Micheal Dovovan 82nd Airborne 307th Medical Company
Michael Donovan gained his degree in medicine in 1939, he worked at hospitals in New York State.
When the war broke out in Europe, he travelled to England with a group of Physicians to set up the American Hospital, which provided medical care for casualties of the war.
He then volunteered and served with the Canadian Army until the US entered the war in 1942 and he was discharged and commissioned as a captain in the US Medical Corps.
He served all of WW2 as a member of the 3rd Auxiliary Surgical Group attached to the 82nd Airborne, 307th Medical Company.
He carried a camera with him for the whole of the war, and captured some 100 photos which tell his story during WW2.
Captain Donovan crash landed into Normandy aboard a glider on the night of the 6th of June. The pilot tried to avoid a heavily defended field but crashed the glider into some tall trees. The glider was ripped apart, the pilot was killed instantly and the troopers where catapulted into the next field. The survivors took cover in a ditch until
darkness fell. With the help of a local farmer they navigated there way to the assembly point. Donovan then helped set up and run the aid station at Blosville.
The photos show St Mere Eglise, a battle worn St Sauvour le Vicomte and the aid station at Hill 131.
He was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries sustained on D-Day and a Bronze star for his meritorious service during the Normandy campaign.
Post WW2 Michael Donovan qualified as an orthopaedic surgeon and he practised for 37 years. He died on 24th July 1986 at the age
of 73.