Sick and wounded
Stretcher bearers carrying wounded at Anzac
Why was this image chosen?
Sickness and disease was one of the greatest problems on Gallipoli
for the troops of all nations. On Anzac men had only to turn their
gaze from the Turkish trenches towards the sea where they would have
seen the endless traffic of small boats and barges out to the
hospital ships offshore.
Only twice during the whole campaign did the proportion of men being
evacuated from Anzac with wounds – during May and the two weeks
of the August offensive – exceed the proportion being taken off
with some form of illness. In some ways this was the main personal
experience of serving on Gallipoli, rather than the more dramatic but
short-lived periods of battle. The youngest Australian to die on
Gallipoli – Private James Martin, aged 14 – did so from
illness not wounds.
The image on this panel shows two stretcher-bearers.
Undoubtedly, the most famous medic on Anzac was the ‘man with
the donkey’, Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick, 3rd Field
Ambulance. However, it was decided not to feature Simpson, whose
story is so well known, but rather that unsung legion of other
bearers whose work right throughout the campaign undoubtedly saved
many lives.
Sick and wounded
They lived with death, dined with disease.
From an anonymous poem about Gallipoli
When the Gallipoli campaign
began no-one expected that it would last so long or cause so many casualties.
The number of wounded from the initial invasion overwhelmed the poorly organised
medical facilities. During major attacks many hours passed before a wounded
man received adequate care. Eventually, proper lines of evacuation were established
to hospital ships and back to base hospitals at Lemnos island, Egypt and Malta.
As the summer heat intensified, conditions on Gallipoli deteriorated. Primitive
sanitation led to a plague of flies and the outbreak of disease. Thousands of
men were evacuated suffering from dysentery, diarrhoea and enteric fever. The
poor and monotonous diet of bully beef, hard biscuits, jam and tea made the
situation worse. Men suffered particularly from lice in their clothing. Morale
sank as the prospect of victory receded. Many came to feel they would never
leave Gallipoli alive.
Stretcher bearers carrying wounded at Anzac.
The soldier on the left is carrying filled water bottles up to the front line.
(Australian War Memorial C01761)
HASTA VE YARALILAR
Ölümle birlikte yasadilar, hastalikla birlikte sofraya oturdular.
Gelibolu hakkinda, sairi bilinmeyen bir siirden
Gelibolu harekati basladiginda bu kadar
uzun sürecegini bunca yarali verilecegini kimse beklemiyordu. Ilk saldiri
sirasinda yaralananlarin sayisi, yeterli hazirliktan yoksun sihhiye ekiplerinin
yetisebileceklerinin çok üstünde idi. Büyük saldirilar
sirasinda yaralananlara gerekli müdahelede bulunabilmesi için saatler
geçmesi gerekiyordu. Sonradan hastane gemilerine ve Limni adasi, Misir
ve Malta’daki ana hastanelere gerekli ulasim saglandi.
Yaz sicaklari bastirinca, Gelibolu
yarimadasinda kosullar daha da kötülesti. Ilkel temizlik kosullari
pire salginina ve diger hastaliklara yol açti. Binlerce asker dizanteri,
ishal ve zehirli hummaya yakalanarak savas alanindan tahliye edildiler. Boga
eti, bisküvit, reçel ve çaydan olusan, her gün ayni
tayin durumu daha da kötülestiriyordu. Özellikle askerlerin üniformalarindaki
bitler, onlara büyük izdirap veriyordu. Zafer umutlari sönerken
askerin morali de çökmeye basladi. Birçoklari Gelibolu yarimadasini
asla sag tekedemiyeceklerine inanmaya basladilar.
Anzak körfezinde yaralananlari tasiyan
sedye erleri. Soldaki asker cephedekilere sise ile su tasimaktadir.
(Avustralya Savas Aniti C01761)
Original Art
Australian War Memorial C01761
