CHAPTER VII

WOUNDED

The handling of wounded in the Dardanelles has been a difficult proposition, which the nature of the country has not tended to lessen. The injured men have to be taken off the shore by small boats and then transferred to hospital ships.

These ships are obliged to lie off some distance clear of rifle-bullets and shell-fire. Even then, several cases have occurred of men already wounded receiving further injury through stray shots reaching the ships.

A patient was sitting on his cot preparatory to turning in, when a bullet entered the open port and passing through two thicknesses of his pyjamas, buried itself in the deck. A nursing sister standing near at the time was relieved to see the man laughing and holding out his coat for her to examine. These occasional missiles were not fired intentionally at the hospital ships, but came over from trenches running parallel to the shore.

In most cases the ships lay out a mile or more. The first batch of wounded I saw came off after the landing at Suvla Bay. They arrived alongside us in a ship's barge towed by a picket-boat. They had been wounded during the night, and presented a sad spectacle, lying in the boat in every conceivable attitude with bandages through which the blood was soaking. Some of them were oblivious of everything, and wore a pathetically dazed look. Others not so badly injured seemed mildly interested in events around them, while the still lighter cases waved to us and appeared quite cheerful. The lightly wounded soldier is probably the happiest of all. He is out of the inferno of battle and is fairly certain of return to health and strength.

Those wounded among the first parties landed on an enemy's coast are, generally speaking, bound to undergo the greatest hardships. This specially applies to the Dardanelles. At Suvla Bay the suffering caused was added to by the shortage of water. The shore to which the wounded were brought was entirely devoid of shade, and the blazing sand was intensified by the heat of the sun. Operations on serious cases were performed with the greatest difficulty, and the shallow water close inshore made it impossible for the steam-cutters to bring their tows of boats very near. The tows had, therefore, to be rowed to the beach by three or four sailors; the wounded were placed in them and rowed off again to the cutters.

An undertaking of this kind takes some considerable time when large numbers of sufferers are continually arriving. Consequently the dressing stations rapidly became congested, and it was some days before matters could be reduced to smooth working.

As soon as sufficient material had arrived, pontoon piers were built to allow the steam cutters to come right alongside.

The drinking-water difficulty was remedied to a large extent a day or two after the landing. War vessels in the harbour using their distilling plants were able to cope with the demand. Lighters, boats with canvas tanks, and in fact anything that would hold water were requisitioned.

These were towed as close inshore as the depth would allow, and connected with the beach by pipes. Each lighter carried a portable fire-engine for pumping purposes. This supply greatly alleviated the sufferings of the wounded. A severely injured man may be deadened to a sense of bodily pain, but thirst, which is scarcely ever absent, is the hardest to bear.

The amount of sickness among the troops in the Dardanelles far exceeds in proportion that of any other theatre of war. The reasons are not far to seek: want of proper rest, lack of really good water, and, worst of all, innumerable flies. This latter pest is the cause of much sickness, and is a most difficult problem to deal with. One must also take into account the intermittent shell-fire on the bases. This, while it tries the strongest nerves, at the same time tends, through custom, to make men regardless of danger.

A large number of hospital ships are naturally required to carry the sick and wounded. As far as can possibly be arranged, one of them is always lying off each base, so that immediately a ship is filled and proceeds to her destination her place is taken by another.

The carrying capacity of each vessel varies, though the smaller ones can accommodate even between two and three hundred; the mighty _Aquitania_, however, takes as many as four thousand.

Most of the light cases are conveyed to the islands of Mudros and Lemnos, while the serious ones are taken to England.

The most touching sights are the small cemeteries dotted about near the shore. On each grave is a rough wooden cross, erected by loving comrades, and bearing the name and regiment of the dead hero. There seemed to me to be something infinitely sad at the thought of these men, who had given their all, sleeping a last sleep so far from the country they loved.

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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

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