THE RED CROSS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 106, 31 October 1942, Page 8

THE RED CROSS

HOSPITAL SHIP WORK

■ Outstanding services were provided at the casualty clearing station recently by members of the Ist and 2nd Wellington Men's Detachments, said the honorary secretary -of the Dominion Council of the New Zealand Red Cross Men's Voluntary Aid Detachments in an interview today. "It was the biggest and heaviest job the men have yet been called upon to do. and they rose to the occasion magnificently," he said. "The aggregate number of hours worked was 670, which gives some indication of the effort of the men, who were called upon to assist in making the patients comfortable, to shave them, to serve meals, to send telegrams and make inquiries, to help the nursing staff with dressings, to clean out and tidy the wards, and to aid the medical boards in checking and seeing that each man went through the various stages of boarding. Several members of the detachments also accompanied patients on long train journeys, tending cot cases.

"Some of the orderlies had lighter duties • than others, but each gave of his best and did what he had to do thoroughly and efficiently. Reports which have been received, especially in regard to the care and attention given to cot cases, speak in the highest terms of praise of the work ' of these men, who give their services voluntarily. Special thanks are due to the Centre Commandant, Mr. C. R. Harkness, who gave up a week of his holidays to spend the whole of that time assisting at the hospital.

"It is gratifying to know that, despite the depletion of the ranks on account of military call-ups, the records show that not only in Wellington but throughout the Dominion the work of the Red Cross Men's Detachments is being carried on with undiminished zeal."