AWM41 1068 - [Official History, 1914-18 War: Records of Arthur G Butler:] Nursing - Personal Narratives - Extracts from letters of Staff Nurse C E Strom - 21 June 1917 - 30 September 1918 - Part 2

At Sea. 

12/7/17.
.....

......We rose, as usual at the outlandish hour of 

6 a.m., or rather 5.45, under the usual compulsion,and

we appear on deck at about 6.45, having bathed and

dressed at our leisure, in the interval. Of late we

have been spending about ten minutes in our cabins in the

mornings, when we prepare for the day, and ten minutes in

the evening, when we prepare for the grand march past,

known to the initiated as the pyjama parade;, but now

that the weather is calmer, and there is no longer any

necessity to carry our life belts round with us, as there

was in the narrow belt of shallow water after Bombay, we

don't mind venturing down to the depths for an occasional

book, or for a tin of biscuits........... We expect to

reach Aden tomorrow, but now they say it won't be until

Saturday; apparently we are not hurrying at all........

We got ashore at Bombay by launch, and a long time took

too. After the wharf at Colombo, where one walks off

into a well made, picturesque city street, we were struck

by the dirty, muddy, rubbish besprinkled streets which

met us outside the docks at Bombay, and yet I suppose

one could hardly judge Bombay by that.............

We got back to the docks at 3 o'clock being punctual and

obedient folk; but as it turned out, we could so easily

have lingered. We waited there until long after 4 for

the medical officers to "clear' us; which they did in

about ten minutes when they did arrive. I think the

sight of three hundred grey women must have been too

much for them! We were simply presented with a slip of

paper each, and a piercing look, and all was over. Then

the old boat again, and life went on, as before to the

beat of the screws.
Since Bombay the weather has been comparatively cool,

until today, when the temperature has shot up again;

we suppose in preparation for the Red Sea. There is no

definite news as to whither we are moving; there will

probably be no definite news at all, just rumours, and

rumours, until we arrive. We live on rumours. There is

always one travelling round, they are of all shades of

likelihood, they concern any mortal thing, from the

smallest triviality to the most vital questions of the

day. The latest gossip about the A.A.N.S. (not of our

unit) the latest witticisms, details about ports; everything

possible is served up as a rumour, and the bearer-

of-news is hailed with glad cries. It is childish, we

know, and we are ashamed accordingly, but the long days

and the monotony and the greyness in general all help us

to encourage conversation, and when there are three

hundred of us!!
Have I told you of our magazine? It was started, by a

perservering soul who shall be nameless, with the idea

that it might be an outlet for our superfluous mental

activities. So far, so good. Contributions poured in,

we felt that we should make an effort to compose something

worthy of the occasion, but somehow the spirit didn't

move us in the right direction, laziness set in, and

nothing was done. In the course of time the magazine

came to light, published and all. It gloried in the

name of "Mooltan Memories", when I tell you that, in

our opinion at least, the title might very well have

been "The Seasick Sob", it will be clear to you what

manner of matter it contained. I hope you won't see

it, none of us sent her copy home, none of the M.H.

7.

crowd, that is. It was not elevating.

Since last I wrote, the three units have been christened

by some inventive genius. Number 1, the Victorians,

The Salvation Army: 2, the New South Welsh, The Social

Successes: 3, which is made up of the other four states,

The Larrakins; it doesn't trouble us much to be known as

Salvos; or wowsers, and certainly the N.S.W. girls are

social successes, but it's a bit hard on the gallant

Third. It is remarkable that there should be such

differences in three units, but it is so. The rivalry is

as old as the states, of course, and in the case of the

nursing profession, derives fresh life from the fact that 

each training school has its loyal band of followers, who,

no matter how deeply they may have hated the school in the

days of their training, uphold it now whatever the

argument, to them it could never be otherwise than the

best Hospital in Australia. When in their own State, the

girls of one hospital take little interest in the girls of

another, except in that they are rivals, and the others

are always indifferently trained! But when they all get

out together, amongst crowds of trainees from all the

other states, it is they and we, not you and we; we stick

up for No.1. unit through thick and thin, whatever we have

thought in the past concerning the excellency of the

various training schools, other than our own!

The old familiar stars are deserting us. The Southern

Cross had dipped, now stars were in the sky tonight. It

is like losing old landmarks . . . . . . The white crew

of the Mongolia came on at Bombay. Our dark stewards were

disembarked there, and their places taken by the men off

the Mongolia, they say that dark sailors are inclined to

be a bit troublesome in the event of shipwreck, apparently

they have little idea of discipline at all times; and are

apt to get out of hand a trifle on sudden occasions like

that. A collection was taken up on behalf of the Mongolia

folk; from all accounts they need assistance badly enough.

Their losses were fairly wholesale ones. The A.A.N.S.

gathered in £80, which we thought quite good considering

how poor we are, and how enthusiastically we've splashed

the money about at the various ports! It won't go far

amongst the Mongolians, unfortunately . . . . . . . . . 

The Red Sea,

15/7/17.

. . . . . . . .

 . . . . . . We sighted Arabia first on Friday. The

coast is nothing more or less than a series of rocks.

Aden possesses a coast line that surpasses imagination.

. . . . . . . We went ashore on Saturday morning, those of us,

that is, who wanted to go . . . . . . Before we departed

High Authority gave us final instructions. We were told

to take our umbrellas with us . . . that we were not to walk

about in the heat, nor eat from the native shops, nor

be back at the ship later than so and so; all of which

we duly promised to do. Five of us went together, a

senior sister in charge of the four irresponsible staff

nurses . . . . . . . We got back to port again somewhere about

ten o'clock . . . . . . Last night was a perfect snorter,

it was airless. We sailed from Aden about four in the

afternoon . . . . . . .We are having a church service tonight

on deck, it will be much cooler than in the saloon. . . . . . . 

The Red Sea.

17/7/17.

8.

We don't get into Suez until Wednesday night or

Thursday morning, but nevertheless there is wild

excitement in the air, and great activity in the cabins.

We are all packing our trunks and arranging for provisions

for the trip across from Suez to Alexandria, which

reminds me that have I told you that we are disembarking

at Suez, instead of going with the ship through the

Canal? Anyway we are. There is a toll of ten shillings

per head, or thereabouts, on all passengers through the

Canal, so we shall miss it altogether, which is a trifle

disappointing. . . . . . Everyone is going about waving

£1 notes in the air, and begging for change. Silver is

at a premium. We have done our best to persuade the bar

manager that it is "up to him" to part with a few of his

half crowns, but unfortunately he does not see it in the

same light. There are innumerable more or less small

collections to which we are all supposed to contribute;

it does run away with ones cash! There are tipping

collections, where we each give so much to some

responsible person, who hands the sum total, with many

salaams, to the highly delighted recipient. At least we

hope they are highly delighted. Our own affaires de

tippe occasion us a great deal of calculation, and

knock large holes in our capital. The fact that so

many of the stewards went off at Bombay made a big

difference; two halves are greater than one whole. In

this case anyway . . . . . . . . 

Some of us so they say, are staying in Egypt. We are

all wondering of course. Whatever happens, and it

doesn't matter very much what does happen, of course,

we do hope that the units are not split up, If all we

Victorians stay or move on together it won't be so bad,

the three units together are cumbersome, and it is not 

in the nature of things that we should always agree.

There are too many of us of the same way of thinking, 

I suppose! Rumour of the latest is that we, the

Victorians are going on to Salonika . . . . . . . . 

This is the last letter that will go uncensored. . . . . . . . . 

 

The Savoy Hotel,

Alexandria.

22/7/17. Sunday.

. . . . . . .

Here we are back on Mother Earth again, and

thanking heaven for it too . . . . . . We arrived at Suez

on Thursday morning early . . . . . . We left the Mooltan

about 8.30 after an early breakfast, a launch called for

us. The boat cheered us gallantly as we moved off and

we cheered as enthusiastically back; we were really

sorry to leave it all, though we haven't forgotten the

bad days one scrap. We got the third launch out . . . . . . . 

The hospital train was waiting for us at Suez, at the

docks station. It is a long corridor train, with its

roof painted white, and a red crescent, the sign the

Turks recognise as a Red Cross apparently, painted on

it. The train was staffed with two sisters who belonged

to the R.A.M.C., although we understood them to say that

they were Australians, and a crowd of orderlies, with

cheerful faces and English voices, and a surprising

assortment of dialects amongst them, or so it seemed to

our unaccustomed ears.

We had expected a long and weary trip across, we'd been

told that the journey took from 9 a.m. until 7.30 p.m.

some journey on a day like that. Hot it certainly was,

9.

but the staff on the train were so very good to us that

the weariness was reduced to a minimum. The orderlies

brought us along refreshments at intervals. . . . . . . . The

lemonade we quaffed from large enamel mugs, such as the

troops use, very satisfactory measures they are too.

There was no where to sleep of course, as the train was

pretty well packed, but we managed to get a doze in, here

and there. Such early rising and the excitement of days

of packing and planning tend to react most strongly at

the first opportunity . . . . . . . . . . A few tents were

scattered about at intervals, most of the large

encampments have moved, of course, there is only left an

odd one here and there  . . . . . . At noon the boys appeared &

distributed enamel plates, and eating appliances in all

directions, reinforcements hurried on after them, bearing 

large trays of bread & butter, beef & canned chicken, to

all of which they served us liberally. We enjoyed that

picnic, sitting on our suit cases and the carriage seats,

wherever there was room, our thick jackets removed and

their place taken by thin blouses, coatlets, or dressing

jackets. . . . . . . Somehow Egypt and our army uniform don't

seem to travel together in any comfort. The second

course - behold me still dwelling on that feast - was

tinned fruit, . . . . . . It was 3 o'clock when we reached

Cairo, we stayed there about an hour, though as we

weren't allowed off the station it wasn't fearfully

interesting. About a hundred of the "mob" stayed at

Cairo, with the Principal Matron, the rest of us bundled

into the train again and started off once more . . . . . . . . . . 

The sun set shortly before we came into Alexandria . . . . . 

At Alexandria we found crowds of motor ambulances waiting

to "convoy" us to our several hotels. Most of the girls

went to the Khedival, which is the army nurses' depot

here, and by the way some of them have been having none

too cosy a time there. The rules and regulations are

many and varied, to say the least of it. One of the

Khedivalites asked one of the girls why we hadn't come

before, as if we hadn't tried and tried! The matter is 

such a sore point with us that we had rather she'd

knocked us down, but of course she wasn't to know that.

We were lucky as regards hotels, eighteen of us went to

the Savoy from the station, and a delightful place it is

too. . . . . . The Hotel is French, everyone speaks fluent 

French and stilted English, the newspapers are more than

half French, many of the attendants speak no English at

all. . . . . . . . We were paid £5 in Egyptian money on Saturday,

. . . . . . . We have interviewed a dressmaker concerning

some new and cooler dresses. It is dreadfully hot getting

round in these thick things. I expect the people of Alex.

wonder if we are from the equator when they behold us

parading around in grey serge!

This morning we went to church, to St.Andrews, on the

sea front, near Mohammed Ali square. It was great.

The little church was filled with military men, civilians,

and grey clad nurses, the service had a military flavour

which was inspiring, but which made us re-realize how

far we were from home. . . . . . 

On Friday an officer in a South of England regiment

discovered that we were in a state of appalling

ignorance concerning the money and ices of the country,

and set about remedying the matter. We were shown

diagrams and money scales until our heads swam and in

sheer self defence we swore that we understood the

coinage from A to Z., after which we were invited to join 

10.

in an ice hunt, with another officer, also on leave from

the desert, and also at the hotel. The five of us sallied

forth, we in our charming suits of grey serge, gently

simmering, they in immaculate drills. . . . . . . . As we were

back at the hotel at the eminently respectable hour of

five and called at the Kodak on our way home, you will

see how extremely proper we are. The very next day an

edict went forth, several of them in fact, that we were

not permitted to speak to English Officers or to have

anything to do with Australians of lower rank than our

own. We have it on the best authority that a chiel's

amang us, tak'ing notes, which I suppose he will hand

over to some one else when taken. It's an untrustworthy

world this, and no mistake. We are glad that our

friends of Friday  had departed for the sand and its

miseries before the notice was waved majestically before

our eyes. One feels like a child of three and a half

on a stunt like this; suspicion and active distrust

are everywhere. One feels like approaching the Heads,

and saying, in a cheerful straightforward Australian

manner, "Look here, my friend, you may not think so,

but I know how to behave just as well as you do; and

don't forget it". But there would only be trouble,

the Heads would pack one off back to Australia without

the option, and make new rules on the strength of it.

And there would be more trouble for some one else. So

we say nothing and saw wood; but we'd like to know who

thinks out and makes all these rules and regulations.

Perhaps the genial Colonel who talked to us the other

day half a dozen up afterwards on the subject of the

behaviour of staff-nurses, and their suppression.

As far as we know he may be the note taking chiel.

There are lots of Australians about, though fewer than

we expected. After having mentioned the rules and regulations

concerning these things I know I should say that

we pass them by with averted eyes. As one can't be shot

without a great deal of fussation, and as the censor who

deals with this letter may quite conceivably be of my way

of thinking, I shan't hesitate to affirm that we do not

pass by on the other side, when we behold a few fellow

Australians, who have the misfortune to be masculine,

advancing towards us. They are bonza cheerful chaps.

They always salute us in the most friendly manner, it

quite bucks us up after we've been struggling with

Egypt and the climate and piastres and red tape to be

greeted by these long brown brothers of ours,bless

their old hearts! The English-Scottish-Irish-Welsh,

or more briefly, the Imperials, take not the slightest

notice of us, of course. To them we are a few more of

those Colonials. We shall nurse the Imperials in

Salonika, naturally we wonder how we shall get on with

them. It is probably a matter of understanding them

and seeing their point of view. Certainly  the Imperial

& the Australian soldier neither understand nor appreciate

each other. They are incompatible. It is an awful

pity seeing that we're all Britishers, but there it is,

and there it appears likely to remain. . . . . . . . . . . We went

down to a place called Victoria on the coast, just riding

there and back; while we waited at the terminus for the

tram to turn we spied an Australian among the crowd that

thronged the grounds of a hospital which is there, a

British hospital. It was like seeing a familiar face.

We always stop to speak to the boys when we can . . . . . . He

told us there were six of them there altogether. 

11.

that there were two Victorians, that there were no

Australian sisters, that he'd been there nine weeks and

wasn't allowed outside the gate, and couldn't get leave,

and altogether wasn't overwhelmingly joyful. We were

sorry to leave him before we had completed the cheering

up process, but the tram came, and we were not sure how

long it would be before the next,nor how we'd get on if

we were late arriving back at the hotel, so on we hopped,

and away we went, leaving the poor old long Australian

leaning over the fence, looking after us. We hope to be

able to run out there again before we depart, to take him

a few smokes to cheer his lonely vigils, over the garden

wall. . . . . . . . . There is no word of a move off yet, but we

don't suppose it will be very long now. Some of the girls

are staying in Cairo, though for how long we don't, of

course know. I hope we don't . It would be very hard

working in this climate, this is certainly the hottest

time of the year, but I can't imagine that it would be

ever cool. . . .. . . We are not allowed out after sunset,

unfortunately, on account of the festival of Ramadan.

which has been in full swing for the last few days. The

fasting appears to be kept up until sunset, when the whole

Mohammedan population come out of their dwellings and rush

round making all the noise they can. . . . . . . . 

Savoy Hotel,

Alexandria.

24/7/17.

. . . . . . 

. . . . . . Today we are having an enforced rest, the

word has gone forth that we are not permitted to leave

the hotel until further notice. We only hope the notice

will come soon. . . . . . . . . There are lots of things about 

this entertaining land which I cannot tell you now.

Time & censor won't permit, if it isn't one it is the

other. They will keep. We have heard many things about

the war, and the time the boys are having that we did not

know before. There would surely be no lack of

reinforcements if the people of Australia knew all there

is to be known about the hardships suffered by the

depleted forces. It is unthinkable that they would

hesitate if they knew,and realised, the full seriousness

of the position, and the need for adequate reinforcements

to keep the army up to strength without the boys having to

go back, after sickness or a wounding, before they are

perfectly fit. However!

We have just been told that after lunch we may have leave

until 4 p.m. Also that we depart tonight, for places

unknown! What a life! We are going up to the Base Censor

with out parcels and things, if we can find him. All is

bustle; I cannot write anymore in this atmosphere of

unrest! . . . . . . . . . 

S.S. . . . . . . . 

25/7/17.

. . . 

. . . . . We had an interesting but uncomfortable night

last night. We left where we were last about half past

ten; ambulances rolled up by the score! The train was

about a quarter large enough for us all, and great delay

was occasioned while seats were procured for the multitude

Our military heads tried to get an extra carriage put on

12.

for us, but all their efforts failed, and eventually

we were bundled into the train anywhere, fitting in as

best we might. Helen and Nell and I were rather lucky

in that we happened on a single seated carriage right

at the end of the train. It wasn't wonderfully roomy,

but we managed to settle down quite comfortably, after

divesting ourselves of our coats, and opening the window

and closing the door. The comfort wore off in no time

of course, as it always does when the space is limited,

but we "slept at intervals"-the good old hospital

phrase! and got the night through somehow, though it

was a long, long night.

Several Imperial Officers were travelling back to work

on the train; two of them stretched out on the platform

and corridor outside our carriage, and did their best

to snatch a bit of sleep. I don't think the poor chaps

had much, we heard the native conductor call them

several times, whether  about their baggage or destination,

or the fact that they were blocking up the thoroughfare

for the conductor on his ticket collecting trips, we

did not, of course know,but we were properly sorry for

them. . . . . . . 

We had breakfast at a large hotel at one of the junctions.

. . . . . Several of us felt decidedly off colour, as the

result of the cholera inoculation which we had the other

day, and the heat, and the dust and the train journey

hardly improved matters. . . . . . At some of the stations

Australians came up and spoke to us. The greeting is

always the same: "Hulloa, when did you come? Where are

you going? When did you leave Australia? It is great

to see the dear old brown chaps; they are cheerful

enough to be a tonic to such home-sick, weary

wayfarers as we. . . . . 

We are ever so cosy here. Four of us have a deck cabin,

after our last cabins, down in the depths, it is delightfully

refreshing and cool. We are all so sleepy that

we intend to turn in very early, as soon as we can, in

fact! There's nothing like a bit of sleep to stimulate  

the sense of humour. The "harrissments" of travel are

nearly over, praise be. What with money and luggage the

trials of this life are fairly constant. We are always

losing count of the one or sight of the other. At the

present moment the last one piastre clinks dismally

against the last, in my purse, but thank heaven the

luggage is safe. And there is no more tipping to be

done here, so the last piastre can keep on clinking,

for all it matters! We are giving our letters to

someone to take ashore and fix up for us. The fixing up

process includes the censoring, of course. That censor

business will be with us from now on - how weary we shall

get of him and he of us! . . . . . . . . . . 

Arrived.

31/7/17.

. . . . . . . . 

Here we are, and very much here; at this moment

we are sitting on our suit cases in the middle of our

tent, which is, at present, in a condition bordering on

the chaotic. You cannot imagine the festive scene.

There are no floor coverings as yet; we hope they will

arrive shortly, for the ground is covered with prickles,

mingled cheerfully with dust. Consequently we have not

unpacked to any extent, what we have unpacked only

13.

renders the place more desolate and hopeless, as there is

nowhere to put anything. I expect we shall end by

putting everything back into the suitcases again -

desperation will set in shortly! All that sounds very

dismal, doesn't it, Mate ,and not at all as though we

were enjoying ourselves. The situation is a trifle

difficult at present, but we are really muchly pleased

with our future habitation, and expect to be most happy

here after the first few days have passed over our heads,

and things are more or less shipshape.

There are four of us in each tent- large, airy, brown

tents they are - and sixty of us altogether, all of

number 1 unit. Nell and I inhabit adjacent corners of

the same tent, it is great the way we have all stuck

together. There is nothing particular to do as yet, we

are waiting for our heavy luggage to come up from the port,

meanwhile we sit on the suitcases, when there is nothing

better to do, in the shape of mealtimes to take notice of,

or lecturettes to attend, and write our letters, and look

out of the tent door. I can see us looking out of tent

doors for a long time yet.

Yesterday was a day of adventure. We got into the port

in the morning; coming in, the harbour looks very fine.

The colouring is much the same here as in Egypt. . . . . 

There was more shipping than we expected, though it was

mostly small craft. For the first time since we left

Fremantle we were able to disembark straight off the boat.,

without the necessity of a launch. A colony of motor

ambulances met us, and great was the noise thereof. The

heavy luggage was left at the wharf, the light stuff came

along with us; the most precious of our suitcases were

clasped in our hands!

How far it is precisely from the port to where we are now,

no one seems to know. At any rate it is miles -perhaps

twelve, everyone says a different distance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

We saw very little of the city, just had a glimpse of some

of the streets as we were whirled through them. . . . . . . . 

The evenings and mornings are beautiful but the nights are

surprisingly cold; at least so it seemed to us last night!
We were given many blankets each, also due warning to the

effect that we should be considered responsible for their

welfare and entirely from this time forth. . . . . . Likewise we

were presented with a mosquito net, complete with frame;

a collapsible lantern, the handiest arrangement you ever

did see, a ground sheet, macintosh on one side and a candle

each. In the intervals between the bestowals of these

various articles we had roll call, lecturettes, and

nourishment. . . . . . The piece de resistance, yesterday, at

the first meal we had in Europe, was bully beef, the

extras were bread & jam. And very excellent too! Our

cups are huge enamel basins, holding about a quart (more

or less, but more if anything). Their capacities suit

ours, this weather & this dust, we hope that the respectable

cups which the M.A. aforesaid have threatened us with won't

materialise until the worst of this dry summer has passed!

. . . . . . . We retired to bed very early last night, but to

sleep very late. The beds were made in the simplest

possible manner; each girl laid her stock of blankets on

the top of her ground sheet, heaped everything else

available on the top, and crawled in amongst it all. At

first thoughts one would say, "And a very cosy bed too"!

but alas, it was nothing of the sort. The ground of

Greece is astonishingly hard & stony, there are prickles

and knobby bits of roots there are clumps of clay. One

girl even included a tortoise as part of her share of the

14.

earth! And cold! It was freezing. . . . . . . . Tonight we shall

have our woollen goods as the heavy luggage comes up today;

also we shall have beds, so between the two sources of

comfort surely we shall sleep tonight! It will be a treat

to have our trunks with us once more and to be able to

unpack something. Ever since we left the poor old

Moolan, ten days ago, we have been hauling things out of

suitcases and ramming them in again; consequently everything

is badly in need of a spruce up, and a washing day,

with facilities for the laundering of the multitude, would

be a joy indeed.

You will have heard of course, about the Mooltan. The

news met us on arrival, and gave everyone a shock. We

seemed to be so near the perils of the sea. The poor old

Mooltan - we can still hardly believe it! It was great to

hear that they were all saved. I am afraid you'd all be

dreadfully worried, unless it was made known at once that

we had already disembarked.

The entire hospital consists of tents,of various sizes.

The wards are in methodical rows, numbered from the right;

they have numerous unmade beds in them as yet, and nothing

much else. Anon- I think tomorrow we shall hie us forth

and make the beds, and reduce the chaos a trifle. There

are patients arriving tomorrow; so they say. I wonder

whether they know that they are coming to an Australian

nursing staff. The orderlies took stock of us carefully

when we arrived, but we are good friends now, though their

are a few dozen we haven't met yet. And the medical

officers are still sizing us up. It's an entertaining

business this. The address by the way, which I am

tucking into the middle of this paragraph for obvious

reasons, is much the same as the one we were given in the

beginning, the additional bit is british general hospital,

no.66, which please place after the care of business. We

look forward to a mail from home with such wistful

eagerness that something desperate will happen if we don't

get one soon! An 'Erald boy would make a fortune here

today. . . . . . . . . . . . 

3/8/17.

. . . 

Officially I am on duty, but don't let that trouble

you; there is nothing at the present moment to be done.

My ward is in that state of perfect neatness which, in

this life, it will never acquire again, the twenty

something beds are all standing solemnly side by side,

each with its little white quilt well tucked in; the

shadowy mosquito nets, one over each bed, droop their

heads in ahelpless sort of way; the lockers - neat,

well made arrangements - stand by, awaiting instructions.

Orderly and I have done our best to get the lockers in a

straight line with the bed tops, and with themselves, but

it isn't an easy job. The tarpaulin on the floor, rejoices

in a complicated system of hills & valleys. It goes

serenely on the level for the space of perhaps three feet,

and then one flies up in the air or sinks down into the

depths. Consequently the lockers all standing on different

mountain tops, have little in common one with another, and

wobble about all over the place while we battle strenuously

with them on behalf of law and order. The beds were more

easily managed, in one or two cases a bed here and there

got its foot into a valley, but we hauled it out and

propped it up with a piece of wood under the flooring -

15.

when we could reach under - or with something equally

successful, and there itwas.

We've fixed up a wonderful pantry. There are boxes

galore, of various sizes and from various sources. I

hate to ask where they all came from; so long as the

late owners never turn up to look for them I suppose

all will be well. See what the army had done for me.

There are tins and buckets, trays and baskets, mugs and

measures. The extracting of stock from the various 

departments is indeed a difficult business. There is

everlasting fussation. Do we want this? If so, why? If

not, why not? How many, if any? The two star sister in

charge of the line has all the requisitioning to do, of

course, and pretty sick of it she gets, I should think.

The heads of the several stores dash down to investigate.

We have one so-and so in the middle ward, why won't that

do for the line? Must we have a something else, could

we do without it till next week? There are "Bless my

soul's " scattered freely over the landscape; perplexed

and perturbed officials pop out of every tent, and pop

into the next one, to emerge a trifle more perturbed, at

the other end. They all look as though the "harrissments"

of this life were more than enough for them, and as if

the equipping of wards were the very last job on this

earth. There certainly seems little of entertainment about

it. I feel "real" sorry for us all!

There are three wards in each line in most cases; in some

of the lines the third has not yet been erected. The wards

are long tents, two marquees are adjoined to form one ward.

How long they are I don't know, neither is there a tape

measure on the premises at the present moment, but there

are fourteen beds and a table on the one side, and

fifteen beds on the other, to say nothing of the lockers

beside the beds on the other, to say nothing of the lockers

beside the beds and hiatus which is really the entrance

to our wonderful pantry; also there is a door opposite

this hiatus (as well as one at either end of the ward) so

can you reckon it right out yourself? Everything smells:

the tent is of new canvas, and the sun, beating down upon

it, brings it all out. The tarpaulin has a shoppy,

tarry smell like roasted linoleum. The mosquito nets have

a delightful fragrance all their own: it is a judicious

blend of new cotton and the dust of ages. We breathe it

ourselves every night, we've tried all sorts of methods

of ridding the nets of the smell of dustiness, but nothing

appears to make much difference. We can only conclude

that the dust has entered into chemical combination with

the cotton - in which case all is lost. In the course of

time these odoriferous details will cease to matter to us.

Either they'll improve or we'll get used to their presence

and forget all about them, it comes to the same thing

anyway. But just at present they are active and intrusive

and hit one, so to speak, in the nose.

The hours of duty are now settled. It might interest you

to know how our days are mapped out. For the last few

days we have abided by the rules and regulations, going

to and for between the wards and our quarters at the

required hours, and spending the intervals over in the

wards in rendering them more or less ready for the patients,

and the periods off duty fixing up our own tents to our

satisfaction, and doing odd bits of laundering - the

washerman, to whom we entrusted our precious but crumpled

apparel not having yet put in a reappearance.  . . . . . . . . . 

Today our line is just about completed, my neighbours have

their patients, mine are arriving "at any minute". Of