AUCKLANDER'S WOUNDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15997, 16 August 1915, Page 4

AUCKLANDER'S WOUNDS.

ARM BADLY SHATTERED. I AN EXPLOSIVE BULLET. FIGHTING ON GALLIPOLL M A full share of the adventures and citement of active serving ha* f „* <* the lot of Private Jack Pile of rSh* 9 one of the wounded Auckland ! «, who returned by the Willoehra, »"** listed in Auckland last year for the * n * reinforcement*, but before leav; on< * Dominion he, with others ». ®** ferred to the Otago company?! **** up the quota required from thai -J? 1 ?* 9 It was late on the niX ~ #***» May 2. that Private Pill , * >>%, tated by a Turkish bullet at Gab 3 " This was the night on which «£ if?*company suffered so severely at s f** the total New Zealand and'Z'H' casualties numbered about 900 i v lB trenches had just U«n takwn * _ °* Turks under a heavy shell and T °* j and Private Pile was just gett*£lJs ; more advanced trench wbWbVwi'Jr'** ' The more serious wound wis tw" £ - a & ' ! by what the surgeons have riSS^ i could have been , w other tW J*****" j sive bullet, it struck the leuThT then entered the upper part of& I : arm and passed down through tffiaif*' | into the forearm. The effects iZlJr** I compound fracture of the elboW*^ a " severe laceration of the 3nusc]« k? 4 * ; armpit to the middle 0 J fe** About the same time Private p^ l - . struck by a piece of IJ^ O , W » ** right hand, which sustafceSS f* & . not serious, injury. Another b&w ™' b ■* through the top of hirSt^P still retained as a memento of u™* ? ful night. 01 *■* «WBfcf' A "Bolt" for the Doctor*,' Tent.*s Private James, of the 0ta» 0 (W. S-~ who was beside Private pT iS*?**' ' was fortunate enough to escape bSLtS"''' * rendered first aid with the aLrf? *$*'- - the wounded soldier's field^Sj** ' and his puttees. "In a vaBeTSiT & I away. says Private Pile. 'thsXL I had a small tent, and I at oncetxSSS" my intention of making for h. S urged rue not to risk it. saVir.V t wT would be riddled with hcHeU briery i ting there. However I felt thtf F £ ■ between two fire*. I cither had 4, 2 i the bullet or stand the chance of b££ j to death in the trench, so c «ISSS-- ' j good-bye to the boys I made a& £- ; the tent. An Australian who had!! I < ; wounded in the leg and the arm kLS t I company. We got to the tent K ' without meeting any more bnDts, sJ'Z - l e ZrT a in the ™ 4s of the awrfS- • The doctor, who dressed mv ara ,-- .r ! continued Private Rile. a*ked me 481 | 1 had been m the barbed-wire entgMU ' ; menu I replied. • No, I onlv caaffi - ? armful of shrapnel.' This was mf £■% i pression at the time, but I have'ikilS been assured that it could have been «£ an explosive bullet that made such ac« \ of mv arm." ---j.t . t. Stretcher-bearers Strike a Stump, ' ?! The wounded soldier's progress to m II ! beach was not without a humorous hd. m j dent. The doctor, after Sressing ' & §1 I wound, instructed five bearers to carr R .. him to the beach, a distance of alxati ft i mile. " All this, you mast remember," - If j says the narrator, " occurred during i&t j night. The five men carried me (si % ! stretcher, and all went well until we lad m j nearly reached the shore, when the front §§ ) man tripped over a stump, and' 4 head- ".fit | over-heels' went the whole * turs-ost,' oca p j stretcher-bearer pitching right "(n'f&i&ajetH ! top of me. Then a free fight took shoe, ; the front man blaming the dhss for not & | warning him of the stump whiefc, cf cpsem^-v'B jno one could see in the daflti % Juar- W t ever, lasted only about hslf-a-ifeaft. 'lis I j man who fell on me nearly whiiej joe, B I and in trying to regain my windTi^^ft^g ;an awful groan. The fight ended as l| I denly as it had started, and my,-««a\ IS , how those .boys rushed that stretcher! j Like a flash of lightning they had Slid I i me stretcher and all high up in the air. I 'rg ! was carried along quicker than ever, «ai... fi j we had no more encounters with steps. B • The bearers were fine fellows, but {&?{'■§ I nerves had been unstrung by hard-i'Jrafcg^ i They had been at it night and day : in&t,K no sleep to speak of. s Thousand Cases on a Hospital Shs- m 1 " On arriving at the beach, 1 and ofi**ißl? j who were in the same case as myself,"4 i awaited a lighter to take us off : onJ%tfig= ' i first sta-o of our journey to the htspStflKj ' j ship. Ihe lighter came along ia'«S|.t Ml '■. half-an-hour, and this took us som W< ; i tance out and placed us on a mine-sif«sK; ■: '; Thistook us to the hospital ship, ; ; j&*; M ! ] was about two-and-a-half miles from a» -*• '! shore. There were 1050 of ns^Affifc*- m ! i Hans, New Zealanders, and other woaM«»- : 1 j men— the ship. There were only m*, ' i doctors, three nurses, and five orderlies | ! ! look after the lot of us, bn* they did t» t[ ! best they could, and, under the arc** B.:.; 1 i stances, "i was well looked alter on M B }! way to Alexandria, my arm being M [ under chloroform durmg the^^*C i m : ' Forty-five of the worst cases died on u» ■ ship.* and the men were buned ai » || The small staff, of course,, had ? "JJ s |- , time, but I believe that tflinp m <■» I|' respect are much better bow. - -^lj R 1 A high tribute is paid by thejsjg..| l ' soldier, both to the ambufence |fl ; the chaplains at the front. U ' i lains," he says. " work hard. Jf? »< fj : ! it all hours of the day and "JF- | i " seen them carrying water for »**"«£,. || 1! and running about just hke ooys-V^ |1 'j as well as the ambulance men, do *« ""- ■ fe '. they possibly can." , 7 .- :$,, W i Private Pile spent several |g Heliopolis Hospital in Lgypt> M came tTNew Zealand by M I He unfortunately caught a ¥%&#& ll 1 voyage, and when he arrived W|g»i M he"had to go into a private hospn*» |l he was treated so well that, as «» ~ tfl he regained about two ston* I|g weight is now about i s , slo ?^,^^^ ■'■ | weeks. He arrived in Auckfe||?gta}|p ' j day afternoon's express, and | k ine a few days -with friends »>- m ■'£ 'I will proceed "to Opotiki. %^^^»i»| ! E«ypt that he would prohaoiyWJ* ™ letßl ', i his arm, but he refused to b§ A, $"*<■-. amputated. He is now assured «• ■(!;; »'^ ', though he mav never recover . « 1 power, it may still be of considerate ■ ; to him. .' ' t-V. Wound In South African W«r« V . ' This is not the first time ■£*£&*. B Pile has been wounded whilst IS 5 his country. He still. carries M i caused bv a wound received m *?*■&.; pi African "war. He went out *« >.f 1 I first as a member of the ..^^^B?? . tingent, and again after' t! »..Jf^*v-l . j the fourth, as a member of e^ K , fe j contingent. He was mounded »-S*;;N - ,! in an engagement whilst jJSip , ! fourth. "At the close of the !~ . i 1902. he went to England, and « ,l * w r - g - I the late King Edward's coronation- . _ u