"Anna” in Band of Brothers was based on Augusta Chiwy, a 23-year old Congolese-Belgian nurse.
In December 1944, Augusta traveled home to Bastogne to celebrate Christmas with her father, right as Hitler launched a surprise attack on the Allied Front in Belgium. Within two days of her arrival, Bastogne was surrounded and under constant bombardment. The U.S. army's makeshift aid station was in dire need of medical staff, and Augusta stepped up to volunteer.
In spite of the army regulations prohibiting black nurses from treating white soldiers, and the prejudice with which many of them treated her, Augusta saved countless lives, working under horrific conditions with inadequate supplies, and even taking trips to the front line to evacuate the wounded while coming under enemy fire.
"Anna” in Band of Brothers was based on Augusta Chiwy, a 23-year old Congolese-Belgian nurse.
Augusta was born in the Belgian Congo to a Congolese mother and a Belgian father. At the age of nine, she left with her father to his hometown of Bastogne, where she was raised and schooled. She attended nursing school and began working at a hospital in Leuven.
In mid-December 1944, Augusta traveled home to Bastogne to celebrate Christmas with her father, right as Hitler launched a surprise attack on the Allied Front in Belgium. Within two days of her arrival, Bastogne was surrounded and under constant bombardment by the German army. When U.S. Army doctor, Capt. John “Jack” Prior set up an aid station, he recruited two nurse volunteers, who were the only other people with formal medical experience remaining in town: Renée Lemaire (who was also visiting her family in Bastogne for the holidays) and Augusta.
In spite of the army regulations prohibiting black nurses from treating white soldiers, and the prejudice with which many of them treated her, Augusta saved countless lives, working under horrific conditions with inadequate supplies, and even taking trips to the front line to evacuate the wounded while coming under enemy fire. She survived the 1944 Christmas Eve bombing, and continued helping the wounded soldiers until the army left Bastogne.
After the war, Augusta rarely spoke of her experiences and dealt with PTSD, but she married and had two children, and later returned to career in nursing. She and Jack Prior stayed in touch up until his death. Her heroic contributions were ignored and went entirely unacknowledged for more than 60 years.
Finally, in 2007, a historian uncovered her story and she started receiving recognition at last, including a knighthood from the King of Belgium, the U.S. Army’s Civilian Award for Humanitarian Service, and being named an Honorary Member of the 101st Airborne. Her story was also turned into the Emmy Award-winning documentary called The Forgotten Angel of Bastogne.
In 2015, she died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 94, and was buried next to Renée Lemaire in Bastogne.
SOURCES
Augusta Chiwy: The Forgotten Nurse Who Saved Hundreds of American Lives During World War II - Task and Purpose
Augusta's War - YouTube, 6 mins
Augusta Chiwy - FindAGrave
Augusta's Story - Augusta Chiwy Foundation
