It was "D-Day" in Europe. My heartfelt thanks go out to all the Allied troops who took part in the invasion. I am just reading "D-Day" by the author of "Band of Brothers", Stephen E Ambrose. (I recommend it to all of you. It is based on eye witness accounts of what actually happened on the beaches on that historic day and it really brings home the utter horror of what the troops went through particularly those American troops who attacked Omaha beach. Thank God I was too young to take part.)

I hope the author doesn't mind but I would like to quote on passage from the book.

"Getting help to the wounded was a major problem. Every trooper carried a first aid kit, but it contained only bandages, sulfa tablets, and two morphine Syrettes. There were only a handful of doctors who jumped with troops, and they had precious little equipment. Major David Thomas, regimental surgeon for the 508th PIR, set up his aid station in a ditch near the Merderet River.
"Getting help to the wounded was a major problem. Eevry trooper carried a first aid kit, but it contained only bandages, sulfa tablets, and two morphine Syrettes. There were only a handful of doctors who jumped with troops, and they had precious little equipment. Major David Thomas, regimental surgeon for the 508th PIR, set up his aid station in a ditch near the Merderet River.
"The thing I remember most was a soldier who had his leg blown off right by the knee and the only thing left attached was his patella tendon. And I had him down there in this ditch and I said "Son, I'm gonna have to cut the rest of your leg off and you're back to bullet-biting time because I don't have anything to use for an anasthetic" And he said "Go ahead, Doc" I cut the tendon and he didn't even whimper."