suspended the broken limbs of the wounded in case of fire or other emergency that would necessitate the hurried removal of the patients.