Wilmette Public Library Local History Digital Collection

Elizabeth Fitch (1899-1986) oral history

Description

Comments (0)

CD 2 Track 6: CD 2 Track 6
Transcription: CD 2 TRACK 6 RA: How long were you stationed in Austria? EF: Three years. RA: Three years? EF: And I went down to Trieste once while we had nurses there. RA: And that was under the allied.... EF: For a short time. RA: Yes. EF: Then those nurses came up to stay with us and then several Elizabeth Fitch, cont. 54 of them were due to go home and several stayed with us and several went to Germany. And then I went to Venice several times - ohhh, that was lovely. RA: Beautiful city, isn't it? EF: Yes. And then I went to Switzerland several times and I bought a lovely watch there. RA: Where in Switzerland did you go? EF: About six different places. - RA: Zurich? EF: Zurich and Montreux and then there's a little section that speaks its own language. It's a southern part. RA: Well, there's an Italian part up.... EF: An Italian part and a French part and a German part. Then there's this other little section there that has a language of its own and we went there one time. We were driving and we wanted to know where we could stop for a bite to eat. They didn't speak English. RA: (Laugh) This is.... EF: Well, we found a place and we got a menu and we couldn't even read the menu, but we guessed by the sections that these were appetizers and this was the main.... RA: Entree. EF: ... .entree and then the salads and the desserts. So we'd point to one and somebody else would point to another and we would be very anxious to see what came, (Laughter) but the food was delicious. Elizabeth Fitch, cont. 55 RA: Yes, they are good cooks. EF: Yes. Well, then -- oh, let's see - when I went to Linz we had a station hospital there.... RA: That's back in Austria? - EF: Yes. On the way were the Lipizzaner horses. RA: Oh, yes. EF: So the nurses at Linz always accused me of coming over to see them just as an excuse to stop and see the horses going and coming. RA: Oh, yes. EF: And -- oh, those horses were just beautiful. RA: Now this wasn't the young ones that you -- cause they're farther south, I believe. EF: No. RA: These were the pure adults. EF: Well, these were all of them. RA: All -- well, they have two farms as I understand it. EF: They did at one time and I think they still have now. RA: Yes, they have gone back to the two. EF: But. RA: One's down near the Czech border, I believe. EF: Yes. Well, I nearly always stopped.... RA: Oh, they are so beautiful. EF: I could go in an official car on anything like that. RA: Oh, how wonderful. EF: So we would always stop and see the horses and take them Elizabeth Fitch, cont. 56 a couple of apples or something and then I'd stop on the way back and the girls at Linz just said, "Un uh. I know why you came to see us." RA: (Laughter) EF: But it just happened that they were there and you know how come they got there? General Patton. RA: That's right. I was waiting for you to tell how he saved them. EF: Yes. I think he telephoned or cabled to the Surgeon General's office in Washington that he wanted a certain Sergeant who was at Fort Riley.... RA: I see. EF: .. . .because he said that sergeant could smell a horse a mile off. So the Surgeon General sent him over and, sure enough -- you see, the Russians had those. RA: Well, did they get them or did they-- did he secure them ahead of the Russians? He.... EF: No, the Russians got them before we got there. RA: Oh, I didn't realize that. EF: And they had the mares in one place and the stallions in another and this sergeant really could smell the horses. And before the Russians knew about it, we had them all collected into Austria. and.... RA: Where they belonged. EF: Yes, and - oh, were the Russians upset, but they didn't dare make any diplomatic or political. Elizabeth Fitch, cont. 57 RA: Yes. EF: . . . .meaning to it because - well. RA: Well, the Germans had tried to get to them first. Didn't.... EF: Yes. RA: Wasn't that the way it was? EF: Yes, that's true. RA: And then the Russians must have.... EF: And the Russians finally got them, but we got them from the Russians and they were in Austria between Linz and Salzburg in a well guarded camp. RA: I see. -
Creators: Fitch, Elizabeth, 1899-1986, Interviewer; Adler, Rhea Saul, 1906-1900
, Interviewer
Media Type: Audio; Image; Text
Item Type: Audiocassettes
Description: Interview with Elizabeth Fitch by Rhea Adler in Wilmette, Illinois, in 1984.

ABSTRACT:

Early history of both parental backgrounds prior to
Wilmette in 1906

Childhood and schooling in Wilmette, New Trier, Wellesley and nursing degree at Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, D.C.

Summer spent in Labrador and Newfoundland with Grenfell Expedition at the same time Drs. Frederick and Katherine Brooks Merrifield were there (before their marriage)

Years spent in D.C. until sent to Austria in 1955 as Chief of Hospitals in various European areas

Return to U.S.A. and D.C. until retirement from Army Nurses Corps and Wilmette

Has continued to travel widely
Place of Publication: Wilmette, Illinois
Date of Original: 1984
Subject(s): Oral histories
Wilmette (Ill.) -- Residents
Personal Name(s): Fitch, Elizabeth
Local identifier: R 977.31 FI
Language of Item: English
Copyright Statement: Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Copyright Holder: Wilmette Public Library
Copyright Holder Contact Information: 1242 Wilmette Ave.
Wilmette, Il 60091
U.S.A.
Recommended Citation: Fitch, Elizabeth, and Rhea Saul Adler. Elizabeth Fitch. Wilmette, Ill: Wilmette Public Library District, 1984.
Contact: Wilmette Public Library
Email:refdesk@wilmettelibrary.info
Website:
https://www.wilmettelibrary.info/

Agency street/mail address:
1242 Wilmette Avenue
Wilmette, IL
60091-2558
U.S.A. Phone: 847-256-6930