Nurses Narratives - Sister Madge Nisbet

6/23

[6/19] [?]

Butler Colln  AWM 4 1
SISTER M. NISBET.
[*AWM 4 1*]
[1017]

The Official War Historian of the Commonwealth

Government (Dr. C.E.W. Bean) after his study of the

collective of private war records preserved in the Australian

War Memorial Library, wrote:

"The private diaries is this collection furnish some of its most

valuable historical records, but, like all private memories which were

not compiled with any historical purpose, they should not be

regarded as first-hand evidence except where it is certain that they

are so. The diarist is almost always sincere in his desire to record

accurately, but he is subject to no obligation or inforcement to

indicate whether he is recording his own observation or incidents

told him by friends, or heard as third or fourth hand at the mess-table.

Thus, in some of the diaries in this collection, events described with

vivid detail, and without any warning that they are told as second

or third hand, have been found to be completely inaccurate in

important details. A certain number also have been written up 

or recorded long after the events though doubtless usually from notes

made at the time. In most cases the student must rely on his

experience and as [material?] evidence to guide him in judging what is

and what is not likely to be historically accurate."

[*M. Nisbet

51/82

France*]

30-6-19  

I sailed from 'Australia' on the Ulysses on May 9^th

1917, and after calling at Dunban, Cape Town and

Sierra-Leone arrived at Devenport on July 27^th

After a short leave in London & Scotland

was detailed for duty at the "Croydon War hospital"

commenced duty the following day in a surgical

ward. It was a big disappointment when we

discovered the place was full of tommies as

we had hoped of nursing our own countrymen.

The majority of cases there were nerve cases,

the results of gunshot, wounds in France.

We were very fortunate in having

an Australian Matron & a staff of our Sisters.

The Medical staff being Bristish. About 4 months

later, the hospital was retaken by the British

in January 1918. I was fortunate enough to be

picked for duty in France.  A fortnights later
10 Sisters were given leave & later sent to
no I A G H. France & put on duty in

a surgical ward. The ward was fairly slack

during Jan & Feb & the beginning of March,

when owing to heavy fighting which ensued

from the stopping of the German advance into

Amiens, we received a heavy rush of work.

The cases came down in hundreds, the boys

were wonderful & always brave and in excellent

spirits. The work was frightfully heavy &

most worrying, as one always felt it

impossible to administer the treatments they

required. For days & days the theatrex

staff worked day & night. It was ^when doing

my first night duty in the surgical hut

that I had the awful experience of an air-raid.

Shall never never forget it & thought

the whole place would collapsed. We learned

later that bombs had been dropped some

short distance away. Fortunately very little

damage was done, as they were dropped

in open fields. While at Rouen we had

several air-raids & occasionally spent nights

in the trenches, which was really a novel,

although not quite a pleasant experience

We were in Rouen' until the

beginning of December when the complete unit

was transferred to 'England'. The work was

notably different & we loved nursing our 

own boys. There the difference in the nature

of the casualties became very apparent. Instead

of awful wounds of France the cases are 

all the usual surgical cases consistent with

civilian life. In the ward at present we

have only one wounded man.

Madge Nisbet