Did he really get home from a 'Lacerated finger'?

[tj_]

Hi all,

This is a snippet from the service record of a rellie who served with the Australian Imperial Force.

Now, I don't have much sympathy for this bloke - he was a B****** both literally and of character! He certainly was the 'black sheep' of the family.

Is my reading correct - Admitted .... Hospital, lacerated wound 3rd finger.

Did he really swing that? It can't have been that serious because he went on to fight at Gallipoli and also in WWII.

Also, was it common for entries to be made retrospectively?

Tim

[mmm45]

Hi
Just reading the bit you have posted Looks like he was wounded in action 5/11/16 in France
Then he would have been transferred back down the line Looks like admitted to 1st Southern General Hospital with lacerated hand 3rd Finger??
Maybe needed to get it fixed as he couldnt use his rifle?

Looks like he suffered GSW (Gunshot wound )and embarked at Havre for England on 8th Nov 1916.

Ady

[kyt]

Doesn't seem to say whether it was left or right hand. Either way, the left hand grips the stock, and the right is used for the bolt and the trigger. Neither are really possible if the finger is injured enough to be bandaged and not bendable.

And if the cut was deep enough, and depending upon what caused it, hospital treatment was probably the best place so that it didn't go septic (the days before antibiotics lead to even minor scratches leading to all sorts of nasties)

K

[tj_]

K, Ady,

Thanks for replies.

G.S.W. - Gunshot wound - pretty obvious really, but I'd never had got there without your help. (Another bit of info securely locked away!)

However, it got him to Wiltshire from where he went AWOL several times to get his childhood sweatheart pregnant. (Yes, he did eventually marry her)

What about the date order of entry's though?

Tim

[scrimnet]

Ok then...he was wounded in action with a gun shot wound to left arm on th 5th Nov...

He was then casevac'd back to Blighty on the hospital ship Lanfranc from Le Havre, on the 8th.

Also on this date he was admitted to 1st Southern General Hospital. At this point...he lacerated his "hd" ie hand and 3rd finger, and this is noted as a "slight" wound.

When troops were being moved it was common for them to be virtually encased in plaster. It would not too great a leap of faith for the orderly to have caught his hand when removing the POP.

He appears to be still convalescing the following March at Bulford...

He hasn't been anywhere else either by the looks of it....But...due to the non contemporaneous nature of them...Is this sheet marked "copy" anywhere?

The entries were made at a later date and are not in order either way.

This is why I always ask to see he ENTIRE sheet as snippets are just that, and the whole picture can be missed!!! 

[tj_]

Scrimnet,

Thanks for reply.

Attached is whole image - couldn't see anything obvious to say it's a copy.

Tim

[scrimnet]

He he !

He was a "problem child" wasn't he!!

Even went AWOL on hospital leave!

Looks like he spent a while in Italy as well (Montevideo...Italian Naval base), seems like his boss there got fed up with him as well!!

Anyway thanks for that..Much more entertaining!

[scrimnet]

It's the transcription errors and the alternative name at the top... Usually says copy on front page...

Don't know if he actually got to Gallipoli though...No mention and the dates were Apr 1915-Jan 1916.

He appears to have been in training from 2 Feb 1915 or at least at the depot for a year??

[tj_]

Scrimnet,

That's not the half of it! I've attached a few more pages.

He changed his name by 'Statutory Declaration' - it's a long story!

Tim