WOUNDED IN WAR.

Waikato Times, Volume 88, Issue 13432, 10 March 1917, Page 4 (Supplement)

WOUNDED IN WAR.

]l L- iiiij<• ; to .-.landavdise the «?»•<:• lion* (I a woi.nJ'.l man wht-n first he is Jiii :i!i<l :!,ir. in- .tiiM- thise sensations will 111ittii imii tiling; what ho i; -woiindnj i . •> -ii.it jjiirt of the h«'\. iii.v „t hi' health at the time, and hiU'llll i ■ rrl. ul. It i< tv.if I !:at \.llnrc provides a t-er i iji in I .--iii.. k vvl'ii h iniinlw the pain for ni<lirt.:. lint tli> it- "nv at leasr li.iii' kjin 1 01 w.-.mni in linii llii. mllMbii;.u >t nsataiii 4ltu-s iimL .i.wc.r. At I iiiilli'iiii.nt ;i naiii v.h'i li it) ;• IniM': lliK'.imh- tli'• iintie ol ill.' jt.ilr.i M i isi c .-lurtod running i-«.nu«J and roi": I in a ciri.li', -hivkin;;. until a i'niij.le i i .•!irlrlu i ln-anus him. \\ liat"M'r iln> iiifdii al tiie.'rif- in:;\ i.r- ;u a i ;r- ■ like Hii<. aial lum.i't r >lilll tli.' v.'nnnil ini'.'.lil lia\i: tumid out U/ i t', it V.a- nhvituis in ,-i .spectator that (lie 11:11 in tin- hi-i i wtii'ines (. j' aetiial pain.

At Hi .li Wood, i tiit ill the ankle by low flying machine-gun full.-Is made far more noise tlnn men sctioiinU hh. In the third exceptional ease, that of .-tomm li wounds, tbe man lie.- and groans quietly, because be simplv r.innot make an\ hinder noise; but In is in lerrihle pain all the .time, width is made I lie worm because n is more than hi.; life is worth to lake am drink, even a drop ~! water. And linn. 01 course, there i,. ihe fourth ease oi ib, man who has a limb flown oil' in a.tion. To return tn the considerptir.n of m',i\ ordinary cases, in which the lie.liei.u eliork h,c its effect. Take the case ...| an officer who was hit by a small piece ol high-explosive shrapnel which took awaj the elbow joint and broke the upper arm. He said, •'! felt a.s if a giant had kick,,] me. Then (ante a warm tingling all down the. ann. a rather pleasant sensation. Aftei that, the excitement of walking a mile or two back through the teeming crowds of relief and supply troops took mv mind off it, But when they put the tor.rniquet on to stop the bleeding, . \f\ word!" ' '

An officer who was bit bv a bullet which went through the lung and passed out at the hack lays stress on the rather peculiar lact- that he. did not feel the entry of the bullet at all. but onlv tlic exit. The ~.„-■,. tion, be says, was that of being liii mil force in the bad; bv a loaded stick \ in interesting fact, it may be added that nobody discovered the eiilrv wound for tine hours after his arrival' at the drc-dm-station.

Another officer had a piece nf a rifle gTenade through his chest. "1 i',]. a i first as if a huge weight had been dropped from a height upon mv shoulder This was followed by the feeling of a red ho' wire being pushed into me.' lint a bl.-r.srd numbness succeeded soon to nil this, and I got up and walked at least twentv v.v •!-• before 1 fell again." A fourth man wall it in the forearm by a shrapnel bullet. "It was like a smack with a sledge bam mer I said, 'My (; o <|, Im hit!'"ami mv arm felt like a piece of lead. A penilhir desire to weep took me, but | W as able to stifle it."

_ It is possible to draw some sort of distinction between the sensations caused bv a rifle bullet, a shrapnel fragment, and a piece of a bomb. The German rifle bullet leaves the muzzle with a speed of at least 2500 yards per second. At under 100 yards range it is still wobbling slightly, and will probably bit a man broadside on, giving a most dangerous and painful wound. At any range above ICO yards it is travelling steadily, and nearly aiways passes straight through the hod v. unless it hit- a bone. The shrapnel is always likely to stay in the body, bv reason of it* irregular shape. A bomb' splinter is Jikely to stay inside for another reasonnamely, its comparative lack of velocity. Thus it ran be affirmed fairly generally. though it is by no means a hard and fast rule, that the two latter will produce wounds both n..ire dangerous and more painful man the simple rifle bullet. Lastly, 10 consider the effect of the wounded m.ni'i health and temperament npon him ;it ihe time he is hit. A man in a bad s-taie of health has little resiliency. ;,, they say In the R.A.M.f. He ■nill feel hi- wound more than the healthy man. am) take longer to recover. And us regard.- the question of temperament if hi - nen-rs have been shaken by a heavy bombardment, hi- idea of the dancer to himself will be magnified out of all proportion. In every action nerve-shaken I men run about insisting tliat their deith is at hand, when the chances are that I three weeks will see them back in the trenches. By contrast, men of strong nerves wall; quietly down to the dressing station, uncomplaining, with a cigarette in their mouths, rven though they may be mortally wounded and in deadly nain.