After her only sister Marguerite was killed in the Blitz, she radically shifted her priorities from acting to instead working in field hospitals as a Red Cross nurse during World War II. She served in the 61st Field Hospital, Bari, Italy in 1944, where many wounded American airmen flying out of air bases around Foggia were hospitalized. During WWII, Madeleine Carroll donated her chateau outside Paris to more than 150 "adopted" orphans. She also arranged groups of young people in California to knit clothing for them. In a filmed RKO-Pathe News bulletin, Madeleine was filmed at the chateau with the children and staff wearing the clothes, where she thanked people who had contributed. She was awarded the Legion d'Honneur for bravery in France.