should only be
undertaken after night-fall. On one occasion a man was being sent off
to the hospital ship from our tent in the gully. He was not very bad,
but he felt like being carried down. As the party went along the
beach, Beachy Bill became active; one of the bearers lost his leg, the
other was wounded, but the man who was being carried down got up and
ran! All the remarks I have made regarding the intrepidity and valour
of the stretcher-bearers apply also to the regimental bearers. These
are made up from the bandsmen. Very few people think, when they see
the band leading the battalion in parade through the streets, what
happens to them on active service. Here bands are not thought of; the
instruments are left at the base, and the men become bearers, and
carry the wounded out of the front line for the Ambulance men to care
for. Many a stretcher-bearer has deserved the V.C.

One of ours told me they had reached a man severely wounded in the
leg, in close proximity to his dug-out. After he had been placed on
the stretcher and made comfortable, he was asked whether there was
anything he would like to take with him. He pondered a bit, and then
said: "Oh! you might give me my diary--I would like to make a note of
this before I forget it!"

It can be readily understood that in dealing with large bodies of men,
such as ours, a considerable degree of organization is necessary, in
order to keep an account, not only of the man, but of the nature of
his injury (or illness, as the case may be) and of his destination.
Without method chaos would soon reign. As each casualty came in he was
examined, and dressed or operated upon as the necessity arose.
Sergeant Baxter then got orders from the officer as to where the case
was to be sent. A ticket was made out, containing the man's name, his
regimental number, the nature of his complaint, whether morphia had
been administered and the quantity, and finally his destination. All
this was also recorded in our books, and returns made weekly, both to
headquarters and to the base. Cases likely to recover in a fortnight's
time were sent by fleet-sweeper to Mudros; the others were embarked on
the hospital ship. They were placed in barges, and towed out by a
pinnace to a trawler, and by that to the hospital ship, where the
cases were sorted out. When once they had left the beach, our
knowledge of them ceased, and of course our responsibility. One man
arriving at the hospital ship was descr