On Distant Shores

Book 2 in the Wings of the Nightingale Series

Publication Date: 2013

Lt. Georgiana Taylor has everything she could want. A boyfriend back home, a loving family, and a challenging job as a flight nurse.

But in July 1943, Georgie’s cozy life gets more complicated when she meets pharmacist Sgt. John Hutchinson. Hutch resents the lack of respect he gets as a noncommissioned serviceman and hates how the war keeps him from his fiancée.

While Georgie and Hutch share a love of the starry night skies over Sicily, their lives back home are falling apart. Can they weather the hurt and betrayal? Or will the pressures of war destroy the fragile connection they’ve made?

Praise

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“Sundin has crafted an inspirational romance featuring a unique take on WWII that will pique the interests of readers.”

“Eloquent storytelling…Another emotionally charged but realistically told story of love, friendship and hardship.”

History Behind the Story

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Pharmacist at the US 8th Evacuation Hospital, Teano, Italy, March 1944 (US National Archives)
Pharmacist at the US 8th Evacuation Hospital, Teano, Italy, March 1944 (US National Archives)
What inspired On Distant Shores?

As a pharmacist, I found it strange that in WWII, Army hospital pharmacies were staffed by technicians with three months of training, and occasionally with actual pharmacists—who served as technical sergeants, not commissioned officers, despite their bachelors’ degrees. Meanwhile, nurses were officers. If an Army pharmacist and a nurse fell in love, they wouldn’t be allowed to fraternize, and she’d outrank him. When I ran the situation by my pharmacist husband, he was outraged by the injustice. Then I knew I had a story. To read more about pharmacy in the military and the fight for the Pharmacy Corps, see my blog post on Pharmacy in WWII—the Military.

Also, please see the rest of my series on Pharmacy in World War II:

The Pharmacist

A Visit to the Local Drugstore

At the Army Air Force School of Air Evacuation at Bowman Field, KY, student flight nurses learn how to handle patients with the aid of a mock-up fuselage of a Douglas C-47 transport. (US Air Force photo)
At the Army Air Force School of Air Evacuation at Bowman Field, KY, student flight nurses learn how to handle patients with the aid of a mock-up fuselage of a Douglas C-47 transport. (US Air Force photo)
In On Distant Shores, which units and people are real and which are fictional?

Both the 802nd Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron and the 93rd Evacuation Hospital were real units, and their locations and activities in the novel follow the historical record. All personnel in the 802nd are fictitious with the exception of the CO, Maj. Frederick Guilford.

In the 93rd Evacuation Hospital, real-life people mentioned include Col. Donald Currier, Maj. Charles Etter, and Tech. Sgt. Paskun. Other real-life people include Tech. Sgt. Robert (Bob) Knecht, a pharmacist with the 95th Evacuation Hospital who was killed at Anzio, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, Lt. Gen. George Patton, Maj. Gen. Matthew Ridgway, Lt. Gen. Mark Clark, and Maj. Gen. John Lucas.

B-25 Mitchells of the US 321st Bomb Group flying past Mount Vesuvius, Italy during its eruption of 18-23 Mar 1944 (US National Archives 50460 AC)
B-25 Mitchells of the US 321st Bomb Group flying past Mount Vesuvius, Italy during its eruption of 18-23 Mar 1944 (US National Archives 50460 AC)
In On Distant Shores, which events are real and which are fictional?

The incident with General Patton slapping a patient is real, one of two such incidents in Sicily, the first at the 15th Evacuation Hospital on 3 August 1943 and the second at the 93rd on 10 August 1943. Patton’s “dialogue” is lifted from Colonel Currier’s account—although cleaned up for the novel.

Mount Vesuvius did erupt in March 1944, showering troops and planes with ash and destroying several Italian villages.

While there are no accounts of medical evacuation flights ditching in the Mediterranean, one flight did safely ditch in the Pacific, with all patients rescued—that account inspired the incident in the story.

The plight of the American hospitals on the Anzio beachhead is real. These four hospitals endured daily bombings and shellings, which killed dozens of patients and medical personnel. The accounts of air raids on these hospitals are lifted from the historical record, including dates and times. See my blog post Courage Under Fire: US Hospitals at Anzio.

US evacuation hospital tents on the Anzio beachhead, Italy, spring 1944, revetted for protection from bombs and shells (US Army Medical Dept.)
US evacuation hospital tents on the Anzio beachhead, Italy, spring 1944, revetted for protection from bombs and shells (US Army Medical Dept.)
I'd like to learn more about US Army hospitals in World War II

Please see my three-part blog series on Hospitalization in World War II:

Part 1: Chain of Evacuation

Part 2: Mobile and Fixed Hospitals

Part 3: Evacuation of the Wounded

US Army Nurse Corps recruiting poster, 1944
US Army Nurse Corps recruiting poster, 1944
Please tell me more about the US Army Nurse Corps in World War II

Please see my four-part blog series on Army Nursing in World War II:

Part 1: Who Could Serve in the US Army Nurse Corps

Part 2: Recruitment, Training, and Military Rank

Part 3: Uniforms

Part 4: General Nursing Practice

Flight nurse Lt. Aleda Lutz of 802nd Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron in a C-47 in North Africa, 1943. Lt. Lutz was killed in a plane crash in France Nov. 1, 1944, one of 16 flight nurses killed in service. (US Army Medical Department, Office of Medical History)
Flight nurse Lt. Aleda Lutz of 802nd Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron in a C-47 in North Africa, 1943. Lt. Lutz was killed in a plane crash in France Nov. 1, 1944, one of 16 flight nurses killed in service. (US Army Medical Department, Office of Medical History)

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