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[page 35]
67
(8).
The conveyance of the wounded from the battle field to Hospital in England is a record of efficiency and tenderness from beginning to end. In my case after being carried in from No Man's Land by a stretcher bearer who came out in broad day light and under fire to do it, I was carried on a stretcher about two miles down the saps to the Battalion Aid Port where my wounds were dressed by the Regimental Medical Officer Capt. C.N. Smith, late of Manly. His Aid Port had come in for a good share of the shelling the night before but fortunately had not suffered a direct hit. Having had my arms free during the night I had been able to apply the first field Dressing (which which every soldier is supplied) myself and thus keep the wounds clean and help to stop the bleeding. This undoubtedly is a great help and lessens the work of the Medical Officers. From the Aid Port, still on a stretcher we went to Contalinaison where a Dressing Station had been installed in the cellar of what had once been a chateau but is now a heap of rubbish. Here a staff of Doctors were busily engaged passing patients through. Five minutes generally sufficed and after being innoculated with anti-tetanus serum away they went by Motor Ambulance to Albert, about five miles back. At Albert the same thing occurred only on this occasion a proper hospital was available. In most cases the Medical Officers just take off your bandages, say "Oh Yes", put fresh ones on and as you are carried out, they add "Hope you have a good time in Blighty". They have a cheery word for everyone which, when xxx one considers that they have been working day and night for goodness knows how long putting through hundreds of patients each day, is very commendable. At Albert I had a meal and then went twelve miles in a motor ambulance to Corbie on the Somme above Amiens. At the clearing station at Corbie the patients are sorted out and those fit