A Doctors summer uniform of WWI
note the shorts, commonly referred to as "Bombay Bloomers" and Pith Helmet.
This original uniform from a NZMR members collection.
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A CHANCE TO RECOVER
The attack on the Galliploi Peninsular introduced The New Zealanders to a new horrific twentieth century war of heavy artillery bombardments and deadly machine gun fire. The carnage wrought on both sides of the battle lines had not been witnessed before. Men died in their thousands each day. Some were to say that "they were the lucky ones" as the injuries to tens of thousands of men in the allied lines were truly terrible. Compounding the problems for these wounded men was the inability to move them immediately out of the trenches to hospital ships anchoured off-shore. The open ground of ANZAC was a death trap for medics trying to aid men during the day, and the tortuous terrain down the steep ravines to the beachhead was dangerous at night - help was slow in coming. Men sometimes lay for days waiting evacuation, many bled to death, and infections and disease ravaged both the wounded and the able bodied. Thirst was also a continual pressure. Dressing Stations in the reserve areas swamped with dying men.
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If a soldier was lucky enough to reach the beachhead and then survive the over crowded conditions aboard a hospital ship, he was destined for one of the many hospitals established away from the war zone. Close by on the Greek Island of Lemnos was the first of the hospitals, also there were many established back in Egypt, others for the more serious cases were located in England and Malta.
The trials experienced by the wounded were great, the world was still a generation away from the "Magic Bullet" of penicillin, recovery times were extensive. But through all the pain, Englishman, Chaplain Major, the Reverend Albert Mackinnon observed in his book: "Malta, The nurse of the Mediterranean"
"...
But one soldier stands out from the others as the cheeriest man I ever met. He was a big, handsome New Zealander. named Fraser, and when he first came in he was
in a most critical condition. He had eighteen wounds in his body.
"Oh, I am getting on alt right,” was his first greeting to me.
From the start I noticed that his mind always dwelt on most favourable symptoms of his wounds, and I believe that this helped to save his life.
If his shoulder were healing he spoke about that, and said nothing about his knee, which was suppurating. I called him the cheeriest patient in Valletta Hospital.
When I told him about our tea room for the wounded he insisted on giving some money to drive up some of the other men in the ward who were strong enough to go though unable to walk, and from that time onward, while battling with pain, he was always anxious to talk about it, and plan for others enjoying its benefits. For months he lay there, emitting, like radium, rays of cheer that brightened the whole ward.
He was taken from his bed to the New Zealand hospital ship, and our last glimpse of him was a smile. That was one of Malta’s rainbows, which I shall never forget...
"
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A navy lighter crew winch aboard a wounded soldier onto a hospital ship anchoured off ANZAC Cove.
Veterans of battle recovering in Ward 4 of the
Cottonera Hospital - Malta 1915.
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Auckland Mounted Rifleman, Corporal Fredrick Dill took part in the fateful all out attack to take Chunuk Bair, starting on the 7th August. He records that during the attack:
"... out of 108 who went up the hill in our Squadron only 22 came back. The whole of our regiment is little over 100 strong now. Out of our 22 who came back only 14 were unwounded..."
After the battle Fredrick contacted intestinal Gastritis, and for days he cannot hold down any food. The doctor details him for hospital care and he departs Gallipoli for Malta. His following diary notes show that those that died enroute to Malta did not all get buried on the Island.
August 30 - We sailed from ANZAC early in the morning and when day broke we were sailing down the coast off Lemnos. We arrived at Murdos about 8 o’clock and anchored while the Captain went ashore for orders. The Captain got orders to proceed to England calling at Malta.
September 2 - We sighted Malta about 4 o’clock this afternoon. We steamed up to the entrance to the harbour and got orders to anchor in St. Paul’s Bay for the night.
September 3 - We hauled up anchor at about 7 o’clock this morning, proceeded out to sea, buried some bodies and then came in an anchored in the small harbour of Malta. The first thing we did was to buy some grapes from the bum boats alongside. My word they did taste good, we have hardly done anything but suck them all day.
September 4 - We were taken off the hospital ship at about 8-30 this morning and were brought by motor ambulance to the St. Johns Military Hospital. It is a new hospital just opened and has not got running properly yet. It is a jolly nice place overlooking the sea.
September 5 - It was quite a queer sensation getting into a bed between sheets last night. It was the first time that I have slept in a bed for 13 months since I left home in N.Z. I feel much the same today, very weak.
September 18 - My 22nd birthday today. I am spending it quietly in hospital.
September 21 - The doctor had a look at me today and put me down for the Active Service List so I suppose that I will be going with the next draught back to Gallipoli.
(Corporal Dill survived the war, serving also in Sinai and Palestine, returning to New Zealand with servere chest wounds received from enemy machine gun fire. At the start of world war two he had risen through the ranks in the territorial service to become a Lieutenant Colonel. He died at the great age of 95.) |
Punch - London
TOMMY (dictating letter to be sent to his wife): "The nurses here are a very plain lot--"
NURSE: "Oh, come! I say! That's not very polite to us.
"TOMMY: "Never mind. Nurse, put it down. It'll please her!"
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After Gallipoli the retreating forces to Egypt were first placed on the defence of the Seuz Canal then the second campaign to attack across the Sinai Desert. Again the medical support went into action with many hospitals stationed in Egypt - getting the wounded to hospitals from distant battlefields required many and varied transports.
Camel Cocolets carrying the wounded from desert battlefields to rail heads
Hospital Ferry Niagara loading wounded from a casualty clearing station
The Niagara Ferry flies the British white ensign on her stern, and although this is a black and white photograph it is a fair guess that the flags flying on her bow state:
"I am sailing today, and I have no contagious diseases onboard"
The International Code of Signals has been in continuous use since 1857, when it was published by the British Board of Trade as a means of maritime communications. |
Signal Flag "P"
The Blue Peter: "All aboard, vessel is about to sail." |
Signal Flag "Q"
"My vessel is healthy and I request free practique."
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THE NIAGARA ON THE NILE.
After being wounded on a distant battlefield in Turkish Palestine a soldier would have been transported by camel cacolet, sled, or mule drawn sandcart to the railhead, perhaps at El Arish. Then would come the demanding long train journey across the Sinai Desert into Egypt, but the journey was still not quite over - another long trip to a Cairo Hospital by a "Hospital Ferry" would then test any mans endurance.
The mortality figures for DOW (Died Of Wounds) and DOD (Died Of Disease) far out weighed those who were killed in actual combat - KIA (Killed In Action).
Another great photograph from Jack Baker's Collection brings to light a forgotten aspect of medical support in the Middle East.
One wonders why the ferry would be named "Niagara" when the "Victoria Falls" lay further up the Nile river itself - perhaps this is a sister ship to another ferry named indeed after those falls.
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RECENT WORLD NEWS BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF THE CURSE OF THE JORDAN VALLEY - "JERICHO BUTTONS"
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(on the 3rd July 08) "International Community Praises Rescue of 15 Hostages in Colombia."
As headlines blazed around the world on that week of the dramatic helicopter rescue of hostages grabbed from their guerilla captors deep in the jungles of Columbia, it was interesting to note that two of the American construction workers among the hostages were keen to be repatriated quickly. The men wished to return to the United States for treatment of Leishmaniasis Disease.
The mention of this disfiguring disease caused by Protozoan Parasites that come from infected female sand flies and passed on to humans, during blood feeds, brings to mind the outbreak of the infection in 1917 as troops advanced against the enemy in Turkish Palestine in WWI.
Obviously the more serious outbreaks of Malaria and influenza killed many men, but the horrible skin sores created by Leishmaniasis that ate into the flesh was of great concern - the parasite raised red raw flesh and resulting pockmarked sores that scared for life were a major cause of distress. Often the disease appeared inside the nose and mouth, a crippling condition. Some men died with complications when the disease, known by the troops as Jericho Buttons, transferred to liver or other organs. However many recovered as their body's immune system killed off the parasite - but even today there is no vaccine to control the parasite, and the disease is widespread in many tropical and sub-tropical countries across the globe. A worry too for climate change, as the increase in temperatures has meant the spread of the disease, which has recently been recorded in areas of Texas.
More recently US Forces are experiencing a new outbreak amongst their troops in Iraq. In the years 2003-2004 some 650 soldiers contacted the disease and many thousands of locals were also infected. The troops nick-naming the scourge "Baghdad Boils".
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"Jericho Buttons" disfigured many during an outbreak in the Jordan Valley in 1917.
Recent outbreaks in Iraq.
These healed scars of "Baghdad Boils" could be considered a mild case.
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ENGLISH GENTLEWOMEN OF HORNCHURCH |
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Dotted across the English countryside were convalescent camps to house the soldiers sent to England to recuperate from wounds and sickness inflicted during service on the front-line. Many New Zealand Mounted Riflemen were sent to "Hornchurch" in the southern part of the country to rest and recover after hospitalisation. That recovery could not have happened without the unselfish dedication of Doctors and Nurses and the special volunteers of "Canteen Ladies" that dedicated time and energy away from their own families to help "the cause".
This rare photograph, again from the Shepherd collection, shows a group of Canteen Ladies relaxing in the sun for a photograph - On closer inspection we can see a NZMR trooper trying his best to disrupt proceedings (top left hand corner) - this brief glimpse in time shows the relaxed relationship Colonial troops had with their benevolent and capable hosts. |
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