'Mesopotamia Commission. Report of the Commission Appointed by Act of Parliament to Enquire into the Operations of War in Mesopotamia, together with a Special Report by Commander J Wedgwood, DSO, MP, and Appendices. London: HMSO, 1917.' [‎99r] (197/248)

3 ^
:r-t, (4) Also that) ! am aware that i am allowed to stay
; in Egypt at Government expense and await passage
to England -by hospital ship, but that if I do so, I
must stay in a hospital or convalescent home, and
adhere to the rules of that institution.
H- W. Paddell, Lieut., R.A.M.C.
R. B. Riddell, Lieut.-Col., R.G. A.
F. Barker, 2nd Lieut., R.F.A.
A. Beveridge, Lieut., R.A.
K. N. Maclean, Lieut., R.A.M.C.
H. G. Hinnell, Lieut., 7th Cheshire Regiment.
D. F. VVyley, Lieut., R.F.A.
R. T. C. Calvery, Major, 120 Rajput Infantry.
N. M. Foulds, 2nd Lieut.. Gth South Lancs.
T. L. Leeds, Lieut.-Col., 59th Rifles.
H. F. C. Swiney, Capt., 2/3rd Gurkhas.
Walter M. Shipster, Capt., 1st Manchester Regt.
T. Rowland Hill, M. Infantry.
H. Jarret-Kerr, Capt., S. & T. Corps.
W. H. Elliott, Capt., R.A.M.C.
E. J. D. MacGavain, Lieut., 76th Punjaubis.
H. J. Leeds, 2nd Lieut., R.F.A.
C. V. Barlow, Major, l/8th Gurkhas.
W. A. Webb, Major, l/4th Dorset Regt.
Alex. Barnett, 2nd Lieut., 4th Wiltshire Regt.
A. E. Dallas, Lieut.-Col., S. & T. Corps.
T. M. Layne, Lieut., Gth Batt. L.I.
H. A. Burton, Lieut., S. & T. Corps.
R. J. P. Campbell, Lieut., 1st Manchester Regt.
J. B. T. Gough, Capt., 1st Herts Regt.
R. A. M. Bulloch, Lieut., 3rd Royal Irish Rifles.
B. Llewellyn, Lieut. I.A.R., 4th Cavalry.
T. A. Weston, Capt., R.A.M.C.
F. C. Fulton, Lieut.-Col., S. & T. Corps.
E. W. Fylde, S.S.O., Lieut., Patiala Lancers.
H. C. Rossiter-Hill, Lieut., 125th Rifles.
H. W. Arnott, 2nd Lieut., 1st G.O.S. & M.
E. W. Barry, Lieut., 14th Royal Fusiliers.
J. B. Ireland, 2nd Lieut., 7th Gloucesters.
J. V. Joyner, Lieut., I.M.C.
A. A. S. Davy, Lieut.. R.A.
G. M. Donnan, Lieut., R.A.M.C.
16626. There is a statement you make here which has
been made by other officers, that you feel you have a
grievance in that after being wounded you are sent home
on half pay ?—I only get half pay. I get £50 a month
while I am sick at home, and if I was back with my regi
ment I should draw £100 a month.
16627. And English officers are drawing full pay ?—
That rule refers to all British officers in the Indian Army.
16628. British officers not in the Indian Army draw full
pay ?—As far as I know. They were doing so in Franee*
16629. Admiral Sir C. Bridge. If you came home on
leave not wounded would you get full pay ?—When I
leave India on ordinary leave I go on furlough pay, as it
is called, which is half pay.
16623. Lord Hugh Cecil. What is the position with
regard to privilege leave ? For a privilege leave you get
for three months full pay.
16631. Admiral Sir C. Bridge. That is what I mean.
If you are wounded and you are only away three months
you draw full pay, but having been away three months I
am placed on half pay.
EXTRACTS FROM THE EVIDENCE OF SECOND
LIEUTENANT V. F. C. PETO, I.A.R.
21925. (4) I was sent up to Lahore after I had
been at the Sassoon Hospital, Poona, about a month,
to see a specialist. I was given a “ Form E ” on condition
I refunded the money if called upon to do so, as they said
they did not think 1 was entitled to it, but I have not
been called upon to do so; but I had to pay half the
fare, my expenses, and the specialist’s fee myself. They
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told me there was nothing in ' 1 iny ey6V "AfW andtijeV
three weeks I was sent home, whete A s^eiAlikt in'Ldndoii'
removed twelve bits of glass from my right eye’; 4nd' ^
there are still four more left in as they do not affect it
at all, and it would be very difficult tb remove thettil 1 '
I was treated awfully well on both hospital ships from
Basra to Bombay, and Bombay to Southampton. I
cannot Say too much for the way T was treated in the
London Hospital as well as the hospital ships.
• irfgnor pjl.r.ovi oH.i jubnl
21932. The Chairman. Have you anything to say aboiit
payments which you made ?—I had to pay half my rail- -
way fare to Lahore. I was told that I was not entitled
to an “ E ” Form for the other half, and that if it was
claimed I should have to pay the rest.
21933. You were sent up to Lahore to see a specialist ?
—Yes.
21934. You were on duty ?•—I should have thought so,
but they would not give me a warrant.
21935. You mean to say that you had to pay your
railway fare to see the specialist after being wounded ?—
Half of it, and I was told that I should have to pay the
other half if called upon.
21941. Sir A. Williamson. You had to pay the
specialist’s fee as well as the railway fare ?—Yes.
21942. They did not provide a specialist. You were
sent to one and then had to pay him ?—Yes, he was a
civil doctor.
21943. Did you have to pay for the specialist in London ?
—Yes.
EXTRACTS FROM EVIDENCE OF
LIEUT. W. L. W. GWATKIN.
15237. Sir A. Williamson. (6) I was given there
months’ leave in Ceylon. My private medical practitioner
advised me to proceed to England. An I.M.S. doctor on
the hospital boat also said that I shoukl have at least
three months’ leave in England.
On February 18th, having been granted leave to
proceed to Ceylon for my leave, I applied for a
railway warrant. This was refused, and I was offered a
steamer ticket to Colombo. If I had travelled by steamer
I should have had only 31 days in Ceylon, the other 7
weeks would have had to be spent waiting for boats.
After being ordered to the brigade office several times a
day for five days I was given a draft for the cost of a
steamer passage, with written permission to make my
own arrangements for travelling.
The draft, on presentation, was refused, with the
remark that “ I should have travelled by rail! ” The
office was a long way from my hotel, and I was in bad
health and still on crutches.
(7) In Ceylon I was ordered to proceed to England for
treatment by a Medical Board. My passage money was
refused for stated reasons.
I submitted an exact account of my travelling expenses
to the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , and received payment, less deductions.
I received my balance of pay due from November, 1915,
last month. On arrival in London, in May, I was refused
medical treatment until July, when I was sent for a month
to Osborne. Otherwise I have had to make my own
arrangements for medical attentions, and am doing so
now at my own expense.
To-day, September 12th, I attended the Medical Board
at the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. . I possessed a certificate from a
well-known London doctor, giving the opinion that I was
absolutely unfit for service in the East for at least another
three months. The Medical Board, however, informed
me that 1 could not be granted further leave, and must
resign my commission, and return to civil life.
After over two years’ service in three campaigns, it is
somewhat galling to be thus cast away like a bad penny.
I presume now that my only course to pursue is to
resign, wait till I am fit, and then again volunteer f6r
active service. (A London specialist advises me that I
shall be perfectly fit in a few months.)
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