LIMBLESS SOLDIERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26228, 12 August 1946, Page 6

LIMBLESS SOLDIERS

TREATMENT IN AUSTRALIA EVERY CONSIDERATION GIVEN (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Aug. 11. “ Probably nowhere else is the limbless ex-serviceman so well provided for as in Australia,” said the Australian High Commissioner, Mr R. C. Cutler, V.C., addressing the annual meeting of the Wellington War Amputees’ Association. Mr Cutler said that after the 1914-18 war Australian limbless ex-servicemen, with characteristic independence, rejected any expressions of over-sympathy and, conscious of the good humour and comradeship which had existed among them while in hospital, banded themselves together into the Limbless Soldiers’ Association so that they could help each other. He stressed that the happy position in which the Australian limbless ex-servicemen found themselves was contributed to, first, by the generous, well-directed assistance of the Commonwealth and State Governments, and, secondly, by the men themselves having a really active organisation. Steps In Rehabilitation Mr Cutler detailed the experiences of an Australian soldier after the loss of a limb in battle. Referring to the treatment after the soldier's return to his home State, he said he was visited by members of the Limbless Soldiers’ Association and by its Ladies’ Auxiliary. “Without his realising it he begins to take an even greater interest in his eventual rehabilitation because he sees ex-servicemen who lost limbs before him moving around quite naturally, and he meets the wives and daughters of these same men,” Mr Cutler said. “As soon as the stump has shrunk sufficiently he is conveyed to the Repatriation Commission’s limb factory, where he received individual attention from men who are themselves limbless returned servicemen. Invariably the limb fitter assigned to look after the individual serviceman is one who has had a similar amputation to the patient, so that an aboveknee amputee is fitted by a limb fitter who is also an above-knee amputee. Latest Methods Studied Mr Cutler said the machinery in ttie factories was very up to date. The employment of limbless men in the factories—apart from the psychological effect on servicemen who had recently been disabled—provided good employment with first class conditions and pay. Recently three orthopaedic surgeons had studied the latest surgical methods in America, Canada, and Britain, and technicians had been sent to these countries to investigate the manufacture of limbs and appliances. As a result of their inquiries many improvements had been introduced. The cardinal principle laid down by the Repatriation Commission was that each man, whatever his disability, was to leave the factory mentally happy and physically comfortable, Mr Cutler said. The limbless man, irrespective of his earning capacity, social standing or assets, received a war pension by way of compensation for his war disability. The rate of war pension to a limbless ex-serviceman was 75 shillings per fortnight, plus a further automatic allowance, to cover wear and tear on clothing, of £1 per fortnight if a leg or arm was off below the knee or elbow. A wife received 33s per fortnight and each child 13s 6d. All these payments were free of income tax. Concessions Granted

Mr Cutler referred to contributions by the' state governments to assistance to limbless ex-servicemen, for example, in New South Wales 90 per cent, of taxation on car registration was rebated to legless ex-servicemen, to whom travel on trams and Govern-ment-owned buses was free. Legless men travelling to work by train had free passes. The Sydney Harbour Ferries Company granted a similar courtesy for travel on the ferries. There were'also arrangements for the wearer of a Limbless Soldiers’ Assn, badge to go to the head of the queue at bus stops. Mr Cutler, in conclusion, pointed out that the majority of the benefits enjoyed in Australia had accrued mainly because the limbless ex-ser-vicefnen of Australia had put their personal time, effort, and enthusiasm into their association, which, as a result, was virile and well-organised and believed to the principle of being as independent as possible.