HOSPITAL BLUE

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 55, 7 March 1919, Page 8

HOSPITAL BLUE

THE UNIFORM OP HONOUR

PUBLIC MISUNDEBSTANDING.

Instead of being recognised as the special uniform of honour which it is the hospital blue uniform worn by returned soldiers in Wellington appears to some people to denote something quite different. This can only be ascribed as due to ignorance, but it seems that this wholly erroneous impression prevails among such a large section of the public that many wearers of the blue uniform decline to come into the city on that account., To put the matter plainly, soldiers in the blue uniform find that they are regarded as venereal cases, and are shunned. accordingly, both in tramcars and in tho public streets. The position has become so bad that1 they have requested Tho Post to explain the facts, so that they might be able to visit the city with some sense of comfort. The fact is that the blue uniform is only worn by soldier patients in hospitals and convalescent homes, and the men seen wearing them in the city are the patients who are permitted to come to town. These men are solely those who Tiave been broken in health or wounded as the xesult of active service; their blue uniform specially denotes this, and should thus be looked upon as an even greater honour to wear than the khaki uniform. On the other hand, the uniform for Y.D. patients is black, and no man suffering from venereal disease is permitted in the city, or any other borough. Thus no V.D. men in uniform can be seen in the streets here, and none have ever been here.''

Wearers of the honourable hospital blue in Wellington complain that they have been so frequently insulted in the city by people making objectionable remarks that they cannot venture, to come to town again until the matter is remedied. Many -of the men are suffering from nervous troubles, and the fact of being shunned and referred to as though they ' were suffering from loathsome diseases has seriously affected several of them. Speaking to a Post reporter today, a medical officer stated that one blue uniform wearer had been so hurt as the result of objectionable remarks passed that he had to go back to bed for four days, and was obliged to undergo another operation. The' wearers of hospital blue speak appreciatively of the treatment they receive mostly from old ladies and particularly from Wellington College boys in ■ getting up in tramcars and giving them their seats. They have no desire that this should be done/but it is suggested by others on their behalf that able-bodied men and youths can do this much better than elderly ladies, especially when they see that hospital blue men may have difficulty in standing in moving tramcars. .