Underground hospital

An Underground Hospital is a building with facilities that can be moved into in order to protect its patients and medical personnel, primarily from attack during times of war. They were often used during World War II but very few now remain operational.

The Ceppo Hospital of Pistoia was founded in 1277 in a labyrinth of tunnels under the city and is one of the oldest continuously operating hospitals in the world.

“Carriere Suzanne“ was an underground hospital built during the First World War in a limestone quarry the “Carrieres de Montigny”, north of Compiègne.

A hospital was built inside tunnels under Arras, named Carrière Wellington, with facilities for 700 beds.

Hohlgangsanlage 8 was an artillery storage tunnel build by Organisation Todt workers for the Germans during World War II in St. Lawrence, Jersey, which was converted to a hospital to deal with casualties after the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944. The tunnel complex is open to the public during the summer months.

Hohlgangsanlage 7/40 (Ho.7/40) two interconnected cave passage installations of 7,000m², were built in 1942-43 by German Fortress Engineer and Organisation Todt workers to store vehicles, ammunition, food, fuel and equipment. Part of Ho. 7/40 was equipped and used for a short while in 1944 as a hospital, as the planned hospital tunnel had not been built, however patients underground did not recuperate very well. The tunnel complex is open to the public during the summer months.

During the Second World War, the Mtarfa Hospital was reorganized as the 90th General Hospital and expanded to accommodate a maximum of 1200 beds. An underground hospital was excavated under the military hospital.

RAF Little Rissington was believed by locals to have a nuclear-proof underground hospital built by the United States Air Force. This rumour was, however, never verified. Little Rissington became the largest military contingency hospital in Europe. The aerodrome was cleared for C-130 Hercules and C-5 Galaxies. During the Gulf War, Little Rissington was held on its highest readiness state for several decades as it prepared for casualties. The USAF left Little Rissington in 1993 and it was handed back to the Royal Air Force.

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Wikipedia