CRIPPLED EX-SOLDIER'S PATHETIC EVIDENCE FREES HIS FRIEND
Mulvaney, the ex-soldier who fell out of a train under mysterious circumstances soon after leaving Waterloo Station and lost both his legs in consequence, was carried into the Marylebone Police Court to exonerate his friend Whittaker.
The latter had been in custody for some time on suspicion of throwing the other man out of the carriage window.
Both men were injured in South Africa, and had just been discharged from Netley.
They were drunk, and were locked in the carriage, and neither could say what happened afterwards.
The injured man declared the prisoner was one of his best friends. Witness had been lame, and Whittaker helped him in every way.
On behalf of the prisoner, it was suggested that Mulvaney was probably leaning through the window and fell out.
Accused was discharged.
(Report appeared in the Morecambe Visitor of 21st March 1901 but would have been syndicated around the country.)
Who were Mulvaney and Whittaker?, both needing hospital treatment after service in South Africa. Mulvaney's having been lame suggests a leg wound.
What aftercare did wounded and injured soldiers receive? Were they given a pension? Similarly, did wounded and disabled Boer soldiers receive any help from the South Africa government post-war?
