Battalion Aid Station, Normandy, June 1944

After I built my US Army Dodge WC54 ambulance, it deserved a proper historical context — a Battalion Aid Station in a ruined farmhouse courtyard.

Battalion Aid Station (1)

In the US Army, Battalion Aid Stations are the first line of medical treatment after battlefield first aid by medics or fellow soldiers. Wars of the 20th-century saw many conscientious objectors serving as non-combatants in the American armed forces, often as medics. Army medics served heroically, charging into battle alongside their armed comrades. Eleven received the Congressional Medal of Honor as a result of their actions in World War II.

My Battalion Aid Station is based on historical photographs from the Western Front in 1944 and 1945, after the Normandy Invasion on D-Day. Naturally, I had to convert a couple of the more immersive shots into black and white:

Battalion Aid Station (2) Battalion Aid Station (3)

Though the muddy lane with the M3 half-track and hedgerow was an afterthought — one that nearly emptied my bin of plant pieces — I’m quite pleased with the result:

M3 Half-track and Bocage

Because the subject matter fascinates me so much, I built a great deal of detail into this that you can’t see in a single photo. Check out the photoset on Flickr for more.

(I’ll be discussing some of the build process for my improved ambulance separately, because I think the role of constructive criticism in improving one’s models is something that deserves its own post.)

3 comments on “Battalion Aid Station, Normandy, June 1944

  1. Creative Anarchy

    Skateboard ramp tent for the win! That has to be the best parts usage I’ve seen in months. It was such smooth modelling that at first I thought it was non-lego.

  2. zkee

    that green wall foliage reminds me of the video game MOH:AA (chapter ‘Battle of the Bulge’), where there’s lots of roads bordered by green walls like these. Good memories, and nice to see it reflected in a LEGO brick wall :) But where on earth do you find that amount of tree leaf bricks?

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