大象传媒

I was wounded a few days after advancing through the Reichwell Forest in Germany. After being wounded I made my way back up the hill, where I came across a tank. I banged on the turret and one of the Soldiers opened up the hatch. He gave me a drink of water but dared not come out of the tank! After this I kept on walking and almost gave up as a felt as if I was on my last legs. I had to then scramble through a muddy field and it was terribly hard going.
Suddenly I noticed a Bren Gun Carrier with three Soldiers manning it. They picked me up and laid me on the carrier and cut my boot off with a knife. At full speed they then took me to a nearby church and down some steps to where the graves were. This had been turned into a make-shift hospital. There were lots of other wounded Soldiers there, including a German who had lost a lot of blood. The doctors wanted to give him a transfusion but he refused it saying he did not wish to receive 'English Blood'. I was laid on a stone slab and two Canadian doctors operated on me.
After a few hours I was put into an ambulance with nine others. As we drove along someone pointed out that we were heading straight for the front line, and so the driver quicly turned round. After a long drive we finally arrived at an airfield. However the plane was full before my stretcher could be placed on board. The plane was, in fact, going to Canada!
We then had to continue our journey by ambulance until we reached a railway siding, where a train was waiting to accept the injured. I was put on this train. All down each side of the carriages were stretchers. Hung down from the ceilings were other stetchers. A nurse came over to me with a long needle in her hand and she gave me an injection. I slept for many hours. When I woke up the nurse came again and gave me another shot and I remained asleep until we reached the Brussel's hospital.
Two Frenchmen carried me to the ward where I remained for a good while. Eventually I could hobble about and a nurse asked me if I would go round the wards and help out. Armed with a bottle of metholated spirits and some cotton wool pads I had to dab the dampened pads on the backs of the injured to help relieve and prevent bed sores (making a lot of them jump in the process!)

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