ON THE MARAMA.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 September 1916, Page 3

ON THE MARAMA.

WOUNDED FliOM THE SOMME, A THOUSAND AT A TIMli. AX OKDTiKLV.S KXPKEIE.VCK. Tlio strenuous character of the work aboard the' British hospital ships alter tile commencement of the Sonmie oll'cnsive may be gathered from the following extracts from letters by Corporal John Garland, son of 31.r. T. 11. Garland, Mount Eden, who has been on the stall' of the Alarama since she was originally commissioned for war purposes. ''We arrived at .Southampton a fortnight ago. There were nine of us hospital ships there. On Sunday at midday the Admiralty sent orders to the nine captains, telling them to be ready to sail at twelve hours' notice. A lot of our stall' had gone to London on special leave; the-e were wived for, hut did not set back in time, and the result was very strange. We sailed on Sunday at midnight, for Boulogne, minus the 0.C., adjutant, two doctors, two sister-, and oil its, making 'll in all. We have accommodation for iiSO patients, so you can imagine what we felt like when we found that he had to load up with nearly 10IX) men. All our jmtients were straight from the trenches, and they were mostly in a bad way. Everyone was wording like mad, and from the time we left Southampton till the time we got back we all worked 49 hours out of the 54 We finished unloading at 1 p.m. to-day, and sailed again at 3 for Havre. We expect to get in at 11 p.m., and load another 101KI. Of course some of the poor chaps have to sleep in deck chairs and all over the place. Even the adjutant has been feeding the men. This is what we really came for and although it is hard work we are all contented, and prefer it to having a soft time while others are giving up so much." Writing nine days later (July 14) Corporal Carhind says:—'This load makes our total number up to 7,.">!10 since we left New Zealand. Of course, there are no soft jobs going about this boat now. Sometimes we don't get any sleep for 48 hours. Of course, if this keeps up long we will all be knocked out; it's too much. I am so tired now that 1 can't sleep, and in twelve hours from now we will be hack in Havre, loading up again. All these men we are bringing from France are .straight out of the trenches, and, of course, are full of vermin, which soon transfer to us, and from the O.C. to even the firemen, all are full of these lice. I have liau my hair clipped quite short, of course, but they get into our clothes, and, my word! they bite some." QUICK WORK,

The writer naturally lias some interesting stories to tell of wounded men. "To show who quickly things happen," he says, "one man told me that ho left England on Saturday evening, .arrived at camp behind the trenches at 'Sunday midday, went into action on Monday at 8 a.m. was wounded the same day.at 11 p.m., was received on board our boat next day at 8 a.m., and landed at Southampton'at 0 a.m. today (Wednesday). That is the case of a fit man who arrived hack at his starting-place—minus both leg;—within sixty hours. Terrible, isn't it? In the last few hours we have seen some terrible sights, such as men who have been gassed. One chap, a sergeant, told me that he was in the midst of a group of men when a '.lack Johnson' exploded, and nil .his party ivere. killed. K.A.M.'; men buried all these, including the sergeant, who, on regaining consciousness, unbiiricd himself and was brought straight to us. lie said that for six hours lie honestly lielieved that lie was dead. Then there were two chums, who enlisted and left England together. Both were injured by the same shell. One is now deaf and dumb and the other is blind. This morning, when we were unloading, they went down the gangway together, and the dumb man had his arm round his chum, and although both were so terribly afflicted, we could see how happy they were in each other's care. You don't hear of conscientious objector.:." TOMMY AND- IT.iTZ. Speaking of one pa;titular ship-load. Corporal Garland says that live hundred out of the thousand were British Tommies and the remainder wounded tierman prisoners taken in the great advance. "Although they are our enemies," he continues, "one cannot help feeling sorry for them. The w?.y the Tommies treat then* is marvello-.i \ For instance, last night was very cold, and the Tommies gladly shared their rugs with Fritz Several of' them could talk English fairly well, and one of them, who before the war was a waiter in Kensington Gardens, told me that they were told that Germany had command of th» seas, and that the French Army was practically wiped out, etc. One of ov.r Tommies was wounded seriously and carried to safety by a German. Later, the German tfns wounded and captured. Imagine their surprise when they fou::d t'.iein/e'.ves in bed next to each other c.i boa:.l he.:."— Auckland Star.