The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1918-04-07


is almost entirely prohibited. Often the
only way of passing from one deck to an
other is through a manhole down a per-
pendicular ladder. No man with a brok
en- leg or shattered shoulder could do
it, nor could he be hauled through by
stretcher bearers without grave danger.
So special stretcher was devised. made
of canvas and cane that would strap
round the patient in such away that
he could not move hand or foot He
was packed up in fact, just like al
mummy. At the head and foot of the
stretcher there are metal rings through
which ropes can be passed and thus the
wounded man can be lowered or hoisted
or hauled about without the least Jar
and can be taken to the dressing station
far sooner than he could II he had to
wait until the ordinary kind of stretcher
could be used.
OPER ATING IN ACTION
The work of the naval doctors during
an action and Immediately afterwards
is stupendous There are. generally
speaking, only two doctors in each ship,
and on them falls the full burden OF
dealing with every casualty, of taclSling
CHASTITY amputations of setting broken
| limbs. of cleaning gaping wounds, OF
covering the appalling burns that are
caused by the flash of explosions. In
/ the early days of the war these burns
were so frequent and so terrible that spe-
cial protective clothing was devised and
antigas masks are also worn by the men
in action now as a protection against
| fumes.
| In the various admirals dispatches on
naval engagements we get a glimpse of
| the work of the doctors. One of the most
| remarkable feats of. endurance was that
of Surgeon P. B. Kelly. He was in the
| transport River Clyde that was run
ashore at Gallipoli to land troops and
was caught by the fire of the Turkish
guns and constantly raked by salVos.
Mr. Kelly was wounded himself in the
foot at the start of the lighting, but there
We're so many men in sore need or at
tention and it was so difficult for any
help to get to the ship in her exposed
position that he bandaged himself up
and went on with his work For. As
hours he was on board he dealt with
$50 wounded men. He was obliged to be
on his legs the whole time, for surgeon
cannot operate sitting down. lie had at
first to hobble frequently to some man
who was too badly hurt to be moved,
but towards the end of the time Mr..
Keleys foot was so painful that he was
quite unable to move away from the
operating table. 1t was an instance OIL
self-sacrifice that seems to many to have
4aesery ed the n = C.aratheF than the ID -,
b o., Which was all that was awarded TO
Ehim.
Two other doctors a"stuck it, for hours
on and at the battle of Jutland. Fleet
/ Surgeon Penfold was in the fore meol-
cal distributing station-one of the tenn
i porary hospitals that | have described
/ above-when shell burst just outside,
4 killing and wounding many Mr.. ZEN
fold was knocked down by the concus-
| sion and bruised and shaken, but he
i was quickly on his legs again, helped
! to remove the wounded and get the place
/ shipshape, and for 40 hours without rest
he continued to tend the wounded with
/ unremitting skill and devotion. HIS
/ action was of double value. 1t kept the
/ hospital work going without break, be-
/ cause his example inspired all the men
who were detailed to help him by acting
i as stretcher bearers and as sick berth
/ attendants, keeping him supplied with
/ instruments, sponges, and other neces-
i sary articles, and keeping the stream OF
4 patients to and from the operating table
constantly moving.
i In another ship a volunteer doctor, Mr..
w. J. A. Quine, found himself suddenly
saddled with the whole responsibility for
4 the medical department, as the regular
/ staff surgeon was severely wounded. He,
too, was at work for 40 hours, giving 'as-
/ siduous care and attention to the
wounded"
The extent to which ships doctors are
shown at Jutland. The two cases cited
above were not the only ones. Staff
Surgeon Bickford was severely wounded
by shell splinter. but persisted in at
i tending to the wounded, and it was only
direct order from the commodore OF
the squadron that persuaded him to give
up his work and allow himself to be
treated as patient. In another ship
the surgeon was killed by a shell that
I struck the ship, and one of the sub-lieu-
tenants, Mr.. Eric Vernon Lees, turned
himself into temporary doctor. The
official report says that he rendered In
valuable service in attending the wound
ed for five hours"
TRIBUTE TO DOCTORS
Admiral Beatty paid high tribute te
the doctors in his Jutland dispatch lex
ceptional skill was displayed by the
medical officers of the fSset,'' he said
"They performed operations and tended
the wounded under conditions of extreme
difficulty. In some cases their staff was
seriously depleted by casualties and the
inevitable lack of such essentials as
light, hot water, etc. in ships damaged
by shell fire, tried their skill, resource
and physical endurance to the utmost
One of the worst experiences of ans
naval doctor in the war so far is prota'
bly, that of Fleet Surgeon A. ]. Hewitt
R. N, in the little old cruiser Pegasus
when she was bOmbarded in the hdrbo
at Zanszibar by the Koenigsberg. She
was unarmored, and entirely at thu
mercy of her antagonist as she was ly1ns
at anchor cleaning her boilers and unable
to move Apart from % men killed olt
right, there were n officers and mel
wounded IA of them so badly that the,
died later. Mr.. Hewitt was the onl,
doctor on board and his assistant
+ mainly consisted of cooks and stoker
and seamen. The Konigsberg's she'll
battered the Pegasus to pieces, and tn
+ bursting of the shells caused blast o
air that had a Supplying effect. Will
the fumes of the high explosive caused
dizziness. Amid the tornado of nois
Mr.. Hewett went about his work and il
his public account of the fight the onn
comment he makes on his own expsr
fences is this:
II personally had been breathing
more deeply than normal in assisting
I a wounded man up ladder from the
after torpedo flat where these fume.
Were particularly dense. and expert
enced a feeling of nausea and giddi
ness. For several days afterwards or
deep breathing one seemed to exhal,
the fumes
| This danger Of fumes also threat.
| ened the work of rescue when tho
British battle cruiser Inflexible was
mined off the Dardanelles. Surgeon III
NJ Langford and Chief Sick Rertl
Steward Hamlin both suffered. The,
had to bring up wounded men from
the fore distributing station in the
dark Fumes permeated the place
rendering five men unconscious. and