Briefing Document: Lila Laverne Farquhar

Subject: Life and Military Service of Lila Laverne Farquhar, US Army Nurse Corps

Date: October 26, 2023

Summary: This document provides a biographical overview of Lila Laverne Farquhar, highlighting her life, nursing career, and ultimately her service and death as a US Army Nurse during World War II. The document emphasizes the dangers and losses suffered by medical personnel during the Anzio campaign.

Key Themes & Facts:

Early Life & Family:

Born April 28, 1913, in Harlingen, Texas to Nancy Lydia Carson and Frank Archie Farquhar.

Family background indicates deep Texan roots, with both parents originating in Coryell County, Texas.

Lived with her parents and siblings and grandfather in Coryell County, Texas as indicated by the 1920 census. The 1930 census shows her living with her parents and siblings in Scurry County, Texas. This indicates that the family relocated from Coryell to Scurry county.

Education & Nursing Career:

Graduated from Fluvanna High School (location is not specified, but likely in Scurry County, where she was living in the 1930 census).

Graduated from King's Daughters Hospital at Temple, Texas, indicating she pursued formal nursing training.

Worked for five years as a night nurse supervisor at a hospital in Gorman, Texas.

By 1940, was working as a nurse at a medical clinic in Abilene, Texas, specifically at Dr. Snow's Medical Clinic. She had worked there for five years before enlisting in the Army. This suggests significant prior experience before her military service.

Military Service:

Enlisted in the US Army Medical Corps as a Second Lieutenant Nurse in January 1942.

Her parents, then residing in Sidney, Texas, were listed as her next of kin.

Received training at Camp Barkeley, Texas.

Deployed to North Africa in March 1943.

Assigned to the 2nd Auxiliary Surgical Group, 56th Evacuation Hospital near Naples, Italy.

Served in support of the Anzio landing (Operation Shingle), a notoriously dangerous campaign.

Death at "Hell's Half Acre":

The text uses the phrase “Hell's Half Acre” to refer to the beachhead near Anzio. The name derives from harsh conditions and the many casualties sustained by hospital staff and patients.

The document details the extreme danger hospital staff were subjected to in the beachhead, including frequent enemy bombings.

It describes a devastating attack where enemy fighter-bombers jettisoned their bombs near an evacuation hospital, killing three nurses (including Chief Nurse 1Lt Blanche F. Sigman) and a litter bearer. 28 hospital personnel and patients were killed in the attack, with 64 wounded.

2Lt Laverne Farquhar was killed in action on February 10, 1944, in a "similar event," implying a similar type of bombing attack. She served in the 56th Evacuation Hospital.

The text notes her temporary burial and subsequent repatriation to the United States in 1948, highlighting the logistical and emotional complexities of war.

She was reinterred at the Fluvanna Cemetery in Scurry County, Texas on August 21, 1948.

Key Quotes:

"At 15:25 7 February 1944 the enemy fighter-bombers were over again at a neighboring Evacuation Hospital. One plane, under attack by a British Spitfire, jettisoned its load of antipersonnel bombs..." This quote details the specific type of attack that resulted in the deaths of three nurses at a neighboring hospital.

"The bombs fell in the area of the 95th Evacuation Hospital, riddling the administration and operating tents...In all, twenty-eight hospital personnel and patients were killed and sixty-four wounded, including the commanding officer.” This illustrates the scale of destruction and loss of life.

"Medical installations continued to be bombed and shelled throughout the period of the beachhead and the hospital area came to be known to front-line troops as Hell's Half Acre..." This emphasizes the extremely dangerous nature of the location where 2Lt Farquhar served.

"2Lt Farquhar was listed as killed in action 10 February 1944 in Hell's Half Acre in a very similar event to the one above." This clearly states the manner of her death, connecting it to the earlier attack described.

Conclusion:

Lila Laverne Farquhar’s story is a testament to the dedication and sacrifice of nurses during World War II. The provided text details her personal journey from rural Texas to the battlefields of Italy. Her death highlights the brutal reality of war for medical personnel, who often found themselves in the direct line of fire, as well as the dangers of Anzio, specifically. Her story also showcases the emotional and logistical impact on families back home, who had to wait years for their loved one's remains to be repatriated.