RED CROSS IMMUNITY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 2, 3 January 1942, Page 6

RED CROSS IMMUNITY

ATTITUDE OF GERMANS

ORDERLIES AND NURSES

Reference to the manner in which the Germans respect the. Red Cross is made by the Rev. J. S. Strang, Chaplain to the Forces, in an article in "The Outlook." Chaplain Strang, who has been invalided home from Egypt,' states: —

"There are three things that I want to say in regard to the care and treatment of the wounded. - The first is in the nature of a refutation of the assertion made in some quarters that the Germans never or seldom respect the Red Cross. The O.C. of an ambulance unit that did excellent work in Greece and Crete told me that his experience was that the enemy respected the Red Cross where plainly marked and when away from a military objective. While many cases of wanton contravention of the Red. Cross articles have been authenticated, these appear to be the exception; rather than the rule. So much faith did this O.C. have in the enemy's respect for the Red Cross that he' did not get his men to

dig slit-trenches or even to wear tin

helmets when engaged in dressing stations.

"I desire also to pay a tribute to doctors and nur-ses engaged in the care of our sick and wounded. Not only is their skill of the highest order, but their courage is as great as their skill. The medical order-lies, too, in the past, were often looked upon as being a little below the combatant soldier iri courage; today, in view of the changing conditions under which they work, they are given credit for the courage and coolness with which they carry on in spite of constant danger.

"Finally, I must pay a tribute also to the men and officers of the N-Z.E.F., who with the greatest courage and abandon have shown, and are showing, themselves ready to make every "sacrifice for the cause of freedom, justice, and peace on the earth. They are great men, and nothing that we can do for them while they are over there or when they return can be too great."