Nurses Narratives Agnes Katherine Isambert (part 3)
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& a friendly ship in the distance.
Sports were continued. The officers greasy pole & pillow fight
causing much merriment, also a mock trial in the evening.
Some cases of suspected measles occured about this time &
which some of us Northerners thought was "prickly heat"
On Xmas eve, Father Neptune & train of followers came on board
& inflicted fines on nearly all the officers & men who had not
crossed the line previously. Some of the punishments were
rather severe & resulted in one man being admitted to the
hospital with a slight concussion. Before the sports were
over, the alarm was sounded & great was the rush for life
belts & to our stations. Notwithstanding the great heat,
dancing was indulged in by a good many on this night.
Carol singers, consisting of some of our men & some of the Stewards
came around singing, the music ? being supplied by means
of a hair comb. This made a good many feel "Home Sick".
Xmas Day dawned bright & hot. The usual greetings were given &
Church Services held. Col [[Aye?]] Chaplain conducting the big general
Service. Col [[Nash?]] M.O. conducting the R.Cs. In the evening the officers
& Sisters of No 1 A.G.H. went to first dinner & permission was given
to sit where we liked, so gay little parties of friends were together.
We were provided with a very good dinner & on this evening
The Kings toast was drunk, not in lemonade. No 2 A.G.H. sat
down to their to their dinner at 8 pm & judging by the sounds
of merriment coming from the Saloon, they to enjoyed
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themselves. Our thoughts often reverted to our homes & friends
spoke to one another about our absent ones. Many felt this
their first time away from home and friends for Xmas.
However great excitement at seeing land next day was felt &
when shore passes were given out. We did not get in until 7
p.m. Numerous boats manned by natives came out & we
waited patiently for the morrow 27 inst to go ashore.
Colombo, our first port of call since leaving Australia
Oh: how delighted we were to see it & getting ashore about
9.30 am. made good use of our time, driving in rickshaws
thro the Cinnamon Gardens, Park, and native quarters, visited
Budhist Temple & back to the Grand Oriental Hotel for
lunch, all the time followed by natives begging. How
some of the children kept up with us, singing Lan-ra
ra-boom-de-ay or other like ditties for such a time, I cant
imagine. We saw a native funeral which excited interest
Yards of white cloth was spread on the ground, when some
natives playing weird music came along, then came the
coffin carried shoulder high on the outstretched arms
of the men who were carrying it, followed by a number of
mourners & an empty rickshaw. Two men kept running
ahead spreading the white cloth which appeared to be
about 12 yds in length.
A number of Sisters went up to Kandy & stayed there
over night, but it was my turn for duty, so I did not
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see that place. It was here that Sister Richards became
ill, which caused some concern.
We left Colombo on the 29th at 8pm & on the following day
passed two steamers. Everyone was busy improvising
fancy dresses for the dance to be held on New Years Eve.
The heat was stifling, tho the more energetic ones kept
on doing physical exercises in the morning & dancing
in the evening. There were a few french classes large at first
but gradually became smaller. Still there was a few enthusiasts
who kept on to the end. We passed [[Ilumare??]] Island at 10.30am
on the 31st inst & saw sailing boats & steamers lying close by.
It seemed to be a fishing station. Other large steamers were
passed during the day.
The Fancy dress & masque ball was a great success, the
costumes worn were truly wonderful & original, considering
what they had to work on. The officers provided supper & we
saw the New Year in singing & cheering & lastly the Kings toast
was drunk & all dispersed. On this day a good many officer
& Sister & men both military & naval became ill with Ptomaine
poison. An inspection was held of the galleys etc & cooking
utensils were said to be dirty. None of the patients were
seriously ill. Again on this date a life belt parade inspection
was held & everything was found alright.
About this time too we felt very worried about Sister
Whiphams health, she had been seasick all the way &
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& looked very ill. She was ordered to remain on deck night
& day, food etc being brought to her. Under this treatment she
improved daily.
Many of the Sisters were now sleeping on deck & on face
and some were disturbed by men invading their quarters
& in one of the cabins where a man threatened to Slap the
occupants if the caused a disturbance. The matter was reported
to the O.C. who took such steps that it was never again repeated
on that ship. We were now passing ships brightly lit up which
gave a little interest & on Dec 4th passed the troopship A53
from India & a Japanese ship, almost also passed Socatra
Islands. On the morning of the 5th saw the coast line of Africa
some islands, a ship said to be from Boston & several sailing boats
& all were interested at seeing land.
We came in sight of Aden’s precipitous cliffs on Jan 6th. The
cliffs looked to us very bare, tho very grand, towering up almost
straight into the sky, with numerous peaks. It looked like
two sheer peninsulars with low land between, forming a
horseshoe & secured well fortified with big guns.
The sunset behind the mountains with its peaks and craigs
was very beautiful. Two armed merchant cruisers, British
& Japanese were anchored here. We also anchored well out &
were not allowed ashore, but natives came out, selling their
wares - feathers fruit etc. We left at nightfall, proceeded
by the British cruiser, searchlights playing continually
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about & around us. The weather was a little cooler just
then. Sister Whipham continued to improve but Sister
Richards was still very ill, two Sisters being on duty with
her all the time.
On the 7th inst we passed thro the right entrance of the Straits of
Babel-Mende or Gate of Tiers & Perim a small garrison town
& mecca of coffee fame. Numerous patrol & other ships were
about, giving us for the first time a feeling of being well looked after.
In the afternoon passed other islands. The seas were now
very choppy & the wind was with us & portholes had to be kept
closed. Special lectures were given by Capt Lowry & Miss
Bell on discipline & dress. We were now passing land & ships
daily and many were the names given to the different places, the
sea continued choppy & a good many again got seasick.
On the 11th inst, there was land to be seen on each side. Sandy
coast line with the high peaked mountains & we became interested
in the biblical history as we passed Mount Sinai. Exclamations
were heard on every side particularly at sundown on the grand
beauty of the surrounding places, the purple pastel shades
in purpils, pinks, blues & greys reflected in the waters & the
mountains behind making a beautiful picture. The sea gulls
were very numerous & graceful, their colours blending with the
soft tones of the sunset.
We saw the lights of Suez about nightfall & entered the harbour
about 8pm. All were up very early on 12 inst & were surprised
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to see so many ships in the harbor. At 12.30 pm, we were
moved off again into the Suez Canal & here we were made to realise
more & more that there was a war going on. Seeing the trenches &
fortifications made & in process of making. The Bengal Lancers
& Ghurkas working at them.
Now as far as the eye could see was the desert, relieved
by little oasis where the Boat Station houses & gardens are &
this at night when lit up by electricity were like little glimpses
of fairy land. All along the Indian Soldiers cheered us &
asked from whence we came. We were impressed by their fine
physique. We reached Port Said about 1-30 a.m. & were
awakened by the whistles of motor launches & gangway being
lowered & almost immediately, the coal barges arrived, iron
boxes filled with coal being burned at each end instead of
lamps. Looking thro our ports, Port Said with its numerous
bright lights & several search lights looked very pretty.
We were very interested in the way Arabs did the coaling & the
song or prayer which they chanted while doing so. At 10 a.m. we
were given leave to go ashore much to our surprise but . Oh. how
we scampered off & as at every port of call hastened to the Tea
Shops afterward hiring a gharry & seeing the sights, Mosque's
Arab quarters etc - was not much impressed with the latter.
It was here the first evidence of Air Craft activity, seeing a
biplane & hydroplane flying.
Great was the excitement when it became know that Col.
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Martin had recieved orders to proceed to Cairo by train and to
meet us next day at Alexandria, all sorts of rumours as to the
destination going about. We left at 6pm & next morning
anchored in the harbour which is very large and was full of all kinds
of steamers. We had to remain on board all day. Col Ramsey Smith
was called to Cairo & passes issued for shore leave on the next
day, when a big party of Sisters went to see the Pyramids, they
did not expect them to have many chances of seeing them in
the near future. It turned out to be a very wet & windy day &
the sea rough & much anxiety was caused in getting the Sisters
back to the ship, which was safely done late in the night. I dont
think any of them wanted to repeat that boat ride again. A
party of our men were sent ashore to assist & accompany the
Sisters in the boats
Next day Jan 16th parties of Sisters went ashore, it was raining
in the morning, but we had a long drive around Alexandria.
An American war boat with 1300 refugees from Turkey came
in. Great excitement we found on the ship when we got back to
hear that orders had come for all to disembark & that our
destination was Cairo. Some were very dissapointed at not
going on to England. However as nothing more definite was
heard next day. Some of us again set out sight seeing & was
interested & amused at seeing cows being brought to the doors
of houses to be milked, the tiny donkeys, with tall men
riding them thro the streets, men & women smoking
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out of hugh arrangements which they told us was called
"Bubble Nubble. Proceeding on our way to Pompeys
Monument & then to the Catacombes large & small, saw for
the first time Sphynxe's & were much impressed with every
thing. Driving along the banks of the Nile we saw the homes
of the better class which are very pretty, also market people
washing vegatables in the Nile, a wedding with the brides
carriage of pale green decorated with flowers & later on a dead
body of a boatman wrapped in a white cloth lying on the river side.
Then thro the Khedives gardens which is very large & full of
tropical plants which many of us Queenslanders knew.
On returning to the town the teashops very visited & their
goods much appreciated. Next day 18th inst Sister Richards
with 4 Sisters & some orderlies in attendance went onto Cairo
& 2 batches of 4 Sisters went to Cairo for duty there
On the following day a party of about 10 of us spent some
time in the Museum & after lunch went to St Catherines
Church on the invitation of the Rev Father Holland, who
had previously visited the ship. We admired the beautiful
marble altars, mosaic pictures & beautiful paintings which
adorned the church. Then was shown over the French
Christian Brothers College where they had about 600 pupils.
It seemed beautifully fitted up. Here Father Holland played
the organ & one of the Bro's, who had a beautiful baritone
voice, sang Adiste Fidiles, after which we had coffee &
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then proceeded on our way to the Catholic Cemetery
where we saw some very unique monuments amongst them
being one of an [[Italtern?]] Millionaire, which was made of marble
& bronze & represented a choir of angels & said to have cost £ 2,700
Here we also saw a very beautiful little church which had six
large mosaic pictures, which unless quite near could not be
detected from paintings. In the new portion of the cemetery
which was being levelled off was found a fairly large room
of marble, underground passages & a deep well with hand
holes down the sides, relics of older times. We returned to the
ship very tired but was cheered and refreshed by receiving some
home mail.
On the 20th all of the No 2 A.G.H. Staff left for Cairo in the morn-,
ing so some of No one's staff who was remaining on the ship did some
sight seeing, going to Mex & seeing the old fortifications which
England bombarded in 1882. Two of our Sisters were sent on
duty to one of the hospitals in Alexandria. Next day a lecture
was given in the morning, the afternoon being spent in going
over the Hospital Ship [[Slipanic?]] fitted up for the Indian sick
& wounded & also saw over an Ambulance train the first we
had seen. In Jan 22nd we moved off & berthed at another
wharf some distance from the town, saw the hospital ship
Glencorm Castle come in which was said to have wounded
Indians on board & next day we went over her, thought her
splendidly fitted up with operating Rooms Xray Rooms etc
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Up early on the 24th & started on our journey to Cairo at 9am.
After the Sisters had been lined up and numbered as any squad of
men might be & marched to the train. We arrived at our grand
palace at about 1p.m. feeling very hungry. There was nothing
provided for our luncheon. However after some time passed
we were able to get something to eat at the shops opposite.
Dinner was arranged for us at Heliopolis House Hotel, this we sat
down to at 9.30pm.
Here we found that Miss Bell had been transferred to No 2 A.G.H
& Misses Graham & Knowles to No1 A.G.H.
So the Kyarra trip ended & the parting of the ways came for a
good many. There was very little work to do on board, some
innoculations & vaccinations, sea sickness & a few febrile cases &
minor operations. Duty was arranged for by Miss Bell & was
posted weekly. The Senior Sister from each State having the duty
of inspecting the cabins etc, taking it in turn day about to do so. The
cabins as I said before were very crowded & hot & it was almost
an impossibility to keep them as tidy as they should be & I did not
wonder that many were seasick, I know I have started on my
rounds feeling very well & before I ended these felt very much
the other way & in the mornings trying to get a bath was
nearly impossible_ it was a case of early bird etc. we were
waiting in dozens fod for our turn to come. The ship was
never intended to carry so many first & second class passengers.
The food was good & there were two sittings for each meal, but
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some of our men helped in the pantry, we had often to wait
some time before getting served. I do not know how the N.C.Os &
men fared, but know that some of them were grateful for any-
thing we could give them. Mr Hickling, manager for Faggit, Jones
& Co. Sydney, very kindly sent me on a large parcel of cheese,
potted meats etc, which often stopped the complaints of some
of the men & their friends, that I happened to hear of.
Speaking of the men, it was very hard on some of them, that
so much distinction should be made between us all. Many of
the Sisters having their brothers or other relatives & friends
amongst them, to whom we were not allowed to speak unless
we had asked permission.
There was as is in civil life the usual rivalry as to the better
training of the Sisters from the different States, of course everyone
believing theirs was the best, but as all are trained in much the
same way, the work done is about equal, ones individuality
having much to do with it. There was great friendliness & much
good will amongst this large body of Sisters. As in every sphere
of life many cliques were found & many lasting friendships
made & I think we can all look back on that period of nearly
10 weeks of our lives with very pleasant, in spite of crowded
conditions & seasickness from which some, myself included
suffered from to the very last.
We all had to come away with deck chairs & at the end of the
journey they were put into the care of the Quartermaster & most
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of the Sisters never saw theirs again. Mine was only returned
to me when leaving Egypt in March 1916
A. K. Isambert
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