IV.—Results obtained at the Physical Test Station, Edinburgh

Extract

It became evident during the War that some men who are organically sound are nevertheless incapable of supporting heavy exertion; and among the older groups that were called to the Colours in 1918 the proportion of such individuals was considerably more. The effect of forcing these men to carry out the duties falling to the lot of an “A” recruit was in many cases harmful to them, and in extreme instances resulted in permanent disability and sometimes in death. The Army Medical Department therefore sought to obtain a method of physical examination, which would supplement the ordinary medical examination of a recruit, and which could be applied to men who proved to be unserviceable material in the hands of the drill sergeant—a test which would, in fact, enable the malingerers to be distinguished from those who were truly incapable of sustained labour.