Memorandum prepared to show the Extent of Disease amongst Australian Troops
Palace Hotel,
Heliopolis,
May 8, 1915.(Report begins) "The following figures have been obtained from the office of the D.M.S. Egypt. Owing to the movement of troops out of Egypt, comparisons are apt to be a little difficult to institute with accuracy. Nevertheless the figures given substantially indicate the position.
On February 15 there were 1,329 patients in hospital. The number of sick and off duty in the lines, but not in hospital, is not stated; but as it amounted to 423 on February 1, and to 644 on March 1, it may be assumed to be 500, which will give a total of 1,829 sick and off duty on February 15.
On March 1, 1,737 men were in hospital, 644 off duty and sick in the lines, or a total of 2,361.
On March 15, 1,429 were in hospital, 500 off duty and sick in the lines, or a total of 1,929.
On April 1, 1,217 were in hospital, 495 sick and off duty in the lines, or a total of 1,712.
The totals, therefore, off duty on the dates specified were:
February 15 (approx.) 1,829 March 1 2,381 March 15 (approx.) 1,929 April 1 1,712 It should be stated that the figures quoted above would have been very much larger were it not that a large number of men unfit for duty by reason of venereal and other forms of disease have been returned to Australia, and a considerable number sent to Malta.
There have been returned to Australia by the Kyarra on February 2, the Moloia on March 15, the Suevic on April 28, and the Ceramic on May 4, a total of 337 soldiers who were medically unfit for various reasons, and 341 suffering from venereal disease, or 678 in all. In addition about 450 were sent to Malta. If these soldiers had been added to the list of those reported sick and unfit for duty daily, the number would have considerably exceeded 2,000. The estimate of 2,000 sick and unfit for duty daily was studiously moderate, as pointed out in a private letter to Colonel Fetherston at the time when precise figures could not be immediately obtained.
It is gratifying to find that the amount of sickness is diminishing and that the amount of venereal disease, so far as can be ascertained, is also decreasing.
Strenuous efforts have been made by the A.M.C. to attack both forms of inefficiency by dealing with the causes, and with a view to avoiding future troubles the D.M.S. Egypt has appointed a committee of medical officers to inquire into the causations of the outbreak. It is unlikely that the committee can be very active just at present, because of the prior claims on the time of all concerned owing to the influx of wounded. At a later period it is hoped that an exhaustive report will be furnished for the benefit of future undertakings.
Most strenuous efforts have been made to limit the amount of venereal disease. General Birdwood, Commander-in-Chief of the New Zealand and Australian Army Corps, has personally interested himself in this question, and has through the O.C. First Australian General Hospital arranged for me to visit each troopship on arrival, all leave being stopped from the transport until I have been on board. The practice followed is to interview the commanding officer and the officers of the transports, to explain to them the gravity of the position, and to ask each and all of them to use all the influence he possesses with his men to deter them from exposing themselves to the risk of contagion, to draw their attention to the fact that on the physical fitness of the individual man depends the possibilities of success to the army, and to ask for the loyal and enthusiastic co-operation of every officer in work of such importance from a military point of view, and the point of view of subsequent civil life. The officers immediately parade the men, address them, and convey to each of them a printed message from General Birdwood. General Birdwood's letter to General Bridges, written during the early part of the stay of the Army in Egypt, is handed to the Commanding Officer to be read by him and his staff. There is no doubt that this systematic procedure has drawn attention to the gravity of the problem. It has always been responded to loyally by the officers concerned, and it has certainly limited the action of young and inexperienced men on their first landing in an Eastern country.
Other steps were taken by Surgeon-General Williams, who on arrival in Egypt called a conference of senior medical officers to consider the gravity of the venereal diseases problem.
It is satisfactory to find, notwithstanding the amount of disease which has existed, and which, while not excessive, is still heavy, that the mortality has not been as serious as it might have been. The mortality in No. 1 Australian General Hospital for February and March was seventeen cases out of a total of 3,150 admitted" (Report ends).
| February 15 (approx.) | 1,829 |
| March 1 | 2,381 |
| March 15 (approx.) | 1,929 |
| April 1 | 1,712 |
The following return shows the total number of casualties in the Australian Force up to July 16, 1915:
| Casualty. | Officers. | Other Ranks. | Total. |
| Killed | 110 | 1,598 | 1,708 |
| Died of Wounds | 46 | 740 | 786 |
| Wounded | 341 | 8,404 | 8,745 |
| Missing | 16 | 770 | 786 |
| Died of Disease | —— | 43 | 43 |
| Totals | 513 | 11,555 | 12,068 |
The next table shows the average length of stay in hospital of venereal cases at a particular date:
First Australian General Hospital
| Total venereal cases admitted | 1,288 |
| Average stay of patients | 16 days |
The Enlistment of the Unfit and its Consequences
Prior to the arrival of the wounded the medical service was inconvenienced by another circumstance. Men were continually arriving with hernia, varix, and other ailments which they had suffered from before enlistment, and which had been overlooked during the preliminary examination in Australia. In one case a soldier suffering from aortic aneurism arrived in Egypt, and similar instances might be given. The examination of recruits in Australia had been conducted by practitioners in country towns and elsewhere, often under conditions highly unfair to the practitioner. There is no doubt that the Government would have been well advised to have withdrawn a few men from private practice altogether, paid them adequate salaries, and made them permanent examiners of recruits. Experience of war demonstrates most completely the folly of sending any one to the front who is not physically fit. It is apt to be forgotten that in warfare there can be no holidays, or days off, and that the human being must be at his maximum of physical efficiency, and his digestion of the best. If his soundness is doubtful it is better to keep him for base duty at home, on guard duty at the base, or as an orderly in the hospital. It is simply a waste of money, and tends to the disorganisation of the service, to send such people anywhere near the fighting line. We made an attempt at one stage to roughly calculate what the Australian Government had lost in money by the looseness of official examination. It was impossible to make an accurate estimate, but the sum was great.