Brewster 'A Glimpse of War through a Private's Eyes', a retrospective account of experiences in World War I, 1915-1917 / John James Brewster - Page 304
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[Page 304]
was impossible for the arm to be raised above the shoulder, and immediately there was a "general guffaw", with ironical ejaculations Oh! he is fit for France? A class alright? No! Z Class? etc.
The Doctor although very wild said nothing but marked the Sentry's paper. "For massage Hospital"! The NCO in charge kept calling for "Order" to prevent the men laughing "right out".
After 10 or 14 days the Sentrys arm was carefully examined by a young Doctor who gave "special" instructions to have the arm massaged by a special man according to his directions & an improvement became perceptible almost daily & after ten days the arm could be moved almost straight up overhead but not behind his back.
Just at this time the Doctor who had originally examined the Sentrys arm had been promoted to Senior Medical Officer of the Camp, so the Sentry prophesied that after the next examination he would certainly have "one foot in France" which only proved too true, this examination put him into Z Class the fact that the sentry could not move the arm behind his back was quite immaterial, he could hold up a rifle & that was all that was necessary, although one of the examiners a Medical Captain who had a look at the arm (final inspection) said it was a d[dash] shame to send a man to France with an arm like that but he, a Captain in Camp, could not interfere with the decision of a Military Medical Major.
The Masseur in charge of the case sent a message that in another 10 days he would have the arm back to normal, & this Captain would have granted him the time, but in the Army it is seniority and not merit that counts.
This was exemplified in this and also in a similar case of a man (P[dash]h of Melbourne) of the 19th or 20th Battn who was with the sentry in the same Massage Hospital. He complained that although the wound had healed the arm was almost useless. However to France he had to go but was back again in England in about a month, for in carrying some "stuff" to the line he slipped on the