¹⁄35

Triage at Aachen - 1945

The above photo also shows more detail of the debris and several of the nurses at the station, attending various patients. Notice the figure sitting on the floor even has the appropriate triage tag hanging around his neck. Such tags typically showed a field medic diagnosis of wound type, recommended treatment and disposition after treatment (ie, “return to lines” or “remove from action”). Behind the nurse can be seen a bright yellow wallpaper, found at a local craft store. Much of the paper has been stained a sooty black, indicating the fire hoses put out the fire before it got too hot to ignite the paper and cheesecloth typically used for residential wallpapering. An empty medical supplies box occupies the central position of the scene, with a nearby nurse looking on helplessly as stretcher-bearers cart off another body. The shattered brick wall in the foreground was cast by hand. The bookcase and books in the background were made from scraps of wood, air-curing putty, and strip styrene, painted with enamels. There are also a few “books” scattered about the ground, indicating the blast impact on the building from the recent Allied shelling.

photo 4

The wallpaper, brick wall, and bookcase are shown in closer detail (photo #4) with the medical aide supporting a wounded soldier. The 1/35-scale Figures from this diorama (15) come from a variety of sources, primarily Warriors, Verlinden, and Jaguar.