"PLEASURE TRIPS ON HOSPITAL SHIPS"

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 189, 30 April 1918, Page 6

"PLEASURE TRIPS ON HOSPITAL SHIPS"

A REPLY TO "SECOND DIVISION." 1 Sir,—Kindly allow we a ljttle spacc in : your valuable paper to reply Jo a letter in your issue of last Friday, i.e., "Fit Moil oil Hospital Ships," signed "Second Division." "Sceund Division" is either ignorant of his subject or lias absolutely no idea of the strenuous duties on board a hospital ship. Working all hours, from 5.30 a.m., on diseases and ailments, contagious or otherwise, and of all descriptions, extreme climatic conditions, from lSOdeg. in the shade to points Below freezing, high seas and 'heavy swells for perhaps a month continually, and sleeping in bunks even worse than some troopships. A large number of these men referred to by "Second Division" are Class B and volunteers at that, and had j i they waited for a forced call would bo j 'i classed from B to I'', and have already i i two to three—and even almost four— j I years' service to their credit. _ | These men are now skilled in this par- j jticular branch, and in that peculiar to , | hospital ships—tried and proved. I j I would like to ask parents of returning j ! sick and wounded sons what would be- ! ' come of them if their care and atten- | ! tion were left to men such as "Second j j Division" suggests, i.e., C 2 men of re- ! jects from Cl, untrained, of qucstier-able 1 energy, and no particular desiro for am- j j bulance work (which is essential to a • i medical orderly), nor anything connected •with the Army? I Lot mo inform "Second Division" that II find nothing is more humiliating to a = sick or wounded man, after doing his share in this war, on returning to have j : to accept the care and attention of a con- ■ scientious objector or a newlv-balloted ;man, and if such did conic to pass things ;on arrival hero—to my mind—would bo ; in a pitiable stale. ! ; At "present I presume there an two ] ■ crews for both hospital strips—one at 6ea, i i the other still filling the bill at our , ■ different hosiiitals—who have proved their I I worth and deserve credit for filling the ; I gaps long ago when their services were j I needed and at the old rate of pnv. i Now, "Second Division," T should like j to remind you—while probably you have j been sitting back in contentment and ! comfort these last nearly four years— I these men have been plying the angry : seas in these ships, which are nof im- ! muno from attack, seeing that eleven of ! the Allies' hospital shins have so far i been torpedoed or mined since the war began—ono very recently in the Bristol Channel. When "Second Division" malms such ■ a statement, i.e.. "that single fit men • are sorted out for such jobs, after wait--1 ins for the ballot, doing their best to i get out of it, and finally sent on a lioli- • day nn a hospital ship," T consider it • ' the meanest iuul most contemptible at- ■ | taelc possible in the circumstances. ! I At present "Second Division" can go ! into camp feeling that his wife and .family can set along fairly comfortably 1 on the present rate .of pav, and afler so ' long at ease instead of whining at being 1 fii",.il with the ballot—Rive it a go. He reminds us that men at the front, ' j after bei"g wounded, have to return to > ; fi, e trenches. T aive him credit for the ■ i truthfulness of that statement, and let i ! me remind him that if it were not for ? such as lie—still enjoying the comforts ' of home life—ninny of those Vnvo chaps t might have been returned to their homes long ago.—l am etc., i ° ° returned.

April 28. Sir,—As a man who lias seen a considerable amount of active service _ during the present war, and, further, having had I an onportmiity of following the work on ' hospital ships, 1 cannot allow "Second I Division's" letter, in your issue of tho i 26th, to pass without expressing an opniI ion on tho views of this correspondent. : The inaccuracies and distorted ideas ; which this man gives vent to in his letter certainly n-quirc correctm?, if only '■for ;the benefit of the general public, 1 who surely wish to learn tho true facts \ in regard to tho work on the hosoital ships. , Whether or not the military authon- | ties intend placing CI or partvmv unfit men on hospital ships I have "it heard, but if they do it is practically certain- ; that they will never stand up to the work. Every time a hospital shin reaches Zealand some t\f the stall, 1 wlio wore sent away perfectly fit, are 1 boarded out of the service. There is no doubt tha'; the woi'K is veir strenuous.; ; I have seen orderlies working for twelve | ' and fourteen hours on end down below decks, with hardiv time to snatch n meal ' : —a meal which I know they had not the j ' least appetite for. I would really like | [ to see "Second Division" at fie work. I ' wonder what he would say about a pleu- ' sure trip" when lie went off duly at 8 1 o'clock at night, feeling more tire<i than " he could express; so tired that he did ; not feel like anything but. rolling into } bed, and to awaken in the morning after ■ n few hourti of profuse perspiration in ' tho "Glory Hole." Certainly an ideal "pleasure trio"! „ „ , _ How is ,it that so many of the .staff apply for transfer to the_ field? The answer is an easy one. Work in a hospital ashore and on a hospital ship are different tl'ings altogether. Seasickness, of course, is only a minor item. An orderly cannot go off duty whemver he feels* off colour, for they ■do not carry surplus nieu aboard to fil} in the plaoes of indisposed orderlies. I have seen them working away, looking more like l > ghosts than men—lookinr much more ill : i ;han many of the patients, s: No "Second Division," you have got a - 1 wrong idea of the life. It requires al> 3 : solutelv fit and very willing men t& - i carry on tlie "fork, and not only that, but r! experienced ones, too. The very hardest J: blow to a ship's ward is to have new, :t: inexperienced men put into it; and I am b ! certain that a few weeks' camp training -1 does not constitute "experience." - i In conclusion, I would like to quote s• an incident which occurred not I very far from Christchurch. A ! young fellow enlisted, and on account of | poor physique was "turned down." He 3 : asked the medical officer if he cnuld 'not | ho sent away on a hospital ship. _ The i medical ofticor smiled, and said; "Young ! man, they require just as fit men for I the ships as they do for the trenches."— i I am, etc., , RETURNED SOLDIER. Christchurch, April 27.