Lionel G. Hanley

Pictured above – Lionel G. Hanley. All photographs on this page are kindly provided by John Hanley from the Hanley family archives. Further photos can be seen on John’s Flickr site. This biography was written with information supplied by John Hanley with additional details found on Fold3.

Corporal Lionel G. Hanley was born in July 1920 in Lockport, Louisiana. In April 1942, when he registered with the US Army, 21 year old Lionel was a student at the Southwest Louisiana Institute (now University of Louisiana) in Lafayette. He enlisted in March 1943.

^{A taste of America in Frenchay – GIs queue for Coca-Cola (Hanley Family Archives)}

Lionel served in the 117th General Hospital unit at Frenchay Hospital from June 1944 to June 1945. Frenchay Park had been home to a children’s sanatorium prior to the war but with high casualty rates anticipated from the blitz, an Emergency Medical Services Hospital had been built with 16 wards on the site. The US army took this over in 1942 and decided it would be too small so built a further 15 wards.

^{Corporal Steve Knabe of the 117th General Hospital in covered walkway at Frenchay Hospital built by the US Army (Hanley Family Archives)}

He was assigned to work in Orthopaedic Services as a photographer. Lionel’s work as a photographer would help to document some of the pioneering surgical techniques being developed at Frenchay to help these patients.

During this time, many of the soldiers severely injured on the battlefields of Europe were being sent to Frenchay Hospital for treatment. Some came to Frenchay by Dakota, landing at RAF Filton and being transferred by road. After treatment, they would be taken to Bristol Temple Meads and transferred by train to Scotland before being flown back to the United States.

^{US Army ambulances at Bristol Temple Meads (Hanley Family Archives)}

Bicycles were a prized form of transportation in those days. As a boy, Lionel made money repairing bicycles for his friends. So after arriving in Frenchay, it wasn’t long before he had a bicycle of his own.

^{Lionel Hanley with his bicycle at Frenchay Hospital (Hanley Family Archives)}

Because he also had access to a camera and film, he was able to ride his bike beyond Frenchay to explore and take pictures of the surrounding area.

^{Cricket on Frenchay Common as photographed by Lionel Hanley (Hanley Family Archives)}

^{The Full Moon Hotel (now The Crafty Egg), Fishponds as photographed on one of Lionel Hanley’s cycling trips (Hanley Family Archives)}

Most notably, he took a long photo-walk of central Bristol on VE Day. Years later, his stroll through Bristol would come to provide a valuable record of what it was like on that historic day.

^{On VE Day, GIs from Frenchay Hospital perform for the nearby Children’s Hospital (Hanley Family Archives)}

^{Children, nurses and US military personnel watch the VE Day performance. (Hanley Family Archives)}

^{Inside a Frenchay Hospital canteen on VE Day} ^{(Hanley Family Archives)}

After returning to the States, Lionel was promoted to Sergeant and, because he could type, asked to stay several more months to help process other American soldiers returning home.

^{Likely to be the handover ceremony of Frenchay Hospital to the British from the US Army on 17th August 1945 (Hanley Family Archives)}

His wartime service ended in 1946. In peacetime he worked as a teacher, elementary school principal and federal programs supervisor. He died, aged 78 in 1998.

^{Lionel Hanley outside Nissen hut in the Frenchay Hospital grounds. (Hanley Family Archives)}

Lionel Hanley took photos from all round Bristol as well as on trips to Stratford-on-Avon, Salisbury and Weston-Super-Mare. They can be viewed on John Hanley’s Flickr pages (4, 5 & 14), which is highly recommended.

We’d love to hear your own stories. Please get in touch with us by emailing YanksinBristol@gmail.com