AWM41 1036 - [Nurses Narratives] Sister Irene E Seuling - Part 1

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SEULING

SISTER IRENE E. SENLING
A.W.M.

LIBRARY
Classⁿ N^o 373.2
[1036]

The Official War Historian of the Commonwealth
Government (Dr. C.E.W. Bean), after his study of the
collection of private war records preserved in the Australian
War Memorial Library, wrote:

"The private diaries in this collection furnish some of its most
valuable historical records, but, like all private memoirs which were
not compiled with any historical purpose, they should not be
regarded as historical 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 inducement to
indicate whether he is recording his own observations or incidents
told him by friends or heard of 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 at second
or third hand, have been found to be completely inaccurate in
important details. A certain number also have been written up
or revised long after the events, though doubtless usually from notes
made at the time. In most cases the student must rely on his
experience and on internal evidence to guide him in judging what is
and what is not likely to be historically accurate."

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114

Salonica

24./114

I.E. Seuling

On June 12^th 1917 I left Melbourne on S.S. 

"Mooltan", one of 300 Australian Army

Nursing Sisters bound for Salonica. The

time spent on board ship was not very 

pleasant to me, as I was sea sick most 

of the time & I can say little about 

the voyage as I took no interest in life 

during those weary days. However at the 

ports of call en route, we spent some 

very enjoyable days, five of which were 

spent at Colombo & one at Bombay. 

We were very interested & fascinated 

with everything we saw there. On arrival 

at Suez, we disembarked & entrained for 

Alexandria, where we divided into various 

parties & were billeted at hotels for 

another five days, spending a most 

enjoyable time whilst there. From Alex. 

we went by special train to Port Said, where 

we embarked for Salonica, the trip across 

taking five days. Although at that time 

submarines were numerous in that area 

we did not worry much about them & 

arrived safely at our destination on

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July 29^th. The first impression of Salonica 

from the harbour was a very favorable one. 

The vivid coloring of the houses & buildings 

with here & there a white obelisk standing 

out prominently, made a very pretty 

picture. However, we were soon disallusioned 

for on landing we discovered the city to 

be extremely dirty & evil smelling 

the roads very narrow & mostly cobble 

stones, & the cosmopolitan population 

also looked very poor & dirty. We 

were driven in ambulances a distance 

of about twelve miles, along narrow, 

winding roads, through very rough 

mountainous country & arrived at our 

destination (a British General Hospital) 

almost unrecognizable as we where were 

white from head to foot with the fine 

dust that blows along the roads. 

The heat was intense & we were all 

very hot & thirsty after the drive, but 

were unable to get even a drink of 

water, as it was very scarce just then. 

However, as soon as possible some tea

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was prepared for us & we were all very 

thankful when we were able to sit down 

to a meal which consisted of "bully" 

beef, bread & marmalade & a bowl of 

tea. All the hospital, sister's quarters 

etc. were canvas. The tents, known as 

E.P.I.P., which were allotted to us, 

having accommodation for four. 

We were each issued with a ground 

sheet, two blankets & a mosquito 

net & had to make the best of things 

that night on the ground, as none of 

our luggage came with us - nor any 

beds for us to sleep on. I think the 

majority spent a rather uncomfortable 

night, as there were all sorts of weird 

noises & we were rather afraid of 

snakes, although we had our mosquito 

nets tucked well around us. We 

were awakened early the following 

morning by the tinkling of the bells 

on the goats & sheep which were 

wandering about on the hillsides

& they sounded very pretty in the quiet

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early morning. We breakfasted early

& had the whole day to ourselves 

to unpack our luggage, which 

arrived later on. & arrange things 

as comfortably as possible in our 

tents. The hospital was situated in 

a very pretty spot, on flat ground, 

surrounded by hills & mountains. 

On one side were two very high peaks 

Hortiach & Kotos, at the foot of 

which was situated the little 

village of Hortiach, which from a 

distance looked very picturesque 

& reminded one of a Swiss village, 

but on entering it one discovered 

the usual dirty cobblestone streets 

where swarms of dirty children played 

& donkeys, pigs etc roamed about ad lib. 

On August the first we started duty, 

one staff nurse being detailed for 

each ward, with two ward orderlies 

& a sister in charge of about four 

wards. The patients had been in
the hospital for about a fortnight

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& had been attended to by the orderlies 

who were all attached to the R.A.M.C. 

as also were the Medical Officers. 

The majority of the patients were 

suffering from malaria, which was very 

prevalent all the year round, & there was 

one ward which was isolated from the 

rest, where dysentery cases were nursed

For three months we worked in this 

hospital, going on duty at 7 a.m, & 

finishing up about 5 p.m one day, &

the next day would have 3 hrs. off duty 

from 2 till 5 p.m, & work on till 7.30 p.m

Our patients were all British "tommies" 

& at first we found it rather difficult 

to understand the different dialects, 

but soon became accustomed to them. 

There was nothing in the way of 

amusements for the men & they must 

have found the days very weary & 

monotonous when they were up out of bed 

& walking about, as they were never 

allowed outside the hospital grounds.
As soon as they were fit, they were sent

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to some convalescent camp, & from there back 

to their regiment. Each convalescent camp 

had its own concert party & they gave 

some very excellent concerts to which the 

nursing staff were usually invited. 

These, with the exception of a couple of 

sports meetings were the only amusement 

we had. Owing to the difficulty of 

transport we were very seldom able 

to get to the town of Salonica, & 

shortly after we arrived over there 

the town was practically burnt 

out, & what was left of the place 

was put out of bounds. For a time 

there was a scarcity of food as all 

the refugees from the fire had to 

be fed by the British until fresh 

supplies of food were obtainable. 

However, parcels from home soon began 

to arrive for us & we did rather well. 

We managed on our time off duty 

to have little picnic parties 

occasionally. There was a deep 

ravine not far away from the

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hospital where it was cool & shady. 

& there we would light a fire to 

boil a "billy" & try & imagine we 

were back in Australia. 

By the end of October the weather 

began to get a bit cold & there were 

one or two heavy downpours of rain 

in which the marquees suffered 

rather badly In November, the 

hospital closed & we were all transfered 

to a base hospital which was only 

a few miles from Salonica. It was 

a wooden building formerly staffed 

by the Canadian A.M.C. & we 

found it very convenient to have 

wooden floors to walk on again 

& water laid on etc. It was a 

hospital of about 1500 beds, & the patients 

admitted were mostly suffering from 

malaria, very little surgical work being 

done there. From that time on till 

the beginning of April 1918 the weather 

was very cold, snowstorms & blizzards 

being frequent with now & again.