Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

9 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

Welsh Hospital's Retell Home,j

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

Welsh Hospital's Retell Home, j to It was a privilege and an inspiration to have been one of that little crowd-of anxious people who watched the great Union liner Saxon crossing the skyline on the Solent in the grey (lawn of yesterday morning from the (i I, ,I of Southamp'on harbour. Knowing j that among other brave men Oil board tile hig were the medical men of the Welsh Hospital men who had added lustre to their to their professional attainments by risking their own lives in a prodigal devotion to the lives of others-—it was but natural that to those (if their own kith and kin the scene should have possessed exceptional interest, Tales of heroism displayed by men in ¡h., fighting line seldom fail to become public property, but the chapters that are left un- written' are those which should have as the5r theme the patient, enduring, self-sacrifice of j those skilled men and women who are charged with the lives of the men fallen in the hght. It will he remembered that in April last. when the war in South Africa woie a differ- cat and sadder complexion than it does u- elfY, the "Welsh Hospital was formed for service in the stricken field. As members of j the medical and surgical staff, Wales sent out five of her ablest and most promising sons in the profession, these being Professoi Jones (Manchester), Dr Lyn Thomas. Pr. Mills-Roberts, Dr Laming Evans, and Dr Herbert Davies. At the request of the Welsh Hospital Committee Professor Hughes went out to join his countrymen in July. A month before the actual establishment of the hospital Dr llyn Thomas relinquished his large and important practice in Cardiff going to the front in March, for the purpose of gaining an insight into the methods of con- ducting field hospitals. After six months of unremitting toil in attending to fiirli. and wounded patients the Welsh practitioners, in accordance with the arrangement originally made, disbanded, asd on the 3rd (f this month they sailed from Cape Town for Eng- land But not all five of them. Professor Tom Jones, the brilliant chief of the staff. and Dr Herbert Davies. one of the finest Welshmen that ever entered the mdical or any other profession, had dropped out of the gallant little band at Bloemfontein, where they shared the fate of two others of the stall- Dreser Evans and Sister Sage death being due to severe attacks of dysentry. Mis fortune did not end there. Misfortune did not end here. Shortly after leaving the Cape on the homeward passage Professor Hughes was laid low with an attack of the dreaded enteric, and was still lying weak and helpless in his bed on board the Saxon when the vessel arrived at Southampton yesterday to. 1 "1[" 1 __1. morning. All in all, the history ot the weisu hospital has been a melancholy one, but the story is one of splendid self-sacrifice. Inci- dentally I mentioned in a previous message that it was more than a pity that some sort of a reception should not have been given the Welsh medicos on their arrival at South- ampton that would have conveyed to them in some degree their country's appreciation of their work in South Africa. I reiterate that sentiment with emphasis. It was the least recognition they deserved. Six o clock in the morning is. perhaps, not a very inw- Ung lime of the day at which to turn out for such :1 purpose, but the occasion was worthy of an effort on the part of the veriest slug- gard. It was a grand sight in itself to- see the Saxon- one of the biggest of the Union liners -rising out of the morning mist like some huge spectre. For the first few mo- ments after coming within sighting distance she seemed to be stationary, but the mast- headlights. that twinkled like stars a minute ago. were now visibly growing larger and drawing nearer. There was scarcely a ripple on the water, and as the huge mobster drew near the ouay—twenty minutes late on a voyage of 7.000 miles—there were simply three of four hands raised in welcome to those who peered eagerly over the bulwarks What the feelings of those on board were could he easily imagined, but if there was joy I among those on the quay it could he easily concealed. There was not one cheer, and the st, of early morning seemed strangely in keeping with the temperament of the small bunch of waiters. Immediately the gangways were fixed and fastened I boarded the, boat, and knocked up against Dr Lyn Thomas, the man who I had come to seek. I saw him nine months ago I hardly knew him now. Fleld%hospital work had left its (Impression on his strong, pleasant face, but his calm, gentlemanly disposition was not altered. I ivited him to tell the story of his experiences. .h¡r;t- let me see about Pro- fessor Hughes being put ashore." lie said, and I will have a chat with you." In twenty minutes Dr Thomas was back in his. room in the palatial saloon of the Saxon, and, being tied to time, he hurried over the narrative which he was called upon to give so unexpectedly, and in circumstances that were not altogether favourable -to a fair clear minded review of all the eventful incidents that had been crowded into the past six months of his professional career. LOCATION OF THE HOSPITAL. "In the first place," he said, "the Welsh Hospital was located at Springfontein, where we remained for two months. Springfontein is between Norvals Point and Bloemfontein in the Orange River Colony. In the first week in May we were hurried up to Bloem- fontein, just at the time when typhoid and dysentry were playing havoc with our troops. Owing to the overcrowding, the place was very unhealthy, and we lost Mr Eames, of Llanfairfechan, who was one of our dressers. and Sister Sage. In the same week Professor Jones died. This is what I call the Black week in the history of the Welsh hospital. Death in each case was due to dysentry. of a very malignant type, the overcrowding making it very bad. We had a doctor there who had had several years experience in the treatment of dysentry in India, and we had the best possible advice and the very best nursine. But their lives were not saved." How many patients passed through your hospital altogether 2" We had 700 of what may be called in- door patients, in addition to hundreds who were only slightly wounded. The proportion of the sick and wounded was three surgical cases to every four medical cases." Did you get many Welshmen ?" No, not many. We had rather a big lot up from Belfast during that heavy fighting. You know more about that battle than I can tell you. It was a beastly place for getting any news." AN EVENTFUL JOURNEY. You had some exciting experiences, of course ?" '-Yes we had an exciting time going up from Springfontein to Pretoria. Our train was going up and we had four day's delay on the way. Nobody would tell us. We saw- afterwards that the train in front of us, in which Col. Stowe.. the American Consul was travelling, was on fire. We got on eventually and when we reached Pretoria we went to see Col. Stowe's carriage. There were 27 bullet holes in it. How he escaped was simply marvellous. We had all the excite- ment of having our train attacked and that sort of thing. The train that came after ours again was blown up. We were tol this when we got to Pretoria on Tuesday morning." "What was the nature of most of the wounds you had to treat ?" "Most of them were bullet wounds, the bullet in most cases going through the body. I can't say, therefore, whether they were shot from behind or from the front." Have you gained very much from ex- perience in surgical knowledge ?" We picked up a lot of knowledge in the treatment of cases that we did not, possess before. REMARKABLE RECOVERIES. There have been many cases of wonderful recovery from wounds. I understand, such as men coming round after being shot through the lungs. The most wonderful case was that of a man of the Liverpool Regiment. That man was riddled with twelve bullet wounds, and yet he recovered. He was shot through both arms, both ankles, from side to side, and I forget where else. We had some re- markable cases. One man was shot through the cheek, the bullet passing down through his lung, and coming out from his back. I'll tell you a funny thing. There was a man running away out of an ambush. He was fired at, and a bullet striking him on the elbow went up to his shoulder across his back and out through the other elbow. Did you hear of the marvellous experience of Colonel Birdwood. who is on Lord Robert's staff. He was riding on horseback, and, hearing a shell whizzing towards him, he turned his horse round to face it. The shell struck the animal and burst in its inside. A piece of the shell came through the animlal's shoulder, through the saddle, and into the Colonel's leg. It was a wonderful escape. Of course, the horse was blown to pieces. We treated Colonel Birdwood in our hospital, and Lord Roberts was so interested in the case that he wired to us that night making inquiries." Did Kitchener pay you a visit at all ?" ''No he never came to our hospital, but Lord Roberts did, and Lady Roberts came round several times. The great charm about Lord Roberts is that he is perfetly natural at all times, and Lady Robercts is just the same. Both arc extremely kind." THE HOSPITAL. Tell me something about your. hospital ?" Well, it was made up of marquees, and in each of "these we could deal with seven eases. When we went out there we started with one hundred beds, but before we left Pretoria we had two hundred beds. We were on the line between Komati Poort and Pre- toria for two months, and, being the first hospital on that line, we had most of the wounded under our care. We witnessed some extraordinary sights while we were there. We saw trains starting with the dawn of day in which men were taken down by thousands to the fighting line." Did you come under the enemy's fire at all ?" No but Professor Hughes, Dr Roberts, and myself had a rather exciting experience one day. We went out to see a sham fight, and though within the firing zone, we were standing on the flat underneath the shells, which we could hear swishing along through the air. Well, it happened that a shrapnel burst over our heads, and we scampered as fast as we could." DEPARTED COLLEAGUES. And your dead colleagues, doctor ?" Yes how sad. I had looked forward to a joyful home-coming. But, in addition to the bitterness of past experiences, here we have Professor Hughes down with enteric. He is pulling through slowly, and I hope he will be well soon. Poor Dr Perliert Davies was one of the finest specimens of humanity you could see. He stood over Oft., and was as strong as a bull. Professor Jones, however was not strong, and his heart went wrong." Did you see much of the country I had a look at Magersfoutein. Colenso.: and Spion Kop. I must say that it as awful country to live in. Signs of Boer destruction were to be seen every^.iere. They had blown up every bridge and culvert from Springfontcin. to Pretoria. Natal-the I i-- I den of South Africa-is an extremely pretty country. Pretoria, also, is beautifully situa- i ted, and why the Boers ran from there I do not know. The forts at Pretoria are magni- ficent. Johannesburg, which we visited once is quite a new town. and the telephone and telegraph wires there are simply appalling." Did you meet many Welshmen Yes; we came across n., large number. Why, Mr Emrys Evans. financial adviser to Lord Roberts, is a Welshman." HIS OPINION OF THE BOERS. And what do you think of the ? "They are. apparently, well-built men. They are very intelligent, and speak English very well. Some of them arc awtully stupid and cunning. The Boer is a good fighter behind boulder or in a trench, and the Boer trench is quite a revelation. You cannot possibly see the Uoers until you are rigui on top of them. At Magersfoutein the construe tion of the trenches was extraordinary.. are made long and sinuous, at the foot of the kopje, so that while our men were blazing away with their big guns, aiming at t'ii- top of the kopjes, the Boers were quite safe." Were did you get most work ?" "At. Pretoria. Our medical and surgical staff, nine sisters, seven dressers, and forty orderlies were kept fully employed almost day and night. And while there we witnessed rather an extraordinary sight, in the shape of a trainload of wounded being brought up from the front, with two damaged engines, one in front and the other behind. So that the whole train was wounded." HOSPITAL ACCOMMODATION. I ,Vhat have you to say of the hospital accommodation generally ?' "I saw, of course, that there was a rush at Bloemfontein. but that sort of thing is per- fectly inseparable from warfare. The Hospi- tal Commission was entirely uncalled for, in my opinion. There are plenty of other things to be inquired into. I think the hospi tal arrangements were very good." "What has become of the Welsh Hospital" "It was handed over on the last day of September to the Government, and is now used as a convalescent hospital. It is no egotism to say that our hospital was looked upon as the smartest, and the model hospital in South Africa. That was the report made upon it by the highest authorities out there." How did you manage about your surgical appliances and medicinal stores ?" We took everything with us in a special train. We had everything that the best- equipped hospital could possibly get. But ;i crupl fate has dogged us all the time. On the outward voyage I broke a tendon of my foot, and was crippled for six weeks. We have had very sad experiences all round." It being now within five minutes of Dr. Lyn Thomas's train he became too restless to remember any more. SEQUELS TO THE WAR. Pasing out from the saloon to the deck I had the pain of seeing Professor Hughes being carried in a white sheet down the gang way by half-a-dozen stout sailors. His pale, pinched face and glassy eyes spelt enteric as it had never appealed to me before, and en- abled me to better understand the wasted, wan faces and the tottering forms of those young men in khaki who had come home by the same boat invalided from the front. There were scores of them on board. One would have pictured smiling faces in think- ing of these brave fellows seeing the mother country once again after all the hardships of war thousands of miles away. But they all looked sad and dejected. Possibly they re- called the day when they sailed for South Africa, amid the ringing cheers of an ad- miring crowd, and compared the scene with that of this morning, when not a single I hurrah was raised, ^haki was never a picturesque military attire, but when the uniform hangs loosely about a man's body as he crawls over the gangway from the trans- port. one is struck with the impression that war is not quite the "splendid sport'' that Napoleon once described it. Professor Hughes, accompanied by his colleagues of the medical staff, travelled to London in a special carriage, leaving South- ampton a little after eight o'clock. "Western Mail."

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