Field Dressing : Corporal H J D May, Australian Camel Field Ambulance

Field dressing for shell wounds in a sealed cotton packet. The front of the packet has a label printed in black ink which reads 'War Office-Medical Division SHELL DRESSING' in bold type. Below this are the instructions for use and the maker's details which are 'JOHN TYE & SON, LONDON'. Wrapped inside the packet is Cotton wadding and Gauze. Inside these is a iodine ampoule contained within a small cardboard tube. The instructions and maker's details are printed in blue ink around the outside of the tube. The maker is W A Whatmough, also of London.

Associated with the service of 4424 Corporal Harold John Dennison May. May was born in Surrey England and migrated to Australia where he worked as a hospital attendant in Sydney. He enlisted for service with the Australian Army Medical Corps in April 1915 and embarked aboard the RMS Mooltan for Egypt in May. He landed at Gallipoli in August. At the time when the AIF returned to Egypt, May was attached to 3 Australian General Hospital. He was promoted to corporal in March 1916 and suffered a serious bout of Scarlet Fever in August of that year. In April 1917, Corporal May transferred to the Australian Camel Field Ambulance in the Imperial Camel Corps. On 10 November 1917, when returning from a Dressing Station with a party, Corporal May was thrown from his camel whilst traversing rough terrain, seriously fracturing his neck. Two days later he died from his injuries. He is buried at Beersheba War Cemetery.