DOCTORS AND BEARERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11926, 8 February 1917, Page 3

DOCTORS AND BEARERS.

j HOW NEW SZEALANDERS WORKED ON SOMME. THRILLING TALES OF DEVOTION j AND HEROISM. (From 'Malcolm Ross. OffiroM War Correspondent with the N.Z- Foreoii.) FRANCE, December 1. No account of the fighting on the jSommo would be complete without | reference to tho splendid work done by j the New Zealand Medical Corps. I ! have already referred to it, both in I telegrams arid letters despatched from tbo'sce-no of the battle. I purpose teliine- now tho story more in detail- It was on September 13 that the Corpa took- over from the- English Division that our troops relieved. In n German dug-out at a place known to us, a-; Hat I Trim Copse the advanced dressing sta--1 tion was established. It was all 'be time under she!!Aire. Ty. of *- orderlies were lolled on the tirst alrerinoon. 'The place was made splinter proof villi sandbags and iron. A'- <mo of the big attack, when the dugout' 'was full nnd wounded tying all around, tho Germans suouerdy storied shelling, and our men ban w m-t bu-n- and get as many ol tio wounded as tlmy could away and the others under cover. The mam dressing station was three miles )aether oaek. A nile awav, in advance of the nwni dressing station, at what we called Thistle' \llcv. was the. hearer relay post, hot after the second daw this reaiiv became the advanced dressing station. On arival at the advanced dressing station the taken into the •' dressing room." There thev were examined, tallies and fastened to each man's tunic. Every wounded man who could eat or drmK or smoke was given hot drinks, cake or. biscuits, and cigarettes. Then, in batche, of ten or twelve, tihose who could walk, were directed to the mam dressing station. Our durtore made) great use of the am munition, waggons that were returning empty from the, held of battle. In this: way a tally of j sixty were got away in one hatch on the Friday night. English wounded also! vroro coming in, and the lying-down eases were sorted out, the Aow Zen- ; landers and the English going in motor] ambulance cars each io their own main i dressing station. All the cases had to ! bo taken down from Thistle Alley to Flat Iron Oopse on ordinary stretchers or on wheeled carriage stretchers, because the Germans Wore shelling the road and we could not get our am- ; bulances up in safety. j The st.ition «t Thistle Alley was not j palatial. It was? rumply a sand- i lagged dug-out. about 6ft srjuare, : tuider cover of a oft high brink. It j was repeatedly shelled by the enemy, j It is only fair to say that, it was not nrcessarilv intentionally shelled. Most probably tho (Jerniaus v,ere only searching" tor our batteries, and in such erodes we made a point of never flying the red cross ting, as such flags .might no useful to the Gorman observers for ranging, ft is Wso fat-e here, as it j was on Gallipoli, for dressing si;:- i tioro, to be close in batteries, hoeause ] where there is cover for ene there is cover for the nther'.WAud our batteries! v, i re by tin's time s'-> thick alone tbo slopes that it- was di-Hcrdt to find good places fo>- them all. The Germans mixed their high explosive with gas and with tear shells. Occasionally the. j swish of shrapnel added still more ) variety to the performance!.' In the. | way of varied inicrest and excitement I

i f.nn generally got one's money''* worth iis taking >\ alks 01 onrl :n ihat ! dii eat ion. In ihe night tinio it. wa.-> | wpeeinlh* njk-rcsMnr;. because in addition to tho spectacle of the flashing gnrts and tht* bursting .shells'there was always faring you the goddess of | chance, with « possibility iliiU. you i might yourself become a walkin;.:; tr a lying-down on so—or a, " ease" in which the subsequent. proceeding.-, would interest you no more. Several bearers vero killed iiv the vicinity of tho station. Oilier* were wounded. One night both doeton-; arid men worked for hours in their gas-helmets, : And that is not a.n easy job. OARJJYTNG THROUGH A BARRAGE. Two thousand yards awny was Flens. ;) Iti >;i !:• which the battle raged for some lime. From then: the bearers had to (nrry uphill, over sodden ground, through a. fairly heavy barrage of 5.9 high explosive and shrapnel. It wits a long and difficult job, hut, rani or shine, they never erased their efforts I In man.v cases it took six bearers five* lours i.o briii*;; in a, wounded man from the relay post five hundred yards south of Flora. A medical oiiicer and twelve men wcro scat, out there. The post was no sinecure. There it was that Major Martin and Captain .Bogle were killed. They were splendid fellows, and very brave. I>r Martin was standing just outside the dug-out. when a shell hurst i:tar binij and lie received his fatal wounds. (Jan of our doctors went right through with him on the long iourney to the New Zealand Hospital ai AmienSj where, after an operation, he died almost immediately. One ot the stretcher-bearers who came hark and found that he had been mortally | wounded said of him: ''Ffe wa.s a, I bravo man, and one ot tho best officers in the N.Z.M.C." Captain Bogle had also done horoie work. During the whole of tin* first week the Germans kept i;j> their barragewith a view to preventing transport and troops getting up to Flers, hut during the whole el tho fighting not a singly man ever hesitated to go forward when required. " I had to slop them twice, said the doctor who had charge of all this forward work. " 1 went up myself and had a look at tho barrage-. I would not have go no through it myself, so I reckoned I should not send my men through it." Hut, fis soon as the shelling moderated, away they trotted as. ehoeriolly as possible. My Jove,'' hf: added, they were great, those boys I" GREAT WORK IN THE FIELD. So mo of these bearers worked lor forty-eight hours, some for seventytwo hours, without sleep, and with but little -"ood. -Quo, who brought aiviiiinded mau I'ighi down to hint Iron Copse, was, at tho finish, almost ivor.se than Ins patient. Another bearer was wounded, hut went- on carrying in other wounded till 'wounded a second time, fie was shot in the leg. Later ho was shot in tho arm, but even then he picked up his stretcher and wanted to carry on. and would have done so were it not for the. fact- that a doctor ordered him away. He now proudly wears the riband of tho Military Medal. Several of Ihe hearers earned Military Medals on tho Sommo. There aro others who found graves there who also • earned them; some who earned thern j over and over again. Time after time , 1 they led parties through tho barrage to look for wounded. Y.G.'s have been given for less. And .horo let me mention a wonderful tiling. The bi.g attack started on tho morning of the tiftrenih. Oti the night: of the seventeenth tho eolonc-l sent out 200 men and one medical officer—an Auckland cap bain- with orders to search for wounded on the ground over which we had advanced. A systematic search of tho whole area failed to find a single wounded man left out! On this particular job the New Zealanders had two men killed and five wounded. Thus the only wounded they brought in were their own! That performance from sturt to finish must surely stand out as one of tho most magnificent of its kind fti-cu- recorded in a great battle. In

spite of heavy casualties every wound eel maa had "been brought in with.ii forty-eight hours after the time tie first infantry went over the parapet Not. only did the New Zeabnulers d< this in regard to their own men, bu they also carried in English wounds as well, and quite a number of thcot were cleared rrom our stations. Tho Germans, with their barrage wero dropping shells along the ridge The whole of the ground ■was pockmarked by exploded'shells. On suet a track you could scarcely be expected to do a hundred yards in evens. Some .didn't bother to try -they just •walked. On the Somme. when yor. an endeavouring to get near a big fight-. ii doesn't, take more than half )'<n noui to turn, von into a firm fatalist. Own!'' the casualties in the V"w Zonland" Medical Corps, orders were (riven by the Army Corps omt ng'> mental "officers and other officers am' hearers wero to go out only at- night. Po far as I could'see there was no very i laudable intention of carrying; out tha i order. Tho New Zealandcrs salved their rnnsci(uiW!S \,y counting day a> niaiht. In this way they got one long night of twenty-four hours. In other ' woi-d'-i thov went right through -riigiH and dav. As an instance of the initiative of our men it is worth mentioning thai tun first- of tho stretcher-bearers that wen!otti along this trench were seen i.o b.carrying shovels as wei! as stretcher-., (hie' might, have been T>ardoned ior imagiuing that they were- adding io their usual errand of nnrey, iJie oe. cuiiittiou oi° grav*e-digi::ers. As a matter of fact they were ordv -bent upon rounding oil the <'orners of ! lie a'averses so that they could gee tr,e stretchers past with greater comfort to the wounded. To see our bearers giving and coming through the barrage some of them wounded yet, always claecrlu!. though thov had no cover our and nowhere to sleep but, in the mad, wa-, indeed a revelation. War is surely a bard taskmaster, hut youth is its noble servant. Even xlre middle-aged and the ohlerk" rise to heights of valour and se!fsaerifice unexcelled. There were two brothers no longer young Woo had arrived V it'h our las-; ReinforeeUieeO;. (Ul One 14th they wen! into the trenelv-. While, watting for their turn to go hwwe/rd they tired of inncfion. ;; o on the loth they got a sltr-chdier and left the shelter of tho trench to look U*<v wounded. They had not gone far when a. shell' burst, beside them and killed them belli. HUMOUR AMIDST THE GIUMXESS. Grim as was the work of the doctors stretcher-bearers, they never fade! to find some humour in the daws workOne day when the Germans wore shelling the vicinity of a dressing-sta-tion an unlucky sieg demolished lite coos house and buried in itie oebris n leg of mutton in the process of being roasted. Great hopes were boino- built on thru, savoury haunch, and prop.rrtmnatc disappointment, reigned when it< fitto became known. Hut next dav thev dug it out of the ruin, reeooked It and had it for lunch! Tho store ihar wen. tne rounds to the effect tJluit as Medical Hoard had .sat i,,.,-,,, ;. ~,,,; j n : t( , t [. il ~ oose of anfi-tetaiuc stuattn, u-."is, I believe, not true. At times German prisoners were nmd" to oet. as Mivteherdiearetx (Jem-r-l]v thov were very p'oa-ed to do so. Once when two German hearers wire carrying m a wounded comrade with two of <>;ir "ion walking behind, a German shed hurst and killed the nvo former. Gne lot of our bearers o- n t hold of <• Gorman Red Crox. man. 'and worked vmb l„m all day. They gave him food ;ed cigarettes to l,j s ),,,,..,•, f ,, nt ,, ; , i<im it- Would ho a ease ( ,( -(",„--„ a !° n -- f -r ,i: ' ! '' ;w] toddlo ch.eiiiidv oft vvirh | IK ur,Oehe r , n Its T>"!m ; , .)„. \ V!,S «'<»"" Gay fdk-d i'roc; „,, „'ifl, v,-or,'. loud, ami oigjovtjes and smi; hnu do-n ie his cage for the night.

n .won.: sTJiivrci!r:»-Tji-URET^rv in the v-nrds of an officer well ahlo ; " judge, iiupai'tialiv. tin- ,\V VI Zealand ~n-eteher-b, ;in> , l; o;' ; \] u > c linu , li; ..-;..; '■•»«• on thou- own."' Ii continued mv

own. impression from uhat. I wn my own eyes. Tim dieUing was nerv. u, a 1 king; coiidi; ions uiuh r yObe they work, (I sufficient. to depress ih gummest stoic. Vet, however deaol the «holhn.g, and however trying th Slough of Desponn through which tho dragged their weary feet, no woundei nniu that, could be reached by huinaj endeavour was left uiisuccoinvd. Tho stretcher-bearers got n> wor) early on September 15 'the day wt made tho big hound forward to Flers r roii'i now or, they were very busv and not a day passed without, casuaiiie in ih.eir ranks, With grim determin ation they stuck to thoir work'. Ot September 17 a sergeant that "f knov "f got orders ;:t, 11 a.m. to take i'oriy ioilr bearers out across the ridge t> a collecting post that had been estab lished near Flers. It was nearly r-three-mi In journey. Just bol'otv.' fop. ping the ridge they enconnlere<-| a (lei* man barrage. High explosive air. shrapnel were bursting 'jOO rank ahead. " h was." said the sergeant, "ft responsibility that I never want again. My orders were to go rigid through, and yet it seemed eeriani death in jiTit the men through it. \\\- scattered and made a dasli down ih<" other side, covering ilirec-quar'crs oi a, mile in record time, Major Mart in, afterwards mortally wounded. sail when we go;, down that- he had been watching us through his g'ns-es, and

j would not order the in<-ri back unit':-. 5 they were willing to go. To a num. { the hoy* said 1 Yes. ; I -em rheni Um-k j a squad at a time, waiting myself to { go with t.ho last lot. it va« a 'nerve- ! wracking experience washing; them j climb hade .slowly this 1 ;Mi e. tljeir ; burdens claiming Jill their a: ten (ion. i It was a remarkable r.hin«, hui, not a | siieJl out of the bundred-- that. burst, i on the rid'.re during the three or four I hours, hit the thin train we made on i the way back. YTa I'fT-.-arr'ers j Kiissian bearers were killed on bit it I sides, but thai, day only two New Zealand Medical Corps nieu tv'-ro killed. The trail we took seemed the only safe course oyer hundreds. of aero-; ot ground. T had the coid fear of death on mo for the. ha!i bc'ar it took to go over tlio top. The -he!'-. Wi'iv landing licfo.fi! .-oid behind and on both and hv the time 1 reached the. j advanced dressing silat-ioii I was done. ' j Anyone who has had a few weeks' ox- i poncaco ot the Routine battleiield lakes j tjfr his hat to the infantry. The infantryman undoubtedly bears the brunt j as lie hears the glory of the lighting, j H-very man who goes over the parapet I is a, hero. And most men who istioK i iti out in the shattered trenches, tiled | and hungry and thirsty, digging in tin- j del* an enemy barrage or holding the position against counter-attack, are heroes. littt tliero is a groat deal to be said also tor the stretcher-bearer. Ho is not -to the samo extent in the limelight. Ho hfi;; not the excrtenxait of the charge with the bayonet,, jioihof the thrill of the attack over the parapet with a thousand of his companions in the advancing lines. Under such conditions courage runs high. .Instead', he marches slowly wit'Ji the slings about his neck, bearing his precious burden—some mother's boy, some wife's husband, sumo girl's sweetheart —to a place where in comparative safety the wounded may have their wounds dressed, For him there is no sudden rush for safety into trench or shell crater. His first consideration ic 'for ,the man he is carrying. .Nothing but a direct hit will make him drop his stretcher. Half the time ne m going with his back to the enemy's shellinf, which is a situation likely to breed doufyt and fear rather than "certainty and courage. To be brave under such circumstances is to bo brave indeed. By September 18 there had been so much rain that the roads had become almost impassable. The difficulties of stretcher-bearing were such .that abnost superhuman effort was needed. It was

almost, a five-mile carry now because the motors nn.fl even tbo horse ambulances could not got through tho mud. The men were almost' worn out.. Next morning at four o'clock, while it was still dark. .-, sergeant went forward -with a, party of thirty-Fix men. It was stil! earning, and six men to a squad ! found it almost impossible to carry. Thankful to have crossed the ridge before tho enemy balloons could begin spotting, they reached tho collecting posh .just as th.f day war. breaking. M tho collecting pest they were forced to j wait for tire lionrs, because the position j was being so heavily shelled. Standj ir.g behind the sandbagged parapet. j they watched ihe "shrapnel burst-in £ :3 00 yards away. The German gunners j were " searching " for one of tbo more j daring of our batteries that had pudied | right up and was tiring point-blank at I the German "wire and the trench jnst ■ beyond Ac *2 p.m. i.bis jiarty of hearers started on their return journey. Again I hey encountered barrag-e foe. but it. was .not -n heavy as on the rn*ovo!i,> day. Tim ground i'>ver a Inch they had to travel, was, however, worse than before, and it seemed as U Oioy v.ould never get through. If- meant a change of bearers, every fifty yards, and the v. mu:de<l on the stretchers must lave suifere,! greatly. '-"Wo arrayed io :i!rnor» r - a fainting oondi;:.io, " .'■(•-* com of i'l-'-M- bearers. "' and the mm issue was like nectar. Even .Mrs Harrison Lee would have served it j out- to us if she had seen us that day!" i vet. •;. seite of -dl the difficulties, aj Xow /"- abiiid mail found its wav up, ' and added eroailv to the delight of thai men in getting through. j .'dan<- in -Unoes of bravery and tin-! tiring devotion to duty displayed might! lie given. There were men who day and ; iv'ght went out under shell and in ft- I chine-gun Are. time and agt'du, and. at [ erent. risk of their own lives, saved the j lives of many wounded who othorwisa j would have died, or been killed. Snm« i of the;,-; worked continuously collecting wounded under fire for twenty hours j at a -•tret."!:. Rut- there is no need to multiply instances. These are simply typical ■-!' the work done by the bearers as a \\ h'de. Ail'■""ho saw them toiling undo- such difiicuMos and dangers are never tired of sounding their pr.'u'sct, an I mow, of all the doctors under whom end t\ir.b whom they worked. Our str'Aeh-'r-bearer* earned undying famo iei Ouibnrdi. Tho Somme enhanced tbo hist re of the laurels. There was a -iroug leaven of the old GallipoTi band in at least two of Uie Field AmbtJIsr.c's, and. wh'le the new men showed counter- and initiative beyond the ordinary, it is safe to say that One old hands were in no small measuro responsible- the splendid success that vrns obifiite-'.-! en the more strenuous battl®iiehi of the f-'-ommo.

THE AMBULANCES. There was a heavy strain on the ambulances. Two days after the start of the advance no fewer than ten of our ears" were in trie workshops. We baa altogether twiiity-ono cars and niftS horse ambulances. The British transport in the vicinity temporarily broke down in the aftc-noon of the first day, but. the New Zealand drivers no'tnaged i" keep going, and evacuated British ami .New Zealemlery alike. During the iwenty-i-wo day-i t.r.e.y were working I hey evacuated Severn! thousand wounded. In the pree-css the corps earned nine .Military Medals. It was neiwe-wrackinsx work driving the ambttJanees, esjiet'ial.ly Jn the darkness with liehtsout. The drivers never quite knew when they might find themselves in a shell-hole or over ; t bank. The transport between Thistle Alley and tho advanced dressing was often held up by iho shelling of the road, an often nie andailam-e drivers had to bring their wc-.-eous down through a h'dl of -hram:--!. horses suifered irom shraj)r:i vmnnib. A driver was wounded hi the arm. A horse was shot through Gm ear.

thk won!•: of tfr d-octors. Mie work oi the doctors from beginMrnp; so end v.-a.<- magnificent. The\ do not. say on !•-!,- about it the.nisolvofl, l,ni- those of ns who sav, sotnetliiiiof it eau e i ima;.e i;, at iis true valii", and the I'Mimat" is ;> very hiirh ore. .\j ;tll ihe .'idv.-nired dressnu:; in: ions and aid posn tl.cv were under slii' l !! fin. but they u.-!-: in iheir -veri; day arid with a heroism worthy of Cue best. trn('ition.s o( i.i::h docinrs nnder tire, 'i'hree our o- our small hand lost their live* on tb.» Scrapie. '!b:> Kcgi mental Aid Post at 0110 place was !-iit>piy a hoie under thn paraph'- The -sli -\U T.ii;sl. about it- The Bnttnl'on 1 ioadijiiarters next door wore blown jn. At '.-li; personal risk, the dorto,- ivt-'ij. nvr-r ihe parapet. and dre«s- ---(\! til' - - wounds o!" a, roost valuable x.c.0.. whom i; was reported that irn nn'-d in.t c attention tninht save bis. lite. Jie worked all nieiit. and the fol--111 f1;i;-, although tired at. wont (o (he .•'ss!.«;t;HU'o r-> another unit. The ;-anw> in;i:i. a r ;• j.uor of the iiidltwhen no •••ale phieo eon id be found b'!' an worked pra: -tiddly in ■he open unfit •' heavy shell fire. The bnlta'rii! had .-ottered considerably. •H Mf'hf. he idled Ins tKi'-I-et-s with aros.v!n};.s, nnd. in spiff of artillery and mach me-i.nrn five, went to and fro on the held of battle, d rei-une the wounds | "! men lying out, and thus saved many lives. He repealed the performance on the rulin-viiip mtrh". fimiti!.! several men vvhorn h.e had missed on the previous nifrisi. The men simply worshipped that man. ,l)r Be«ie. whose death has been reported, did line work". At Flers be worked cea.seles.sly in the open, tinder continual shed fire, for thirty-MX hours, without rest or meals, til! killed by a sheli five minutes before the battalion moved nut. P>y his extraordinary devotion >n duty he .saved many lives. Sidfie.enl, has hemi mentioned tn show i hat. the v. ork of the N.Z.M.C. was all thai eriitld have- been desired, and perhaps a little, more. The administration was fveiient. and drew J'orth from the corps and the A nay under which the N<",l Ze;ii:mder; served s:n unstinted appreciation, the terms of which I have already mentioned.

THE PADR'ES. The work of the Medic;:! Corps was veil seconded by tho labours of the Day and night, often under ne, ihi'v ad-i'inistered :o the wants if the living and the dying, and, when- ■>,'■. r possible, gave the dead decent eiri'ii. Theirs i.> work that does not erne greatly irmifr observation, but hey carried on; their duties wiili a eroie d■•voriou worthv of their calling. 'ie>re is a 'taman Oat belie padre that know of who accompanied the troops o the point of attack from Flers on be l'jth. and who then and during the wo following dayo did fine work. 'hou<-h continually under heavy fire, <■ ar(etided the wounded and the dyug. a:-.d ins courage and cheerfulness 'ere an inspiration to all around him. Hdior padres also did splendid work at teal, risk to their own lives.