BOMBING THE RED CROSS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 82, 31 December 1917, Page 2

BOMBING THE RED CROSS

STORY OF A GERMAN AIR CRIME TOLD BY AMERICAN DOCTOR Dr. Harvey Gushing, in charge of the United States Army Ease Hospital No. 5, ono of the Harvard University units in France, in a recent letter to Dr. ]£. H. Bradford, dean of the Harvard Medical School, described the bombing of his hospital by a German aviator on September 9, when ono of the surgeons of the unit and several enlisted men were killed. Dr. Gushing wrote that live bombs were dropped on or near the hospital—situated some dis-' tance behind the lines—and tells of the efficient manner in which the unit took care of the wounded after tho attack. It was shortly after eleven p.m., and having had a rather strenuous two days, our people were just about turning in, most of the officers were in or about their tents, and tho wards for the most part had quieted down for the night. Our officers' quarters consist of a mess hut and some thirty-odd boll tents, with a latrine in £he rear, made of some asbestos boards; behind this a hodge, and then another row of tents, chiefly occupied by sergeants, in which two of our newly attached M.O.'s were temporarily quartered.

Lights Out. A warning had been received, possibly some fifteen minutes before, of his (the aviator's) approach; the light of tho camp and district were extinguished so that by those who were awake it was of course known that a raider was in the neighbourhood, and the whistle of the torpedo near by made those who were aware of its significance prostrate themselves. Unhappily, all did not do so, and in a few seconds tho next two bombs dropped within ten foot of each other, near tho hedge back of the officers' compound. Poor Fitzsimnions had been roused, had come to the door of his tent and called to one- of the sergeants-near by, as one of the bombs dropped practically at his feet. Tho poor fellow with his tent was literally blown to pieces, and fortunately cotdd never have known what had occurred-. M'Guiro, another Kansas City man, in tho tent next Fitzsimnions, was in his bunk, out of which he was practically blown, receiv--1 ing only three penetrating woundsshoulder, arm, and thigh—a fortunate escape, for his tent was riddled with holes—some one counted four hundred —and the condition of his possessions can ho imagined. These bombs were of the "daisy-cut-ting" variety, with low-flying fragments which scatter widely, some of the missiles from these first two bombs even reaching and penetrating our wooden mess hut, ono hundred and sixty feet away; and some wore found in the adjoining hospital tlie next day. Experience of tho Officers. Lieutenant Rae Whidden, who, though not a member of our original group, ha« been attached to us lor some time, was sitting in his tent, writing, and received a penetrating chest wound; and Lieutenant Smith similarly a fragment in tho knee joint. The latrine, which was protty thoroughly punctured, fortunately served as a sort of buffer for a larger part of the tents, but some of them wero exposed and thoroughly peppered. Fitz., fortunately, was away; Morton, who had had a lesson from his experience with us in a mora forward area, threw himself out of his tent to tho ground when he heard the 'whistle of the bomb, and escaped with a scratch on his wrist, though fragments went low enough, to penetrate his water pitcher standing on tho floor. Indeed, every ono of the officers had his own little experience, more or less tragic, or—now that some

time has elapsed—regarded as more or less amusing. Tlio third bomb struck at the end of one of tho live-marqueo tent wards, in what are called the "C-lines," and the next one directly on one of the marquees of this same ward, fatally wounding an orderly, one- of our original enlisted men, named Tugo, tho explosion being severe enough to knock down tho nurse in charge, who was standing beside bim. Fourteen British Tommies were re-wounded in this, and in tho adjoining ward. Tho fifth and last of the bombs made a. direct hit on the reception tent, and it is lucky we were not "taking in" at tho moment, for when a convoy of wounded arrives, this is tho most.congested spot in the hospital camp, with ambulances, stretcher-lbcarers, and medical officers in addition to the crowd of walking and lying wounded. Sergeant Edwards and three other men were on duty there. Edwards saw tho earlier explosions,, shouted a warning, leaped from the chair he was sitting in, and rushed to tho end of. the'tent. Our bugler, Woods, a regular, attached to us at Fort Trottcn, got up from the floor, thanked him for the scat he had vacated, sat down, and was' instantly killed; as was also Rubino, another regular. Two other privates in this group, Mason and M'Cloud, were badly wounded, and tho latter, who happened to be standing, has had ,to havo a double thigh amputation—in fact, three amputations—tho last a high one for a severe secondary infection.

On a Moonlight Night. All this occurred in a few seconds' time, and out of a clear moonlight sky; the kind of sky a, raider chooses for flying is perfectly safe, and an uncaniouilaged hospital must show _ up plainly on such a night, whether it is lighted or not. Then camo the .work, and then the unit showed what it was really made of. There were many serious and some' severe wounds, needing immediate attention, and it is bad enough for the staff to have a lot of urgent cases thrust upon them when they receiveas wo usually receive—sufficient warning of a convoy. The operations, moreover, had to bo carried out by the light of candles and lanterns, for there was no more current that night; and not a few of them were urgent ones for hemorrhage. Everyone of course took a hand, and that there was so n.'uch' to do was probably a blessing, for it certainly must have holped to crowd out all other thoughts. There were many instances of presence of mind, of self-sacrifice. It is hardly proper to ask about them, or to single them out. I may mention one or two examples that have come to mo. Miss Parmelee, who had such a close call, went right to work on the rewounded in her ward, and found when she tried to take a patient's pulse that her watch had been cut away from its strap. In the morning she reported to the operating robm, to have a small fragment removed from her eyelid; there were about a dozen holes through her jersey and wraps. Mason, one of the men who had heon in the reception tent, got to work immediately with the others, carrying wounded, and not until some time after was it noticed that he too, was wounded; he had indeed a penetrating wound of the skull. It is difficult, after such a sudden experience as this, for people to recall exactly what happened—whether the raider's engines were hoard or whether they were shut off and ho was gliding. Ono of our sergeants tells me he saw the machine distinctly, flying very low. In that case, ho had probably glided down very low over the camp and made his hits sure. Certainly he was not found by the searchlight's, for this is known to be difficult on a moonlight night, and no antiaircraft guns were fired. He may have felt that if he flow low enough over the- hospitals they would not dare fire at him. Ho threw down, in addition to the bombs he released, some tenpfennig hits, which were found the next day. Can you tell mo why? To pay for the damage he had done?