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Western Mail, Thursday, 5 September 1929, p. 2.
Making the Best of It
The only 44th man to completely lose his sight overseas was Alex Craigie, who was shot through the head at Messines. He is now in England. Of splendid physique, he was an athlete of note in various sports prior to the war, and was one of the champion skaters on the goldfields when the "whirring wheels" captured the imagination of young and old alike. When the Tivoli boom was in full swing in Perth in 1922, Alex and his wife came along and the sightless digger wistfully inquired if the management would object to him trying a waltz and two-step. He was quickly accompanied and instructors and patrons gave Alex, one of the happiest afternoons of his life. Hughie McMahon, the champion cornetist, who knew Craigie as a skater on the 'fields, was in the orchestra, and while Alex was on the floor, Hughie played as never before. Scout Bill Bawdon M.M., another "eggs-a-cook" man, was hit by shrapnel in 1917, when rescuing French civilians from a factory that the Germans Were shelling, he is nearly sightless and has been receiving treatment and training in England. He and Alex are together a lot. Their latest message sends greetings to old comrades in the West.