NEW ZEALAND ARMY AT HOME

Taranaki Daily News, 28 December 1918, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND ARMY AT HOME

] -t, THE MOTOR TRANSPORT _ |; tUR OWN CAR? ' * (By H. T. B. Drew, Second-Lieutenant.) It is not necessary for New Zealand, to run an extensive motor transport system either in Britain or in d ranee. Most of this work is done for her army by the Imperial Transport, Corps. But she has her own Hud Cross ambulance system in jiiigland, and supplies also a certain number of men for motor transport in France. The headquarters of the New Zealand Transport are at Oatlands Park (Walton-on-Thamei).

Alt motor transport "details" arriving from New Zealand report here. The men are classified according to their capabilities and allotted to certain work —as mechanics, drivers, base details, or for office work. As a matter of fact, very few of them como with reinforcements; the majority are "B" class, who have seen service.

1 At the depot there are ten large ambulance cars, the majority of which have been sent as gifts from various New Zealand tows. "Gifts from -> appears on their sides; and we can. picture the "ambulance day" in that town, with the girl 3 at the corners of the streets selling button-holes or flags to raise the money. There are several other cars at the other hospitals and camps, but Oatlands is the main depot of supply for them. Here, also, repairing is done for Headquarters and for Hornchurch. Records are kept in a very handy and capable way, by means of postings on a board in the depot headquarters office, . of every car and every man in Britain ' and France, showing where each is and to j what duty allotted.

Similarly, every detail is kept, of each car and driver at his particular place. The ten cars at Oatlands have ten lady drivers—twelve, to be correct—English' ladies who are paid for their services. By a card and diagram system it is possible for those in the office to know where every car is, by whose authority it went out, the driver's name, what work it is doing, the time the car left, the time it came back, the length and time of the run, cars in repair or being cleaned Certain cars and drivers are told off each day and each night for convoy duties meeting trains for wounded and sick, and carrying night nurses to their homes in the early mornings Further, the petrol-consumption of each car on each run is recorded in a book, and every car is known for its capacity in this respect. These are valuable checks on the condition of the cars and the use to which the drivers put them. In England at present such a check is necessary, where the supply of petrol is limited, and in a 'branch of the service which would rapidly be extremely costly if no watchful eye were kept upon it. Workshops in connection with the service do all repairs. The men working therein are all New Zealanders. The outfit is most complete, and includes h switch for recharging batteries most ingeniously fitted out of odd bits of ma-

terial. Uig stocks are'kept of oil, petrol, trad tires, tut every gallon of petrol used is accounted for, and stocks made •up each morning and recorded in tire office. r The men ■working here lav& good quarters. The non-commissioßed officers.■have their own mesa, and one cook usually looks after thoJot. BROQKENHURJST AUXILIARY HOSPITAL " : SHELL-SHOCK WARDS. Balmer Lawn, the auxiliary hospital to the main Broekemiurst Hospital, set apart for the nose, eye, gas, and snell cases, is about a mile from Broekenkurst. The building is a spacious fourstoried mansion (once a hotel) standing alone like many fine tourist hotels of Great Britain and Europe. It has fine grounds, now all cultivated and producing vegetables and flowers;, with greenhouses that are a blaze of color." It is peaceful and very still about here, and in the evenings, with the sinking to rest of the summer's sun over the edge of the forest, a holy calm seems to settle upon this woodland scene. No better place could be selected for shell-shock cases, which require under the new treatment abso'luto detachment from any, noise or bustle.

Here the t\yo-lmndred-odd patients have quite as good a time as those at the main Brokenhurat institution. The hose, eye, ard gas cases have special treatment; but one's greatest sympathy goes out to those terrible wrecks 'that shell-ahock ha 3 wrought. You See them in the early stages, lying mute and 1 staring and helpless, unable some tunes to recognise their best friend; starting up, awful, at the slightest noWe—every sound is a gun. Then absolute quietand test and nourishing food gradually do their work, and recovery slowly comes". But afterwards, for long periods, men will break out pitiably into'palsied shivering at any undue excitement. Yet even this goes in time. We hive a most capable" physician here, who lias made these cases his spesuccessful; and the Matron and her staff are specially selected. These bed cases, as at Brokenhurst, have their little piles of fancy work handyall except the worst of the shell-shock cases. Billiard-tables and all the usual attractions for the men are abailable in huts erected outside the main binding.

OFFICERS' HOSPITAL. Another spacious hotel of much the same type is Forest Park, the officers' hospital, with grounds and gardens laid out on, sfiientilic lines, under the Principal Medical Officer, Major Hogg, and producing almost enough vegetables for the hospital, and certainly enough flowers. Ureenhouses, conservatories, and cucumber-frames are amongst the stock ia trade, yet when we ,took this place over it was practically; a wilderness. Tomatoes.and cucumbers are grown with the greatest success. Here on the grounds are croquet and tennis lawns, miniature golf-links, and Badminton nets; and inside are billiardtables, so that the patients not disabled are always kept going at something. The people about the district are also very kind to our officers, and do their best in offers of entertainment- The spacious building itself is very suitable, and further ward accommodation is provided outside. "You can't keep officers tidy!" was the lament of the P.M.0.; but there were no distressing evidences of this about the place. Certainly everything looked extremely comfortable—warm files, cosy arm-chairs, rugs in plenty, and nice thick carpets. X-ray apparatus and operating-theatre are on the latest pattern.

At this hospital are also taken officers from the aerodrome adjacent, and any casualties also from the Imperial bomb-ing-seiiool at Lyndhurst When convalescent, New Zealand officers are sent to Avon Tyrrell, a place that lives in the memory, where, basking in the sun, roaming through the forest, playing golf or tennis, entertained by charming ladies or in shooting parties in the forost, the patient's return to perfect health is all too rapid. Avon Tyrrell is the country home of Lord and Lady Manners, «nd these kindly people and others care very <l?votedlv ,and entertain very thoroughly our officers who are fortunate enough to be sent, there,-; :

iPH.EE GIFTS. A line or two to enable an. idea to be obtained of the good work the gift section of the Bed Cross is doing at Brokenhurst, though their main activities will be more fully dealt with later The Society has a depot at the hospital, through which goods, drawn by the Quartermaster from the central depot at Southampton, are kept. These are indented for according to ft list landed in by the Matron, and then the sisters draw oil this store each week as the men ask for the stuff

The camp store or depot itself is in the care of voluntary helpers —Mrs Wilson, of the New Zealand War Contingent As'sociation, London; Mrs Hargest and Mrs Singer (Gisbome), and Mrs Bowerbank (Wellington) All goods here are issued free to the men over and above their ordnance issues, and are not expected to be accounted forEvery man on leaving the hospital has certain articles given to hiin, such as a woollen shirt or understiirt, underpants, and socks. Then there are all conceivable hospital comforts—slippers, dressing-gowns, pillows galore, mittens, mufflers —ail sent from New Zealand or purchased here with the money raised there.

But what I specially Sesire in this, brief reference to draw attention to are the following telling figures of tilings that are Issued free at the hospital: the figures are for last Harch, and are a fair monthly verage, viz.: Cigarettes, 160,000; tobacco, 750 tins; razoi'3, 193; soap, 2,228 cakes; shaving-soap, 442 pieces; matches, 4,827 uoxcs; sweets (almost unprocurable now in Britain), 330 libs; pipes, 279; envelopes, 21,000. These things are bought in the cheapest market, Aijct it must be remembered that as much stuff is also issued at our other hospitals arid convalescent camps The depot and system at this hospital was started by Padre Macdonald, whose great appeal in 'New Zealand for the hospitals*™ Egypt will be well remembered. This greatly honored Padre is now at Hornchurch. ' ;

Of the other small auxiliary bliildings there is little to write except that they are picturesquely situated and the patients cheery and well looked after.