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 306
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[Page 306]
duck boards & fell on his arm, the pain being so great he was sent to the Hospital & when examined in England the Doctor there found that a piece of shrapnel had been embedded in one of the bones of the forearm but having been there so long, when removed it left a space, & the bone in such a condition that to make it strong it will probably need a silver plate to connect the two parts. This man came back to Australia on the same boat as the Sentry & has the piece of metal (taken out of the arm) for any one's inspection.
Had this metal been taken out in the first place this mans arm would have healed up & became as strong as ever, but now the arm will never be of much use. He is by profession an Engineer & was in charge of an engine at a mine in a country town in Victoria. Now he does not know what he will do!
Again the Sentry was in trouble. In the process of being "equipped for France" a man has to go to a clerk, & first sign for all his equipment, he is then given a "slip" to obtain the "goods" from the store. In serving this out, the sentry was given two undershirts of "gauze" which having been washed had shrunk to a small boys size, to use them was impossible. Upon protesting the Sentry was told, That was all he could have! & was bluntly refused others, although he could personally see great bundles of singlets new & untouched. Scornfully refusing to accept those offered & marking plainly across his slip that they had not been received he reported to his O/C.
Although it took two whole days to obtain redress & during these two days the Sentry was "thoughtfully" relieved from all parades owing to having to interview so many, he had the satisfaction of hearing the officer in charge of the QM store give the officious offending Corporal a curtain lecture that pretty well scared the life out of him, being fearful of losing his "cushy" job, & which certainly removed his bumptiousness for a time at least. When applying for boots the Sentry received all the attention he wanted.
It would have been idiotic to have served such material to withstand the severity of the winter in France even if the singlets