WASTAGE OF MEN

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2812, 1 July 1916, Page 10

WASTAGE OF MEN

_ Sir,—Through your, columns I would desire to reply to a letter written by 'J.li.D." on a subject about which ha knows very little, viz., "Wastage of Men." To commence with, no Britisher should be ashamed of his own name, as the writer seems to lie. Is ho afraid the "medicals" will "thrash" him, instead of the .Germans, if he discloses who he is? Is "J.K.D." aware that the staff of over 101) medical orderlies, who await orders to proceed to the front, are mostly lads under 20 years of age, and men who have been rejected. by medical officers as . unfit for active' service? I would stronglj- urge him to make inquiries before he sinks further into the mire. I know a young lad in the Medical Corps at Eeatherston—m fact, he has ljeen there for over, six months—nid from what I gather from him he nor any of the other orderlies have "snug billets." .Would ".Mi.]).'" care about changing places for a few weeks? Night duty alone from C p.m. to. G a.m. would make him have a very different view of things. He would only have'about 100 patients to tend and care for during those hours. An orderly in that jane action alone is doing far more thau "J.li.D.,'" v.ho sits at homo around a cosy fire and condemns thosa who, although unfit, are doing a little to case "Britain's strain and stress." Let me also invite "J.U.D." to t-.ike a post on a hospital ship for a few months—lß t<j 20 hours per day -tending dying an'i wounded men who have "done their bit" would, I feel sure, tend to awaken him up a bit. Weak men are useless in suck a position. Be a sport, "J.li.D.and , enlist right away, and you will then sco if the Government provides an adeqnato allowance for your wife and small family.—l am, etc., V. LOVKIUDGE.