It was just below Hill 971 where Harry and his unit took charge of the dressing station. They worked long hours under difficult conditions and in constant danger of Turkish fire. In December 1915 the Anzacs were evacuated from Gallipoli. The 7th Field Ambulance returned to Egypt, arriving at Alexandria on 10 January 1916. Harry was then discharged to duty at Tel-el-Kabir where three weeks later he was admitted to hospital with influenza. After two weeks convalescence, Harry was again discharged to duty at Tel-el-Kabir where he remained for several months. In the interim, the 3rd and 7th Field Ambulance C Section units were amalgamated to form the 13th Field Ambulance under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Basel St Vincent Welch. On 6 June 1916, Harry and his newly formed unit embarked on the Oriana to sail from Alexandria to France, where they landed at Marseilles six days later. From there, they made their way north through France towards the western front. The unit was attached to the 4th Division, but were soon accompanied by the 1st and 2nd Divisions at the Somme. Towards the end of July, the Battle of Pozières commenced when the 1st Division made an assault. The fighting was extremely intense and the 1st Division was soon replaced by the 2nd. The 4th Division was the next to take part and with all three divisions taking turns the battle lasted 42 days. The offensive resulted in a casualty of no less than 23,000. It was the worst artillery shelling the Australian diggers experienced during the entire war. Stretcher bearers worked to exhaustion, usually exposed to fire, carrying men to aid posts close behind the front line. [1] In the aftermath, on 1 September 1916, Sergeant John Lord of the 13th Field Ambulance described the conditions as follows: Fifteen other ranks (bearers) reported “Missing”, this report being changed to “Missing believed Prisoners of War” shortly afterwards. These men under Lieutenant Corporal Gaunt with a guide left the collecting post near Pozières Cemetery to proceed to RAP about 11:00 pm but missing their way walked into the enemy line. At this juncture they were a great loss as there were only just sufficient bearers before. RAP is an abbreviation for Regimental Aid Post, responsible for the first line of casualty on the war front. When an advance was undertaken, the RAP units would follow the advancing armies and were thus exposed to enemy fire. The Field Ambulance coming from the second line of casualty would then send personnel to the RAPs to bring back the injured to the Casualty Clearing Station, thus succumbing to the same risks as the men from the aid posts. Such were the conditions when Harry was evacuated to the Clearing Station on 6 September 1916. At first he was diagnosed with rheumatism and then on the same day his illness was revised to myalgia. Generally, the definition of myalgia is pain in the muscle or a group of muscles, however, in this instance, the condition may have been somewhat more severe. A Canadian physician serving in France during the Great War observed the major complaint among soldiers was not psychological, but based in the body as a type of myalgia, with “indefinite but very often crippling pains and tenderness in various groups of muscles.” [2] After several days at the Clearing Station, Harry was transferred to No. 18 Ambulance Train and then to No. 5 Convalescence Depot at Cayeux, where he arrived on 20 September 1916. Then on 11 November 1916, he was again transferred, this time, to No. 26 General Hospital at Etaples. He was diagnosed with influenza. It would be another 12 days before Harry would be taken to England from Calais. He was admitted to the Guildford War Hospital situated in Surrey. By now, he was suffering from Disordered Action of the Heart (DAH). DAH was a functional disorder characterised by palpitations, chest pains, shortness of breath, fatigue and difficulty in completing tasks. DAH, a common ailment during the First World War, was a catchall term without any precise definition, categorised as a combination of exertion, mental stress and nervous exhaustion. Harry was in hospital for several months and then transferred to the No. 2 Command Depot at Weymouth on 21 February 1917. Presumably he was preparing to return to the war front. Several weeks later he was taken ill again and admitted to Bulford Hospital. Then on 9 May 1917, Harry was invalided to Australia on the hospital ship HMAT Thermistocles. This time he was diagnosed with rheumatism and cardiac insufficiency. After his return to Australia, he was officially discharged on 1 August 1917 as medically unfit and classified as a permanently disabled soldier. On 5 June 1917, Harry was one of many returned soldiers who arrived at Launceston. The wharf was barricaded and a large crowd had gathered to witness the disembarkation, with a local military band playing Home Sweet Home. Once the soldiers had assembled on the wharf, they were publicly welcomed by the mayor, who said that the returned soldiers had made Australia famous, and proved themselves worthy of the best traditions of the Empire. A week later, over a hundred residents assembled at Cooee to welcome Harry home, and greeted him with the singing of For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow. A speech was made honouring Harry as “one of the Anzacs who made Australia famous on the heights of Gallipoli and on the battlefield of France.” Several months later Harry moved to Victoria where he married 20 year old Edith Agnes Davies on 27 October 1917. The marriage took place at the St John’s Church in Colac. Harry and his wife remained in Victoria until around 1926 whereafter they returned to Tasmania after their third child was born. Another child was born at Burnie and then the family moved to New Town. Harry passed away at the Repatriation General Hospital in Hobart on 5 July 1951. He was 72. Further reading: Diary of Harry Edward Baily, also a Tasmanian and member of the 7th Field Ambulance C Section, with several references to Harry Poke (see http://ww1exhibition.tmag.tas.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Baily-Diary-19151.pdf) [1] Australian War Memorial Essay, 1916: Australians in France, Peter Burness, Exhibition Curator [2] Weary Warriors: Power, Knowledge and the Invisible Wounds of Soldiers by Pamela Moss and Michael J Prince 2004 Above: Members of the 7th Field Ambulance at the Enoggera Camp (The Queenslander 26 June 1915). Top right: Stretcher bearers carrying a wounded man from the 7th Field Ambulance Dressing Station to the Casualty Clearing Station at Anzac Cove in September 1915. Harry's company had just relieved the New Zealand Field Ambulance to enable the New Zealanders to embark for Lemnos for a rest period (Australian War Memorial C02422)
1 Comment
7/9/2018 22:09:56
Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store.
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