BACK PROM THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2889, 29 September 1916, Page 6

BACK PROM THE WAR

THE WILLOCHRA'S CONTINGENT ARRIVAL AT DUNEDIN By, Telegraph—Press Association. Duneo'in, September 2S. TfiS outstatiding feature of the arrival of the troopship Willochra, which has arrived at Port Cbalmers with wounded and invalided soldiers, is the large proportion of permanently unfit men on board. A good many spent, a. long time in British ! hospitals recovering from bad wounds received a year ago at Gallipoli. About twenty aro permanently maimed. Most of these cases have artificial limbs of.tho very latest type,, and appreciate tho fact that the authorities procured for them 'the best possible appliances. There is only ono cot case, Spr. A. C. Steelo (Auckland), pulmonia. There are two D.C.M.'s on boardCorporal Norman Clarke, of Lyttolton, and Private L. Crawford AVatson (Waika'to). Tho former is a well-known engineer in the.Now' Zealand marine scrvico. .

The;men are under tlie charge of Lieutenant-Colonel G. F. Hutton, who came to Now Zealand in 1912 as aide-de-camp to Lord Liverpool, and left in charge of the 10th Nelson Squadron of the Canterbury Mounted Eifles. lie gained distinction at Gallipoli, receiving tho D.5.0., and was twice wounded. Major C. E. Andrews, N.Z.S.C., second in command, has seen service at Gallipoli, being at tliei landing on the western front. Ho was second in command of the Ist Otago Infantry Battalion.

\ Those who hare been at both fronts state that whereas the conditions of food and billeting are really luxurious in France as! compared with Gallipoli, there is absolutely no comparison between the German bombardment and the Turkish. It was easier to find shelter in Gallipoli, even though tho area was restricted. In Franco tho country is like a billiard-table, and lifo tn the trenches is indescribable.

The Willochra reached the Heads at I o'clock this morning, but owing to fog did not berth at Port Chalmers till 7, when every effort was made to expedite the military and medical work, 60 as to allow the Northern men to leave at midday.. CIVIC "WELCOME THIS MORNING. Tue North Island returned soldiers who arrived at Port Chalmers by tho Willochra yesterday, will reach "Wellington to-day. The Mayor '(Mr. J. P. Luke) will endeavour to meet the tnen atthe. wharf, and at 11 a.m. will tender them , a civic welcome in tho Town Hall. Speeches _ appropriate to the occasion will be delivered, and the ladies acting/with: Mrs. Luke will proviso morning tea. A CALLANT NURSE. TRIALS OF THE SERBIAN CAMPAIGN. By Telegraph—Press Association. , . ' ■ . Diinedln, September 28. It is .understood that nearly 50 men who returned -by the "Willochra after spending some; time in English hospitals, received their discharges t-oday, being deemed physically unfit for further military' service. .Quartermaster-Sergt. Langley, of Papatootos, wa-s-buried under a building m. France as a result of a high explosive shell, and tho nerve of ono of his eyes has been, completely destroyed. The sight of the other eye is impaired, and. he is suffering severely from shell shock.

Pte. Potter, of Auckland, has lost > one leg, just below the knee. v Corpl. M'Donald has lost an ■ eve, and Pte. Eraser an oye. Trooper Middleton has lost an arm, and Pte. Holloway his right arnii . Sister Ethel . Lowis, ono of the in- . valids, who nursed. amongst the Maoris at Otaki before the war, also returned. She arrived in England on . September 1, 1914, and .four days later was in Belgium with,a field-hospital, organised by Colonel Hartnoll Beavis. She spent nine weeks in an Antwerp hospital, whioh was not evaeuatcd till tho enemy was almost upon it. Returning to England, the commander reorganised the. hospital for duty in i Serbia, .and Sister Lewis again joined the:-organisation, which was attached to the Serbian Second Army -on tho Bulgarian frontier. Sister Lewis did duty actually in tho trenches, and received a slight shrapnel wound in tho shoulder.- She rescued a Serbian offi- > cor, of high . command, and for, this King Peter, personally conferred on her the Third Order,of.his kingdom. When tho retreat began, tho plight of- the army aiul the British field hospital was' Nish fell two days after Sister Lowis and a comrade had left with 400 patients. Early in the retreat the tyres of the motor transport wore out, and for a time the vehicles made slow progress on tyres packed: with straw, but very soon the cars had to be abandoned. The nurses, however, pushed forward on foot,'through tho mountain passes of Albania, often with snow up to the knees, ■with Tations reduced to one slice of broad per day, and no shelter at night otcopt what they could, find. They-, frequently slept in pigstyes. ' Patients died daily and not one survived the retreat. Ono died on, Sister Lewis's back after she had carried him two miles. On one occasion Sister Lewis ate j, piece of ■bacon-rind picked up in tho street of a deserted village. When the hospital staff reached , safety their strength was exhausted, and they had not a warm garment among them. Their blankets had been thrown away long before. Sister Lewis was-frostbitten oil' one knee as a result of exposure. She.went.into harness again at Walton-on-Tliames, where she unfortunately broke her arm, causing some amazement amongst the staff by appearing for duty in that condition.