Col. Burstall, the officer commanding, gave
me every assistance and issued orders to his officers to aid in every
possible way in the campaign.
My object was to educate all the artillery and cavalry units on the
danger of using impure water, on typhus fever and how it was conveyed
by lice, and on the value and necessity of anti-typhoid inoculation.
The following day I gave my first talk in a large shed in the town, to
about 700 artillery men of the first artillery brigade. It was a
unique experience, standing on a great stack of boxes of loaded
ammunition beside Colonel Morrison and the medical officer Lt.-Col.
McCrae, talking to the brigade drawn up at attention around us. It was
an attentive audience; the men had to listen, though as a matter of
fact, they really seemed interested. When paraded next day 370
uninoculated were discovered and given the treatment; the few who
refused were sent to the base depot and replaced by others.
The campaign begun so successfully was carried on from day to day.
Arrangements were made by telephone or wire with the O.C.'s of the
various units, to have their men paraded for my lectures. The weather
was frequently wet, and the talks were given in farm yards, village
squares, churches, schools, hay-lofts, and open fields. In some
instances the units, broken up into small sections, were scattered
about the country so that I would have to talk to 50 men at once
instead of several hundred.
Pages:
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40