Were ther any American M.D.s on the first wave landing on D-Day? If not, then on which wave did doctors land?

Answer 1

It seems that in the fist waves there were only medics. After about an hour the first Navy doctors landed.

"A book about Navy medicine in World War II understandably might overlook the secretly trained U.S. Navy medical teams on Omaha Beach, 6 June 1944. Military historians rarely mention the amphibious sailors of the Normandy invasion, including 18 Navy doctors and 144 corpsmen, who landed in the early hours of D-Day. Yet war correspondent A. J. Liebling's Cross-Channel Trip describes a U.S. Coast Guard-manned infantry landing craft (large)—LCI(L)-88—putting ashore a young Navy doctor with a beach battalion platoon at H+65 minutes. The vessel's action report confirms that Army combat engineers and a hydrographic, communications, and medical section of the Naval Sixth Beach Battalion made a landing on "Easy Red," Omaha Beach, at 0735. A follow-up Army-Navy amphibious team in the LCI(L)-85 sustained heavy casualties when the landing craft was hit 25 times and was later sunk. Dr. John F. Kincaid, a naval beach battalion (NBB) passenger in that craft, had the added task of rendering medical assistance for the many wounded servicemen and dying fellow officers before going ashore on Easy Red."

"The NBBs operated aid stations on the beach and directed the Normandy landings and the shore-to-ship phase of the seaward evacuation of casualties. Operation Overlord's evacuation problem was to shield the demoralizing sight of heavy casualties from the battle troops scheduled to go ashore later in the morning on D-Day. The U.S. naval beach battalions and their British counterparts, elements of the Royal Marine Commandos, were distributed among many LCI(L)s to ensure that a direct hit would not wipe out an entire unit."

"While beach battalion personnel joined the assault, the medical teams, including injured doctors and corpsmen, set up aid stations and immediately began performing their humanitarian duties."

"Navy doctors and corpsmen, working beside their Army counterparts, remained extremely busy while the surgical teams on the hospital tank landing ships (LSTs) prepared to receive heavy casualties. Not until 1130 on D-Day did battle conditions improve so that the beach battalions were able to begin evacuating the wounded and dying."

'Sailors Dressed Like Soldiers', Kenneth C. Davey : http://www.6thbeachbattalion.org/sailors-dressed.html

"The 6th Naval Beach Battalion (NBB) began going ashore the invasion beaches of Normandy during the early morning hours on D-Day, 6 June 1944. At H+65 minutes, approximately one hour after the first man stepped onto the beach, CDR Eugene Carusi, Beachmaster Vaghi, a young Navy doctor, and 45 amphibious sailors of the battalion disembarked from the U.S. Coast Guard-manned LCI(L) 88 - a Landing Craft Infantry (Large) - and struggled ashore the Easy Red sector of Omaha Beach. As naval elements attached to the Army's 5th Engineer Special Brigade, the mission of these World War II sailors was to prepare the beachhead, provide medical aid for the early wounded and keep men and materials moving across the beach."

"Navy Medicine II" : http://www.6thbeachbattalion.org/navy-medicine.html

http://www.ddaythebook.com/account102.html

Answer 2

Those few that were in the first wave would have been assigned to battalion aid stations. Under fire in the first hours of the invasion, they would have been limited in what they were capable of--mostly gathering up the casualties and getting them evacuated. The brunt of the medical effort would have been borne by enlisted medics until the enemy was driven back from the beach areas.

Your best bet is to locate tables of organization for the units that went in on each wave; the primary effort would have been toward getting the maximum number of fighting troops ashore in the minimum of time. You'll be able to find much of this info in the official histories--try the Army "green book" series; if your library doesn't have them, the Government Printing Office has them available.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Yes. Every platoon had an attached medic. I forget most of the specifics of how the medics were attached to the comapny/division, but they were there. Originally, there werent going to be in the first wave - the thinking was that the first wave should be as many riflemen as possible to guarantee success in taking the beaches, but in the end they were there. I couldnt find any pics of the actual landing, but this pic is from when the troops were riding the landing craft from Weymouth in England to the troop ship that would take them to Normandy. The troops on this landing craft rode the same one to the beaches during the invasion. Pictured is part of HQ Co. and medics, 5th Ranger Bn.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photosnormandie/420099399/
Unfortunately, they were in the second wave, but there are VERY few pics from the normandy invasion.....

Answer 5

Mr. Taco mentions a doctor in every company; that's news to me. When I was in the Army 11 years ago there were battalion surgeons, ie. one per battalion. It was probably that way in WWII as well since the Army's basic organizational structure is pretty well established doctrine.
With all the danger and chaos on the battlefield, a doctor's skill and expertise is better used elsewhere.

Answer 6

Of course there were doctors in the first wave. What else were the wounded supposed to do with themselves? It is not like there was a single doctor unit or something. Every company had at least one doctor, usually several. Doctors were present in every stage and moment of the war. They had to be.