A British advance has just begun, and the surgeons
of a Divisional Collecting Station near the Somme are awaiting the arrival
of the first laden stretcher-bearers. In a few minutes the three officers
will be at work, perhaps for twenty-four hours on end. At one Casualty Clearing
Station a distinguished surgeon performed, without resting, nineteen difficult
operations, each lasting more than an hour, in cases of severe abdominal
wounds, where delay would have meant the loss of life. In almost every case
the man was saved. Another surgeon operated for thirty-six hours without
relief. Such devotion is not exceptional in the R.A.M.C.
Return to WW1 Sketches Of Muirhead Bone