Abridged from the Paignton Western Guardian 20 July 1916

On Thursday evening last 51 wounded men arrived from France. Thirty were walking cases, and one gathered that some of these were wounded early in the great “push,” and had undergone preliminary treatment in France. The cot cases, one or two of which appeared bad ones, were most probable direct from the battlefield. Those able to walk having been quickly despatched by motor bus to Oldway, the stretchers with their brave occupants were promptly carried by the Fire Brigade members to the waiting motor ambulances, and the Oldway staff as usual dealt with the convoy in very able style.

It is surprising how quickly a crowd gathers to watch the arrival and detraining of wounded soldiers. Between the time the Red Cross train (which dropped many patients at Newton and Torre), had passed down to the Sands Road crossing to change on to the up line, and its becoming stationary, several hundreds of people had assembled round the rope barrier which is temporarily erected on these occasions. The wounded men were as cheerful as is always the case, and when one shouted the familiar question “Are we downhearted?” a shrill response from a lad in the negative voiced the sentiments of the whole empire. A large proportion of the walking cases seemed to be arm wounds. The arrival of this convoy left only a very few vacant beds, but several convalescents have left during the past week.

Several of the cases admitted on Thursday were of a dangerous nature, and a good number severe. The hospital is now kept practically full owing to the recent severe fighting. As a temporary measure some 25 additional beds have been added, making the total accommodation now 255.