MEDICAL WORK AT THE FRONT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XL, Issue 12688, 5 November 1915, Page 3

MEDICAL WORK AT THE FRONT.

(From the Special Representative, of "The Age.")

GABA TEPE, August 14. "Whatever charges may have been cited against tlie handling and treatment of the wounded at the base .hospitals and along the lines of communication, from a month's observation 'on shore with the First Australian Division,' and having seen the. medical staff and organisation tested under the . stress .of a desperate battle, I am convinced of the celerity and care' with which the wounded are taken from the -midst-of shot'and shell down to the. dealing . stations • on the beach at Anzac. In order that some .idea may. be' gained' 61' the bravery, the resource and coolness • of- the medical units, in which ■ I include all -stretcher beaxers, I will describe the means adopted to evacuate wounded. My I .gathered, " ot i'rom the ordinary' times when | the' patients' are- coming' in a few at a ! time, but when, in the heat of a general engagement,, there . is, . unfortunately, a continuous line of wounded and dying being slowly drafted down" to the beach. It is only comparatively slowly, • for the way is arduous up and down the gullies and hills. ■ It must be.noted, however,! that-there i.s-a distinct line where the responsibility of the Australian doctors' cease, and events on the left • flank have no connection with the Australian Division. -1M it .must always-be borne in mind that- in the . midst of a struggle against, a. (ce fighting for the. very existence of. the fatherland, many hardships have to be endured,--and sacrifices made, so that-nothing shall -stop the progress of-the-army, nothing • hinder it being fed, or being .supplied-with-ample water and ammunition. - Too, often, 'this aspect is forgotten "in' the cry that goes up for the treatment of the wounded. How far it - is possible" for the treatment of - the

wounded to proceed smoothly atid uninterrupted depends on the forethought of the medical officers, the preparations and the efficient tarrying out of duties under a strain.

Dressing stations have to be as near to 1 the fu iug line as i.i consistent with safety, i As there is no place quite sale, and as < space is a matter fcT some consideration. J there are dressing stations just abutting j the trenches. Sometimes a communication trench widened and hollowed out has formed a place where the doctors can give first aid and put a dressing on a wcund that will enable the man to get down to the beach. In plain language, therefore, ' the wounded have to be treated in dress- ; ing stations that are right in the filing line. Qtlier stations were just behind the crest of the ridges in any little dip or hollow that presented reasonable protection from the shells. Now when the shelling commenced on the afternoon of the 6th —J ' give this specific occasion, though it is always the same —there were bullets streaming down in front of the little roofed dugout, and occasionally they came through. Shells whined .round the hill and tell a few feet away. Somehow they never burst right on top, wliicli would have meant the wrecking of the station. Into this zone of death-, of bursting 8 and iO-inch shell, of spluttering shrapnel in broad daylight, the stretcher bearers had to go and work. They went right into the jaws of the battle, into the places where the shells were tearing dow.u the trenches, and the doctors and some of the padres went with them and commenced in the trenches the binding up of limbs, irom the trenches the men had to be carried in blankets and, waterproof sheets, taken at a run down to the dressing station, where at once they were placed on a. stretcher and lifted on to the dressing-stand. A doctor bent over the case, skilfully wrapped the wound in antiseptic dressings, and called to the stretcher bearers. Tliey at once lifted down the stretcher, fixed the straps'over their shoulders, and without a second s hesitation faced again the tornado of shell and bullets going on their way down to the baach, more than a mile away, round the foot of the hills, down into the gullies. Those were the badly wounded cases. It wanted many minutes till the battle reached its height; when, standing behind i the firing line, I saw two stretcher bearers carrying a -man away themselves struck with shrapnel—One in the foot, who limped away as if he had received a kick at . footballthe other needed help himself. Other 5.13.' men came at a double through the dust of the burst shell and bore on the wounded man. Past me, one after the other, in an almost continuous line, came men holding their hands streaming with blood, men, limping men-, with their lips cut.' "Where's the dressing station, mate?" They receive the direction, and have to go on again through the shell fire. "Oh, only a few teeth gone, I think." "Winded me in the arm." "Got it in the shoukfer." So the wounded explain as thev wait a minute for breath in shelter of sandbags, having hurried from the firing line. They all go on. "Stretcher bearers! Stretcher bearers! Here, here, stretcher bearers!" There seemed no end to the cry. The?men, braver than can be imagined, or pictured, with one thought, the reaching the' wounded mail, run up at a double. They take the nearest case in all probability. The doctor may come with them with, his medical chest.. Under a hail of bullets he-.per-forms a few hasty, dexterous dressings, and. moving- as ' fast as is consistent with safety for the wounded, the stretcher bearers r o off at a jog trot, to the dressing station lower down, further, from the infernal regions above, but none the less in a danger zone. Along the trenches where the men are fighting all that can be done for the moment is to lift some poor lad on to a. ledge and moisten his lips with water. As soon as'the press is cleared he . will-be attended to. It may be worthily recorded here that amongst those first men who dashed across to the captured Turkish trenches was a doctor. No I can 1 write can ever picture the relief that noble act alone gave. ' As the crow Hies it is just over 1000 yards from the firing" line down to the beach. To the place where the wounded are dressed and sent. off to the hospital ships it might be a mile if one could go direct. But the paths wand round the hills and along the sides of steep banks. The way is stony, it is full of abrupt turnings. The air is filled with shells and bullets. Imagine the wounded being carried or .makiii" their way along these routes down to the beach. On the' way they-may

pass several clearing stations and receive help I have watched the men just doing ordinary duties struck with bullets and shell seek medical attention in these half-way stations, the doctors sometimes standing on the scooped-out platforms before their dugouts waiting for the wounded. Extra doctors had been stationed all along the routes, and it was by this means that the pressure on the stations on the beach was relieved. Men came to the beach all read}' treated and ticketed, only waiting a means of being placed on one or other oi the hospital ships as the white or red tickets they received indicated. The check came in the supply of barges and pinnaces. But it was only a matter of a few hours, and the beach stations, that' had perhaps 300 men lying closely packed between the high piles of boxes or stores used for protection against shells, were clearing as quickly as they filled. It was dusk when I first saw the wounded coming in, and in, the fierce light of acetylene lamps, the bloody faces of the men, theii torn reddened clothes, made a picture of dreadful gruesomeness. All along an alleyway the men were lying or standing in groups sipping coffee or cocoa or a littitspirit. Since that night I have many times visited the clearing station on the beach when the doctors have been working for long hours, as the wounded came pouring in from the right and,left Hank. In all that time there liasOueen scarcely a groan. Those men faced death with a cheer, and j they bore their wounds without a sigh. : Sou found them discussing details of the J fight, linking up events for themselves with the little centre which they had been able to see and had taken part in. In this way do the wounded quickly learn what has happened all along the line. It keeps them occupied. They even argue about everyday topics; treating the whole thing as a matter of course. Some are silent and still. They may stop a docto. and ask for relief. ''This bullet is crushing my throat, doctor; can't you do anything'!" (The poor lad had a fly net ovei his face to stop the tormenting insects.) The surgeon bent down, shifted the blanket that served as a. pillow, and said: "They will fix you up 011 a hospital ship in a very short'time better than we can here." "Satisfied, the wounded lad rolled over.a little way and turned his face to a bundle of hay. It was fortunate that no block occurred in getting the stretcher;, cleared on to the barges. There were ample men to help; the doctors risked their "lives from.* the. shells .that . caiiK streaming over the pier to put the men 011 the. barges, and as quickly as possible sent them to the hospital ships. So it went 'Oll day after day, and still it is the sixth dav, and the wounded are coming in from the'left flank. They come to the sheltei of the tarpaulins, to cool water, to nourishment and speedy despatch to proper comfort. They come after, a thirty, forty, sixty hours' journey from the firing line.