A secret operation was launched in the lead-up to the invasion to care for potential war casualties.
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary was tasked with clearing beds in a surgical ward which would be ready in the event of war casualties being shipped back to the north-east.
Directors at the hospital made the decision that the wards would be “gradually evacuated and held in readiness to receive the wounded” according to an annual report for the institution from 1944.
As a result of the operation, civilian cases were barred from the hospital – except in the most extreme and serious circumstances.
However, by January 1945, the number of beds required by the Department of Health was reduced from 200 to 100, allowing the usual 500 beds to be freed up for the use of the people of Aberdeen and the north-east.
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