WHEN TOMMY LEAVES HOSPITAL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 235, 15 December 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

WHEN TOMMY LEAVES HOSPITAL.

IJFE IN A CONVALESCENT CAMP. All good tilings must tome to an end some and sooner or later the scldier in hospital is pronounced by tl.e medic >1 officer fit to he discharged, and ho (the soldier; is informed that he is to go to some convalescent camp, ,where he will receive a. graduated course of physical exercise. Different Tommies view tiiis approaching transference with greatly varied feelings. Some are down-right sorry to leave the quiet and easy-going life of the hospital routine, and new acquaintances. to say nothing of the cheerful and kindly nurses. On the other hand, there are many who are so fed up with the general inactivity which they must perforce mdergo that they are really glad when they get off the blue suits and put on khaki again. However, glad or sorry, they must all go, and one morning they (usually :i batch of fifty if it is a large hospital) say good-bye all round, and followed by tlie chaff and good wishes of the fellows left behind, they march off to the station, or motor-bus, and are quickly whirled away to the convalescent camp. The camp consists of numerous wooden huts with, perhaps, ,thirty small beds in each. A huge stove in the centre of the hut gives a splendid warmth in cold weather. A small table and forms, also two or three chairs, complete the furniture. Special large huts are used for dining halls, and the cook-houses are worthy of high praise. The cooking itself is dene by femiale cooks; consequently it is good. Arrived at the camp, Tommy is quickly initiated into the rules in force. These are usually very simple, the soldiers being absolutely free from dinner-time till ten at night Mornings are occupied by light fatigues and a little physical drill.

FIT AND WELL. The newly-arrived soldier is shown round the camp by one of the older hands, and the library and writing rooms are pointed out to him; also the theatre, which most convalescent camps possess. If the soldier i» undergoing a course of massage, or needs dressings renewing, he is taken k the " Treatment Quarters," where ba is at once attended to by one of the medical staff, and instructed how often to come for a repetition of the treatment. Six weeks is the usual time allowed for convalescence, and if a man is not fit by then he is returned to his hospital. Of course, plenty of men get away under the six iweeks by telling the medical officer that they are quite fit and wish to be "marked' out." On leaving the camp, Tommy is given a pass for ten days' furlough, and Is handed the sum of £l. Another £1 is sent to his home address by the paymaster of his regiment, and Tommy piocoeds as best he can. The ten days slip by gloriously, but all too quickly, and one day our soldier entrains for his depot with a strip of gold braid on his sleeve. Almost the first thing that happens 'it the depot is a medical examination. This examination is a momentous one for the soldier returning from hospital, as it decides how quickly he can be sent back to the front again. However brave a man may be, it is fairly certain that he is in no hurry to repeat his experiences At the front. Men whose wounds have been very serious are put before a. Board, whicn decides whether they shall be discharged or put on home service. Tho lathers are put through a course of .physical drill, and then placed in drafts for France or elsewhere, and there we must leave them.