The Rochambelles

They learned basic auto mechanics at the old World’s Fair grounds in Flushing, Queens, took army-run first-aid courses, and volunteered at New York hospitals to increase their medical skills.

Florence Conrad managed to get the ambulance unit integrated as part of the Second Armored Division, led by General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque.

[4] They learned to overcome their fear, and their performance was such that by the time they got to Paris, where General Leclerc had expected to recruit male drivers, he called them to assemble and announced they had earned their place in the division.

The division was sent to rest and recuperate in the Loire Valley in March, then called back to action in mid-April as the Allied armies traversed Germany.

[3] Postwar, many of the Rochambelles said they had difficulty re-adjusting to civilian life, but found solace in strong and enduring friendships with their fellow veterans.

Florence Conrad, Suzanne Torrès and the Rochambelles on the quay at Southampton , ready to cross into France, July 30, 1944. Photo courtesy of the Musée de la Libération.
Anne-Marie Davion (l) and Anne Hastings work on their ambulance in Normandy , August 1944. Photo courtesy Musée de la Libération.
Ambulances in the snow in Alsace, January 1945. Photo courtesy of Musée de la Libération.