tretcher bearers and brought to the aid
post.

Any soldier who is feeling unwell reports to the M.O. of the battalion
who, if the trouble is a minor one, may give him some suitable
medicine. It is one of the difficulties of the M.O. to distinguish
between a case of genuine illness and a fakir or "scrimshanker," and a
good supply of common sense and a knowledge of human nature is a great
asset in making correct diagnoses. It is almost impossible, for
example, to distinguish between a genuine case of rheumatism and a
clever imitation of it, because the only symptoms are pains, the
effects of which can easily be simulated by a soldier. If the man
shows serious symptoms he is sent back to the "advanced dressing
station" which will probably be a mile or so behind the front line
trenches, if possible in a house and on a road accessible to motor
ambulances.

If the man can walk he goes through the nearest communication trench;
if wounded he is given first aid, and if unable to walk he is helped
or carried back by stretcher bearers from the ambulance--to the
dressing station.

Some of these dressing stations taking in wounded under shell fire
were located in shell-proof dugouts. At many points light narrow gauge
railroads had been built which ran from the dressing stations right up
to the trenches. On these railways little cars pushed by hand were
used both for bringing out the wounded during a battle and for taking
in food, water and other supplies. It is, of course, impossible to lay
such railways in many parts of the lines where they would be exposed
to direct observation by the enemy, but they are becoming more and
more numerous as their value in saving time and labour in the "man
handling" of food and trench supplies has been proved. At one of these
dressing stations where the railway came right up to the shell proof
dugouts fresh shell holes in the neighborhood testified to the fact
that the work of the field ambulances is at times not unmixed with
excitement.

The cases which accumulate at the advanced dressing station are given
further treatment if required, and are evacuated by motor ambulance,
usually at night, as the road to the station is frequently under the
enemy's observation, to the field ambulance proper where they are
given further treatment or dressings as the necessity may be.

From the field ambulance the sick and wounded are cleared by motor
ambulance convoy to the casualty clearing station, or poss