The Note-Book of an Attaché: Seven Months in the War ZoneWood, Eric Fisher
History
The Note-Book of an Attaché: Seven Months in the War Zone
Wood, Eric Fisher
World War, 1914-1918 -- France -- Paris; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
The trains are usually made up of from 30 to 50 vans, and each train
carries from 500 to 800 wounded. No particular effort seems to be made
to isolate gangrene cases from the others, and the wounded invariably
remain in the uniforms in which they fought until they reach the home
hospital in the south of France. Their dressings, until they reach
these home hospitals, are superficial ones. I have seen numerous cases
with grave wounds, such as shattered thighs, which have remained in
this condition for four and five weeks before finally being undressed
and washed at the home hospital.
The whole system of handling the wounded seems to be theoretically
well conceived. In practice among the French it worked thus poorly
during the early months of the war. The wounded suffered from lack of
food, water, attention, and bathing, and the resulting number of
mortalities and amputations was exceedingly high. The effect on the
morale of those who recovered is very serious, and is in singular
contrast to the eagerness to return to the front often shown by
British and German convalescents. The care given to the wounded by
these two nations is very excellent indeed.
The same stretcher is used throughout the French army, and its
universal use is compulsory on all organizations, whether volunteer or
regular. It is not unusual for a grave case to be picked up on the
battlefield and placed upon a stretcher and to travel on it all the
way to the south of France without once being removed. The company
stretcher-bearers turn him over to the dressing station with the
stretcher upon which they have borne him. Since these stretchers are
identical in size and construction they fit all ambulances and all
railway equipments. They may be said to be current, like money, and
whenever one organization turns over a grave case to the succeeding
organization, the stretcher goes with the case, and an empty one is
received in return. The number at any one point is thus maintained at
a constant figure, and there is a general tendency for battered and
infected stretchers to gravitate toward the south of France, and for
new stretchers to gravitate toward the front.
* * * * *
There has been much typhoid in the armies in France, and it is on the
increase. The wounded men develop it more often than any other class.
Inoculation against typhoid is theoretically compulsory in the French
army. I have no personal knowledge as to the thoroughness or
effectiveness of inoculation in practice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account