AWM41 964 - [Nurses Narratives] Sister E G Dobson - Part 2

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was carried in a bag on my belt & a bag.
of cigarettes & matches was also on my belt
The orderlies in each coach, would report on loading
any severe cases. & in due course. each coach
would be visited by me. The M.O. Also being
in attendance – of course. Sometimes we had
deaths on the train - but if possible - when it was
found a patient wasnt standing the journey -

he would be sent to various Stationary Hosps.
one at Abbeville x one at St. Omer & one at
Hazebrouck being most convenient for such.
Dressings were not done unless a haemorrhage
occurring - The train would be stopped &
such would be attended to but ordinarily
packing over with fresh dressing would be done.
Each coach carried a dressing case of
oranges, special foods, Cigarettes, & Magazines
were provided - the extras in the food lines
being for serious cases -. Machonachie Stew
pudding, bread & cheese. Milk, or tea was the
diet for ordinary cases. On arrival at our
destination - a base.  Rouen-Le Treport-Etaples 
Etretat . Calais or Boulogne. our duties were over. 
[[The?]] bad cases I we would specially see off into the
first Ambulances. & then the ordinary unloading
began. & Sisters are were only in the way, when loading
& unloading was in progress. On ordinary
journeys one could supervise every patient, but 
when pushes were on, one could only do what
one could. Two particular occasions
stand out in my memory - where the Canadians
were so fearfully cut up as Ypres in May or early June
Usually the men are talkative & willing to tell
"Sister" all about it - but on that occasion the
train was packed with a silent exhausted sad
lot of men- they had held Ypres. They
had saved Calais but at what a cost! We had
moved in that night up to near Remy Siding 

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the nearest the trains could go in - & we didn't go to
bed that night. We sat on the table under the

window & watched the crimson shooting flares,

listened to the incessant awful crashing of the guns.

till the train rocked & the windows rattled &

knew that men were in that hell.  - We

knew we would have a full load next morning

We did - Poperinghe he was then unsafe &

trains could not go further. I have many souvenirs

of that time - cap badges from almost every

Canadian Regiment, but I could not remember

the history of each badge - each scrap of war!

For some time we ran regularly from Lapuquory

to Boulogne, & garaged each night on return

to Lapuquory- alongside an Ammunition dump.

The C.C.S. was a few yards away, across the rails

while there were on Aug 7th 9th 1916  we watched

Bethune, being badly shelled. A review of troops

had been planned to take place at 9 a.m. on

Monday. The British were wise & held the review

at 9 a.m. on Sunday but the Germans had not

been notified of the change of time, & started 

shelling on Monday a.m. causing fearfull

casualties among the civilians getting the

church & C.C.S. & troops in the near by wood.

We were up on the hill watch picking blackberri

when the shelling started, but hurried home

in case we were needed. Next day we loaded

the casualties from Bethune but later went up on

the Calvary Hill & with glasses could watch the

shells get their mark. It was indeed interesting.

Next day we loaded the Casualties from Bethune

From this Hill at night time we would watch.

The battle line La Basse Pouchery & Lews. a

glittering line of light. Star shells. Verey lights

& all the many illuminations of 'the line'

July & the 1^st Somme push was the second occasion

when the work became terrible, for during that

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time we carried hundreds and hundreds of wounded

men. We were garaged at Sotteville near Rouen,

& that afternoon were having a cricket match with

No 8 train & we received urgent orders to

depart. Coats, cricket bats etc were hastily

seized & the respectivestaff went aboard their

respective trains. We were told to go to bed on

the up journey in readiness for later work.

Arriving at Push Villiers ^the railhead (near Albert) we

loaded at once. wounded were lying on

stretches showing grey in the early morning light

the C.C.S. was full & these men were placed in

a field of beautiful maize poppies that are

grown for medicinal purposes. Such

wounded - the ordinarly light cases were

placed on T.A. Trains - ordinary passenger

trains carrying one M.O. & a few orderlies - &

the Severe cases were sent on in our trains

It was almost impossible to cope with the work.

I had xxx _^400 men in my end of the train (on

one trip we carried 168 officers) and just did the

best I could for the very bad cases. - We

did ^carried five loads in 3 days, resting on the return

journey - the men were buoyed up with

success - "We've had a great time" - "We

gave Fritz a fearful doing" despite their

awful casualties, They were jubilant - 

A friend kindly sent me the news about this

time of the great doings of our boys at

Poityuen - but we did not carry any from

their push. We on a 'northern runs' we loaded

at the Aust. C.C.Stn. & carried our own troops,

but mostly worked from British C.C.Stns.

of course. We I visited the C.C.S. at LaG Estaires

& had morning tea with our Sisters there, & getting

some flowers from the garden at the C.C.S.

which was had been a boy's school & also

when in that locality we travelled over

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some of the old battlefields of 1914. Waving wheat

& scarlet poppies hid the groung ground

of former strife from us then, but up on

the hill in the court _^monastery ground we saw the

crosses of the British, French & German graves.

In that ground the Crown Prince of Weid was

buried so our C.O. told us. Passing over

the 3^rd line - we viewed the defences - barbed

wire entanglements, machine gun emplacements,

and such like. The scenic interests of those

A.T. days were intense too - Spring & Summer &

the beginning of Autumn in France-

Spring with its orchards in full bloom. Summer

with daisies, poppies, corn flowers blazing

the fields with colour. One easily understood

why France's colours were Red White & Blue.

Every field proclaimed it - every bank

flaunted the colours of the Republic - 

Hedges of wild roses & honeysuckle gave

charm & romance to the passing scene. I would

sit on the steps of the train & watch this

wonderful scene when going up to near the

lines - We had very cramped living space.

2 Sisters in a small compartment & each seat was a

bed, & when pulled out to be wide enough to 

lie on there was no place to stand. So we

took turns at undressing & going to bed. - 

The arm rests were still in place & I needed to

accommodate my length to fit in these

projections! It was not comfortable.

Everything we possessed was in that compartment

except our my big trunk & that was in the stretcher

van. We utilized the racks for our clothes,

toilet articles etc, & a bath was a luxury only

indulged in when we were unloading

at Etaples & No 24 Gen. Hosp. kindly placed

their bathrooms at the disposal of train sisters & Ax staffs

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I had 3 baths in 3 months & the water supply

on the train was scarce as we only carried a 

small quantity, & it had to be treated with care.

The batmen did not like carrying it from

the stand pipes which was our supply

when our our tank was exhausted.

The Laundry Question was an acute one. We

could not send our clothes out because we did

not stay in any place long enough, so washing

days had to be when we were up the line

waiting - at some secluded spots. The work

was wonderfully interesting & its pleasure

quite outweighed the discomforts. A

methylated spirits iron was indeed a treasure &

kept us going in caps etc., & the M.Os in ironed

collars! The Railhead men, R.T.Os - Ordnance

people all hailed A.Ts with joy - & it

was a great pleasure to Sister Jenkin 1/C & I

have them to afternoon tea. These men would

say they hadn't spoken to a British woman

for weeks. One evening I was walking along

the road at Lapuquoy going to gather

cornflowers in the crop for our train tables

passed two 'Tommies' & spoke to them.

They seemed surprised & later told me that

Sisters did not usually speak to them &

helped me pick my flowers. Reaching the

road at which they turned off one said

"Sister, we haven't spoken to an Englishwoman

for months over 12 months - not since we said

Goodbye at home & we're going into the

front line tomorrow & we'll be thinking of

you & the flowers. It will be something to think

of & thank you" What a reward for a few

words! To be a reminder of their own

womenfolk & their own peaceful

homes & lanes country lanes. I feel that at any

rate that day I had not lived in vain.

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I have many sweet remembrances of those

days on the A.T.

The great difficulty & trouble & annoyance was 

my letters. For a time I received no letters at

all & one day when our train was at Rouen

I went up to No 1. A.G.H. to see about them.

Previously when first going on to No 20 Gen. H.

& the A.T. I had written to Matron, Miss Finlay

giving my address, but apparently the P.O.

had not been instructed, for when I looked at

the Orderly's book my add. was just as "Etaples"

he assured me he had forwarded any amount of

letters to that address - which was quite

incorrect as I had never been there - & I

never got those letters & some letters were very

valuable to me. Apparently lost thro' carelessness.

I did not mention earlier in my narrative

that while at Barquette we were shelled.

They were shelling that town trying to get a 

foundry there & we came into range. Our

train backed out & we sustained no hurt but

it was most interesting. After Beltheune was

shelled we were not permitted to go into the town

without gas-helmets.

I had some splendid sights of airfights too.

We'd watch a fight - so interested in the

bursts of shrapnel H.E. etc. wondering

each time "would they get him" Observation

baloons came in for their share of trouble too.

We were at Lapuquoy when Audriche was

destroyed. I was told it "was the largest"

ammun. dump in France & we ran past it

a couple of days later & what a scene of

desolation - what had once been a huge centre

was nothing but a heap of blackened ruins

Trees round for a great distance were

charred & blackened. Miles out of the town

the houses were in ruins & what had once

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been rails, girders, & such like heavy railway

material was then a twisted & distorted mass

It was a fearful disaster & a fearful ruin.

I was told that as the first bomb was dropped

it was found the wires were cut & that only

a day or two before the A.A. guns had been removed

to another centre - apparently, if this was

true the Germans had been well informed.

The lines were shaky near Audriche for

some time & our course was diverted for

a time - machine guns & an additional A.A. 

was mounted at Lapuquoy to guard

that dump & I believe that much ammunition

was distributed to smaller centres after

that lesson. I often wondered if they'd

get us some night.

One of my greatest treasures was an Australian

flag given me my the my early days in 

France & when passing thro' the posts

occupied by our troops that flag came

in for much cheering. One day an ammunition

column (Australian) was halted to let us pass

& I hastened to get my flag to wave

but found the C.O. had raced me. He was

furiously waving my flag out the windows.

& so I found the flag to be greeted too

& on their cheered that flag & waved their hats.

On August 7th we went to St Pol. to load

and there I received my movement orders to

proceed to 12 Stat. Hosp. outside St. Pol

I was with great regret I left the train &

my friends there -. I reached the

Hosp. at 5.30pm & at 8pm went on night

duty in charge of the Infectious Hosp. there.

a tent Hosp. some little distance from the

main buildings of 12 S.H. I continued on

night duty 1/C at the hosp. til 4th Feb. 1917.

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There I had nursed all Infectious cases

including much Sxx S. Meningitis.  At

first I had only 2 orderlies but later was

granted an additional 2 orderlies  & again

later another Sister was sent across to

help but at first it was really fearfully

busy. I was on duty there during the

famous "1916 Winter" - Officers & men  were

my patients. Each infection was nursed

in a separate section of tents, divided

by much barbed wire - but as the same

Sister & 2 orderlies attended to all the patients

I'm afraid the barbed wire was not of much

use. Anyway no one ever caught anything

that anyone else had. At first we were

fairly near the Main Hosp. but after a while

we moved across on to a small rising - 

soft clayey ground. - which was our

undoing many times, for as soon as it 

rained & it did frequently up came the

tent pegs & at least once a week, on 

windy nights the orderlies would tell me a

tent was going & I'd hasten & waken the

day orderlies & then would ensue a

frantic performance of getting the tent

secure again. The tent ropes that were in

place only served to trip up some unwary

person. My occupation was to "hold the

lantern" I soon found the only garment

possible was a black water proof coat &

hood, leggings & goloshes, as all the tents

were separated & some ^little distance apart

& by the time I had completed a round of

about 40 tents it was time to start the

round again - with intervals for tea &

nourishment. We averaged up to 100

patients. The officers were in bell tents,

separate ones, then men being nursed in large

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Sometimes there would be only one man

in a tent. Still he had to be looked after & his

fire kept up. In Nov & December _^& Jan my troubles

were many. It was biterly cold & later

everything was frozen, taps were frozen

everywhere - all the water for a large

S. Hosp had to be drawn from a well by

a rope & bucket & every little while the

rope had to be banged with a hammer

to get the ice off. Coal was very scarce indeed

& many nights I had no fire at all, my

only warmth being a Beatrice Stove in the 

duty tent. Bitterly cold winds blew

from the North till one's eyes smarted &

one's face felt raw - Crawling out of the 

tent flaps under a blanket to keep out

the snow & wind - one met the full blast

of sleet laden wind - after Sn on came &

everything _^was frozen over it was more

endurable. Laundry work was most

difficult to obtain - sheets & pyjamas were

almost unheard of - I nursed C.S meningitis

with a shortage of bed linen - an occasional

pr of pyjamas was a 'god send' & I

only wonder all the C.S.M. patients did

not get sore backs. Acute dysentery

passing almost purely blood was

nursed in brown army blankets, which

merely were fumigated before being

used again -. Still we were near to 

the line & very busy indeed & the

laundry I suppose could not be done.

Amongst the Dysentery cases there were

many German prisoners - most of 

the patients were Canadians for Vimy

Ridge was the front for which we worked

& they seems to be very fond of measles &

mumps, & mostly all the C.S. Meningitis

cases were Canadians Diptheria cases

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were very trying - because most of them had been

innoculated with Anti tetanus serum & so could not

be given their full dose of Antitoxin.

The injections being spaced at 1/2 hrly internals

& mm. doses given at those times - One can

imagine the difficulty of keeping serum warm

& needles sterilised with everything frozen

& a shortage of coal, kerosene & methylated

spirits.

I was fortunate in having splendid orderlies

only volunteers to the R.A.M.C. but what

splendid men. One man had been a

Commercial traveler - another a barman -

yet what fine service they rendered

their mates in that Isolation Hospital.

The barman R.A.M.C. orderly specialled

the C.S. Meningitis cases & with heroic

devotion to duty he stuck to those highly 

infectious cases.  Those two worked through

all that Infect. work with only the thought

for their comrades. My duty hours were from

8pm to  8am - my midnight supper &

morning tea I had in the duty tent - cooked

or warmed up over a Beatrice stove.

I was alone ^on duty there for 4 months, going across

to the General Hosp part of the Hosp. to sleep & 

for breakfast & dinner. It was very lonely when

on duty & I was not very happy & I have

much gratitude to the two orderlies for

many kindnesses. They were indeed

'Natures Gentlemen!' Later I had to assist

me a very merrie Irish Sister & it

was much nicer then.

We were near enough to Vimy Ridge to see mines

going up - to watch star shells - to see the flash

& illumination crimson illuminations of the guns

Sometimes the iron on the roof would rattle so much it

wake one up. We xx got our cases straight from the Field

Ambulance. To stand the cold, I put on all