MANY LIVES SAVED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 November 1943, Page 3

MANY LIVES SAVED

AIR TRANSPORT OF WOUNDED FROM ITALY

SERVICE MOST EFFICIENTLY ORGANISED.

AFTER DEVELOPMENT IN NORTH AFRICA.

(British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.0 a.m.) RUGBY, October 31

Several thousand sick and wounded —a high proportion of the total casualties —have been evacuated by air from the Italian mainland since .the first landings. This continues work initiated in the. Western Desert, developed on the long road to Tunisia and brought to its present pitch of organised efficiency in Sicily. Casualties are picked up from various points in Italy and flown to Sicily, from where the majority are flown to North Africa. The service came into operation within a week of the first landing. At first most of the work was done, by air ambulances, but transports which have taken stores forward, and would otherwise return empty, are being used and have made possible the extensive scheme now in operation. No matter where the transports may land at forward aerodromes, all available casualties are waiting, ready to be despatched to the base. The gain in time by this method, states the Air Ministry n<?ws service, is almost incredible. In one case, casualties were removed in two hours, where land and sea transport would have taken at least three days. Many of the wounded undoubtedly owe their lives to removal from the line by air.