WAR VICTIMS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 November 1938, Page 9

WAR VICTIMS

SUFFERERS FROM BLINDNESS. ST DUNSTAN’S STILL NEEDS HELP. The number of blinded soldiers, sailors and. airmen under the care of St Dunstan’s is still pearly two thousand, and their wives and children bring the total number of beneficiaries up to over seven thousand. Our records —which cover the whole Empire—show that by March 31, 1938, there had been nearly two thousand seven hundred persons in the Empire who had been blinded -as a result of the War. The death rate was very heavy at first, but has slowed down until it is now practically normal. Ninety-five per cent were soldiers of the Home, Dominion and Colonial Forces; three per cent were men from the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines and Merchant Service; and two per cent were from the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. These are approximate figures, for the total includes six women who were nurses, V.A.D.’s or munition workers, a small number of male munition workers who were blinded by explosions, three men blinded in air-raids, and a small number of men who have been blinded in H.M. Forces in India and other parts of the Empire since the War. During the year thirty blinded soldiers died, but forty-one new cases were admitted. The new cases were all the result of Great War disabilities. Fourteen were the result of gas, the pernicious effect of which has been delayed for over nineteen years. There are now forty of these late gas cases in St Dunstan’s and others are known to be coming. Thirty-eight were the result of mustard gas, one of chlorine gas, and one of lachrymal gas. . St Dunstan’s door is ever open, but it was not expected that new cases would require help in such numbers at so late a date. Financial calculations have to be altered and more money is needed. The blinded masseurs, telephone operators and other commercial and business men have continued to make progress. More employment has been found for them. The home-workers and craftsmen are still being assisted in every way with their occupations. Machine competition renders selling difficult, but there is still a market for hand-made work where the craftsmanship and materials are of the highest quality. Supporters are asked to buy more St Dunstan’s goods,, by post direct, or at exhibitions or in retail shops where they are on show. The very full accounts and balance sheets, to which the usual auditors’ certificates are attached, at the end of this report, indicate little change from last year. Provided that subscriptions, donations and legacies continue as at present, St Dunstan’s will carry cut its pledge to ensure proper treatment and every reasonable care for every blinded soldier until his life’s end.

St Dunstan’se new Home at Brighton is nearing completion. It will be a model of its kind —the best perhaps <hat has ever been built for ex-ser-viceman or blind people. As the men get older their needs increase, and as the years pass, ihe principal supporters of St Dunstan’s, namely those who remember the War at first hand, diminish. Hence St Dunstan’s appeal is as strong as ever, and ihe Council hope the wonderful story of courage and achievement told in this report will retain the interest of present subscribers, and encourage new ones. If the sinews of war are forthcoming, the victory over blindness is assured. The report contains a series of 12 extremely good photographs by Sasha which dramatically illustrate how blinded soldiers use their hands to tell the 'ime, play cards, pour out a beer, garden, row, and undertake handicrafts, etc