Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front, 1914-1915

g for

14, to Septem

g Havre-R.M.S.P. "Asturias"

f Benares (

gone round that there are to be no lights

lance waggons: the horses were very difficult to embark, poor dears. It was an exciting scene all the time. I don't remember anything quite so thrilling as our start off from Ireland. All the 600 khaki men on board, and every one on every other ship, and all the cro

a very scratch supper and tu

le, and though rather cold with one blanket and a rug (dressing-gown in my trunk), enjoyed it very much-cold sea bath in the morning. We

he officers have the 2nd class aft for sleeping and meals, but there is a sociable blend on deck all day. Two medical officers here were both in South Africa at No. 7 when I was (Captains in those days), and we have had g

n hand in hand: the latter has been in the Nile Expedition of '98 and all through South Africa. We had Mission Hymns roared by the Tommies, and then a C. of E. Padre gave a short addres

d. We are out of sight of English or French coast now. I believe we are to be in early to-morrow morning, a

g. (The concert is rather distracting, and the wind is getting up-one of the Tommies has an a

d pontoons and waggons were disembarked, and the R.E. and Field Ambulances went off to enormous sheds on the wharf. We went off in a taxi in batches of five to the Convent de St Jeanne d'Arc, an enormous empty school, totally devoid of any furniture except crucifixes! Luckily the school washhouse has quite good basins and taps, and we are all camping out, three in a room, to sleep on the floor, as our camp kit isn't available. N

overed to our joy, and we have all hauled on

nthusiastic account of the British troops at Dunkerque, their m

he Germans have crossed the Meuse between Liège and Namur, and

oops began to come in; all the biggest shop

ion Day at home. There is a be

nch troops in the French papers as there is about ours in the E

or below us camping out in the same way-86 altogether in the build

. The Colonel knows where to, but he has not told Matron; she thinks it will be farther up than Amiens or Rheims, where two more

ing the Dressing Station ready with sterilisers, &c., while the Bearer Section are fetching them from the regimental stretcher-bearers. They are all drilled to get this ready in twenty minutes in tents, but it takes longer in farmhouses. The Field Ambulance then takes them in ambulance waggons (with lying down and sitting accommodation) to the Clearing Hospital, with beds, and returns empty to the Dr

n a white armband for the medical people; a great many troopships are coming from

The Field Service post-card is quite good as a means of commu

attresses, but it was rather cold

y mail-cart at the M.P.O., and two Tommies sit by a p

. No.- is to stop at Havre; in camp three mil

e are packed into this Convent, camping out in dining-halls and schoolrooms and passages. The

are arriving every day, and every fighting man is being hurried up to the Fro

under heavy fire, and the Germans pressing on

ck. It all depends what happens farther up, and of course one might have the luck to be

y with men who may be able to return to duty, and acute or hopeless

officials and Red Cross people. It is a most beautiful church, now hung all over with the four flags of the Allies. An old woman in the church

rm-horses, taken straight from the harvest, pulling the carts; French Artillery Reservists being taught to work the guns; French soldiers passing through; and our R.E. Motor-cyclists scudding about. And one can practise talking, understanding, and reading French. It is surprising how few of the 216 Sisters

iling sun, and sharp shadows that one seldom sees i

what we read in the Paris papers yesterday. I wonder what the English hospital people in Brussels are doing in the German occupation,-pret

ched a very fine war sermon, quite easy to understand. There was a great deal of weeping on all sides. When the service was finished the big organ suddenly struck up "G

get some very good work. Of course, once we get the w

is a cheering article in Saturday's 'Times' about it all. The news is posted up at the Préfeture (den

ped in half, and divided between us and No.- General, the permanent Base Hospita

that the casualties are in thousands. So far there are 200 sick, minor cases, at No.-, but no wounded except two Germans. We have no beds open yet; the

o work yet except our own fatigue duty in the Convent; it was our

f their three palatial buildings in turn, huge wards of 60 beds each, in ball-rooms, and a central camp of 500

here is a great deal about the French and English heavy losses, but where are the wounded being sent? It is absolutely maddening sitting here still with no work yet, when there must b

y strolling Tommy, Officer, or Sister, seizing their hand, and say

omme, came back again to-day. They were met by a telegram at Rouen at midnight, telling

yet in camp. Our site is said to be a fearful swamp, so to-

f trailing down to the hotel for dinner. Miss --, who is the third in our room, regales us with re

ospital Ship here, waiting for wounded to take back to Netley. It is beautifully fitted, and even has hot-water bottles ready in the beds, but no wounded. It is much smaller than the H.S. Dunera I came home in from South Africa. Still no sign of No.- being ready, which is not surprising, as the hay had to be cut and the place drained more or less.

hlans were arriving in the town, and that it wasn't safe for women; I don't know if the hospital were receiving wounded or not. Yes, they were. Another rumour to-day says that No.- Fiel

No.-, and are being shipped

Rifles, R.B. Gloucesters, Connaughts, and some D.G.'s and Lancers. They were all heavily loaded up with kit and rifles (sometimes a proud little French boy would carry these for them), marching well, but perspiring in rivers. It was a good sight, and the contrast between the khaki and the red

rters except the Sisters and the big store tents for the Administration block ar

s a swamp. We are all to have our skirts and aprons very short and to be well provided with gum-boots. We shall be two

ittle motor-lorry, already crammed with men and some sort of casks, and made them take us on. I sat on the floor, with m

seen any list of the Charleroi casualties yet. It all seems to be comin

nly half through my 7d. book, and we left home a fortnight and two days ago. If yo

shorn of most of its trappings, ex

throom for 120 or more people, but I get a cold bath every morning early. S-- gets our early morning tea, and M. sweeps our room, and I wash up and roll up the beds. We are still away from our boxes, and hav

had 450 wounded in yesterday, and they were whisked off on the hospital ship in

o.-, and No.- G.H., who are all here, and a Royal Flying Corps unit, the Post Office, and the Staff, and every blessed British uni

thout a spot of dressing on any of their wounds, which were septic and full of straw and dirt. The matron, M.O., and some of them got hold of some dressings and went round doing what they could in the time, and others fed them. Then the No.- got their Amiens wounded into cattle-trucks on mattresses, with Convent pillows, and had a twenty hours' journey wi

the Allies, and exactly where the Germans will try and break through. But he has never found out that Havre has been a base for over a fortnight. He speaks of

No orders yet, so we are

wounded for the ship. Colonel -- brought us back in his motor, and met the Consul-General on the way, who told us K. came through to-day off a cruiser, and was taken on to Paris in a motor.

d English troops are leaving

e table when K. and J. and F. ar

a hospital ship, possibly for Nantes K. has given order

station last night waiting for an ambulance, mostly reservi

rts. They said "the officers was grand"; many regiments seem to have hardly any officers left. They all say that th

just as the nuns left it, where one can say one's prayers. And the

fortunes of war. It seems as if most of the "dangerously" and many of the "seriously" wounded must have died pretty soon, or

d all the No.- equipment. She is like a great white town; you can walk for miles on her decks; she is the biggest I have ever been on; we are in the cabins, and the wards and operating-theatres are all equipped for patients, but at the moment she is being used as a

ut in their motor cars, and many crossing to England. There is a Proclamation up all over the town telling the people to pull themselves together whatever happens, and to forget everything that i

eze, are cheering after the grime and the pigging and the squash and the awful heat of the last fortnight. I have picked u

laming sunset below a pale-green sky, and then the thousand lights of the ships and the town came

polite to us, and the crew are mostly West African negroes, who talk good English. The ship is very becoming to the white, grey, and red

tting in to Nantes to-night-after that no one kn

e, near

st was empty till we came. We are in palatial rooms with balconies overlooking the sea, and have large bathrooms opening out of our rooms; it is rather like the Riffel in the middle of a forest of pines, and the sea immediately in front. The expense of it all must be colossal! Every one is too sick at the state of affairs to enjoy it at all; some bathe, and

n over to the French hospital, much to their disgust. The officers especially have a horror

nice indeed, got into the train for St Nazaire to see about our baggage, and had an adventurous morning. The place was swarming with troops of all sorts. The 6th Division was being sent up to the Front to-day, and no medical units could get hold of any transport for storing all their thousands of tons of stuff. One of the minor errors has been sending the 600 Sisters out with 600 trunks, 600 holdalls, and 600 kit-bags!! The Sisters' baggage is a byword now, and we could h

ains 78 tons of tents,

ision had taken up everything. So in the town we saw an empty dray outside a public-house, and after investigating inside two pubs we unearthed a fat man, who took us to a wine merchant's yard, and he produced a huge dray, which he handed over to us! We lent it to

, and Argyll and Sutherlands, and swarms more. We had another invitation to a

them. The Tommies were quite quiet. They looked white and bored. We also saw 86 men (German prisoners) in a shed on the wharf. S

tumbling about like fun to-day: bright and sunny again now. The French infants, boys and girls up to any age, are all dressed in navy knickers and jerseys and look so jolly. M

t Pornichet-two were troopers in the S.A. War, and they do duty for us. The window of the glass lounge where we have services blew in with a crash this

were all more than holding their own, even if the enemy is rather near Paris. What about the Russi

evant l'armée anglaise," and that "Nos alliés anglais poursuivent leur o

That will mean, at the earliest, in a fortnight, possibly much longer. We five Frenc

one for patience in this time of trial waiting for our

on the other side; it was open, and had a little ship hanging over the chancel. The salt-marshes are intersected by

o.- has lost all its tent-poles, and a lot of its equipment in the move from Havre. I believe th

. Tous les jours même chose-on attend

Versailles, and No.- to Nantes. No.- would have gone to Versailles if they hadn't had the bad luc

nd 285, and God Save the King, out of my head, but "We are but little children weak" is the only other I can do,

Le Mans; what for, remains to be seen; anyway, it will be work. It seems too good to be by any possibility true. We may be for Ra

of work at Le Mans. We have an R.H.A. Battery on this train with guns, horses, five officers, and trucks full of shouting and yelling men all very fit, straight from home. One big officer said savagely, "The first man not carrying out orders will be sent down to the base," to one of his juniors, as the worst threat. The spirits of the men

September 3, 4, 5, and 7, all day, and

last dozen years, to show as it is doing now. And the technical perfection of all on

nting madly in an