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Otago Daily Times, Issue 24890, 14 April 1942, Page 6

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BADLY WOUNDED SOLDIERS TRIBUTE TO MEDICAL SERVICE (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service) CAIRO, Apl. 11. The experience of a soldier from Taranaki who, after being, seriously wounded early in the Libyan 'campaign, has now been passed fit for front-line service, is typical of many, and a tribute to the high standard of treatment by the Army Medical Services. It also shows the toughness of the troops after many months of desert training. During the height of the Sidi Rezegh battle this soldier was shot through the chest by a machine-gun bullet, which perforated a lung. At dusk, five hours later, two members of the same section, suffering from lesser shrapnel wounds, crawled to where he was lying, and the three huddled together for warmth. Just before dawn, with only a hazy idea ot me whereabouts of friendly troops, his two companions set out on their hands and knees for help, but many hours passed before stretcher-bearers located the soldier. Two days later the advanced dressing station to which the wounded man was taken fell into enemy hands. With rocky ground for a bed, less than half a pint of water a day and little food, his condition was low when he was rescued 10 days later. He had to travel by ambulance, a three-ton truck, an aeroplane, and a train successively to hospital in Cairo, which he reached 18 days after he was wounded. Then followed the army’s effective treatment for the restoration of health and strength—treatment which has brought hundreds of sick and wounded men back to fighting fitness. The internal injury healed, and the soldier was sent to a rest home until strong enough to face light training and sport at a convalescent depot, where he was under constant medical surveillance. The time soon arrived when the soldier was fit to return to the base camp, and shortly after to his unit. Only a few battle casualties from Libya now remain in the New Zealand hospital, most of these being cases which are expected to recover fully as a result of specialised treatment.