Letters and typescript copies from Florence Hobbes to her family, 1915-1918 - Part 8

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buckjumper with the best of them, a dear rough old diamond, as good
hearted as you could get, will do anything for the men in the ward or for
me, Ill give him a P.C to send to you when he gets back to Australia
Now I must stop dears, oceans of love from Narrie 

Malta
2nd Nov, 
Darlings, I simply have no news for you to-day, hve had a most stodgy
fortnight, and am getting brain fag with asking the same old patients
the same old question, you know we've practically nothing but
Dysentry cases and the one question is "How often have your bowels acted
in the last 24 hours? you go round 16 patients in 34 tents and always
that is the chief topic of conversation, till pon my word when I meet
nyone I instinctively say "How are your bowels, etc, " We all say the
same thing, even the M.O's have said they feel just the same when they go
out. 
Had a hurried scrawl from Rose and Elsie to say that they had just

been given an hour to pack and go off on a Hospital ship to England. I
was awfully sad about it as they may not return to Malta, and now I'm
left without a "caretaker" so - You would have smiled if you could
have seen your little daughter last night, Sister Trumble - a dear -
Sister Gibson and I went in to Valetta, after doing what shopping I had
to do, I had to go down to the Camaretta to get my washing and promised
to meet the girls 20 minutes after at a "Tuck shop", and we would then
come home -8.30. When I drove up to the tuck shop I saw them just
dive in and wondered what they had been doing, they thought I had been
waiting for them so quickly said "Oh sister we've so sorry to keep you
waiting but we've been talking to two of the dearest Australian boys and
did not not know how the time was flying, we told them all about you and
they are awfully keen to meet you. Of course I was awfully keen to meetx
know who they were, the the girls did not know their names. We had our
coffee and hit the track for Marsamacetta wharf to get our little puffer
for Sleima and from there to Carrozin and St Davids, when we got down to
Marsa- both girls gave a jump and said "there they are" Sure enough
there they were, with two others, well of course as I had my suit case
full of washing and Australian papers what more natural than that one
would come to me and offer to carry it on board for me, and being an
Australian of course I said "for goodness sake sit down and talk Australian
to me" which he did, without any hesitation whatever. When we got 
to the other side and they had carried my case to "Carrott", what more
natural than that wer should offer them a seat. Well of course, pull 

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yourself together - when the old driver found there were 5 of us, he said
he could not take us all unless one sat outside on the box seat, and as
no-one wanted to do that my N.S.W. boy said "Come on Sister we'll have the
next "Carrott" which we did, forgetting that wewere under a strict rule
that the xSisters will not be seen in public with N.C.O's or men", dashed
rot, it simply means that they do it but cover their tracks. I simply
never thought about it, and got in, under the eye of half a dozen officers
who smiled broadly. I discovered he was a tram driver on the Bondi tram,
at which I smiled broadly, but the poor soul, a big broad shouldered fsxlo
fellow was so absolutely delighted to find himself talking to an
Australian Sister that I would have felt a cad and a snob if I had not
driven to the Hospital with him, especially as they had to come past our
door, and as he had confided to me on the boat that he and his friend had
run nearly all the way to the boat for fear we would get there first, and
he so wanted to talk to me; you dont know how these boys of ours love to
come across an Australian woman, and then when they saw xx us they were
nearly too shy to come and speak to me till my suit case met their eye,
poor dears, I would do any mortal thing for them, and they are so disliked
by the R.A.M.C. men, they are jealous of them, there is one Sgt, here,
who, if he can get an Australian C.B or Corredino
is quite happy, but he is going to do it once too often, is a perfect
beast everyone dislikes him intensely.
I so often wish Jean and Els were over here to sing for the
soldiers, we have two concerts a week here, and across the road at
"All Saints" they have one a week, but voices - they are not to the
fore. There is one man Pte Mellish an Australian, has been a patient but
is now at All Saints, he was with the Williamson Opera Company, he hs a
most beautiful voice, the first night I heard him I said to little Trumble
"that man has a voice that might belong to an Australian", afterwards
I asked who he was and was told he was an Australian and I just discovered
last night that a huge building that they are erecting just near our
camp is being put up for a concert hall by the Australian Government, and
here these bally English were taking the credit of it, like their cheek.
My little tram driver behaved himself infinitely better than some of the
M.O.s
I must stop now, oceans of love from Narrie 

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Still at the Camqs
My beloved people
I'm  so sorry I did not have a letter for
you last week, but not only has there been an
absolute dearth of news we've all been so dog
tired & sleepy, It seems to take me days to get one of
these letters written
We are really working jolly hard
these days my days are spent in getting from Camp to Camp
or rather tent to tent, finding out fresh bod cases & all
that sort of thing. trying to keep up with the M. Officers. Ive
not walked so far
not walked so far for many days in one day & as for
going brown, we Camp Sisters are going absolutely
black I'm nearly the colour of my suit case; when
we get back to London we will have to enter a
convent or some thing for a few months & undergo
a face peeling treatment or people will think
we are all "Nigs" - Can you tell me who Signaller
Geo Campbell is? I had a letter from the Anglo Egyptian
Bank sent to me three times for this boy as the last
time I thought I'd better open it & see if the address
could give me any clue as to who he was
addressed to him c/o me - found it was from the
Bank telling him they had received instructions
from Sydney or Australia to pay him so much. 

I wonder how on earth they knew me, & was here
I do not remember any Campbells. - then I had a
cable from a Miss Florence Wilson asking me if I would
look up a Lance Corporal Monk who was wounded in
Malta, took me two days - When I found him I had
to go & see him, poor soul, found he had been
shot clean through the face, from one side to the
to the other, carrying away part of the jaw & the tendons
at the front of jaw. he is getting on quite well but his
face is lopsided - Then to-day I got two letters
from Valletta, one from a Sister at Intalfa Hospital
asking me to go & see my Cousin, Well I puzzled over
that letter for ages & was nearly going to ring up the Sister
to ask what my Cousins name was this time - but
opened the next letter which started with Dear
Cousin Narelle". I turned to the end & last chapter
of the book & found it was from Gilbert Auschan
such a nice letter - he has enteric is in Intalfa
but goodness knows how I am to get there from here,
he found me in a most quaint way, he was
working with M^r Andrews of all people & had a
letter from Edna saying he I was here x
Pardon but there goes the blessed bugle for "lights
out" I'll have to finish with my torch light - (Off
every night at 10 p.m.) I Continue - ^xSaying I had
come over from Australia & had got into a Milit.
Hospital some where - A few days afterward 

(3)
a few days afterwards M^r Andrews was sent to
Egypt with dysentry - & Gilbert was sent over
here Is'nt it quaint I had a p.c. from the Rev
Martin G. & a letter from Leo Chateau, &
Rex Solling at the Dardenells, Revⁿ L.M.A. in
Egypt - Lonie had arrived there & was nearly
ready for the front again the 12^th A.L.H had
gone to Gallipoli - I promptly got one of
them in with jaundice a man called
Hodges from Wagga Wagga, he will be going
back soon, Alex Guthrie was ill in Lemnos
with dysentry. Gordon Cooper is doing splen

did work stretcher bearing & his brother
 Dan is ^Nettleton from Milroy - poor young Nettleton
had been killed - Kit Chateau is at &
young Francis from Millroy so there is
quite a lot of Gallipoli news. Young Robb
from Charlton - the other day going through
the wards I stopped to speak to a young
Australian boy & found he was young Ellis from
Bermaguie he used to live there I believe
Now darlings I must stop I had to write
Gilbert Auschan that has put my letter back
& now the lights are all out my torch too good 

(4)
too good so - Good night dears all my best
of love & good wishes to you all - Oh I wrote
Martin last week - I forgot to put it down
Yours lovingly -
Narrie.
Many thanks for papers the boys
love them but several have said quite
pathetically to me "Sister I wish they would

                 113 [[?]] also
print a paper for us chaps at the front with

out any war news, unless its the casualty list
giving some Australian N.S.W. scenes to look
at instead of war pictures, like our own Country
would be all right. More scenes. We've seen shells
burst & dead Turks & Comrades enough to last for the
rest of our lives in reality" The poor dears had Church
at Camp, it was packed they went in pyjamas in shorts
& shirt. Oh they are like a lot of blessed children - 
There are days I hate our Matron she is the one
I told you of who said the men were nothing but
a lot of vulgar undisciplined brutes that she
hated them all & is delighted if a man gets reported
& gets C.B. says she never takes the men into con

sideration. Its the beds & the tidyness its regimental 
so be damned its war times. & these men are
giving their lives for us - she is not a
woman - absolutely no -
Narrie. 

C/o Commercial Banking Co of Sydney.
My address. / 18 Birchen Lane - London. E.C.
Palermo. Sicily.
6^th March 1916.

My dearest Jean & Barbie.

I do believe I owe you a letter, anyway here
is a short one for you. as I have not time to write both _

I suppose by now you have quite settled down to
school life at Westwood, I'm so glad dears, and work
hard while you are there, & make the most of your lessons,
& keep your French & Music up, & give that message to
dear Jennie too, so that when you come over to England
or Italy, as I hope you will do some day, you can talk to
the people over here, nearly all Italians speak French,
but very few of them know English, and it is so difficult
to make them understand, or to understand them, when
they speak Italian or Sicilian, I am trying hard to learn
Italian while I am here, its such a good chance, but find
it rather hard just now as I am on night duty, and get
so awfully sleepy when I try to study, & when I try 
write, I find my pen wandering all over the paper
like a spider, & then I waken up suddenly & pull them
together, its so beastly for I meant to do so much 
on night duty, having so much time, but instead I
have done less than ever, & have to keep getting up &
walking up & down the hall, till I waken up again, then
start afresh, for you see there is so very little to do, not
enough to keep me awake, as I only have three patients
& a V.A.W. on duty with me, 

And how do you like school? I expect you will feel a
little strange at first, & cramped up, & you are sure to
miss your horses, but it will be so good for you to to
mix with other girls, your own age, & make chums, &
make it easier for you in your work, Jennie loves
it, and its ever so nice for you having Jennie there at
first to look after you.

Palermo is a very beautiful place, not so much the
City as the outside places, Ive been to several of them
and love them, its all so different to anything I
have ever seen, They have crowds of little donkeys
& really, the way they load them up is too dreadful,
sometimes you can scarcely see the donkey for the load,
numbers of them are not much bigger than a dog,
they seem to be able to carry, & draw, weights out of
all comparison to their size, really they are most
wonderful, & the Sicilians are so cruel to their animals
they say animals have no souls, & therefore cannot feel,
they will burn out the eyes of a bird with red hot iron,
because they say they sing so very much better when they
cannot see, of course its most intensly cruel, but they
cannot see it, it is what they have always done, and
what their people have done before them.
There are some very wonderful old churches here, and
wonderful ruins & places dating back to 1115, I must get
you some P.Cs. of different places. The thing that amuses me
are the flocks of goats, driven through the streets, and
milked anywhere in the street or on the pavement, they
are absolutely disgusting really, but no one seems to think
anything at all of it, they wander through, and cows, 

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with calves tied to their tails, dozens of them, the
goat herd will wander long ahead of his goats, calling
to them, & calling out "Latte" which is Italian for
milk, in Malta they used to call "Harleep"
The policemen here wear the most wonderful hats,
I have been trying to get a snapshot of them,
they also wear long capes below their knees, instead
of coats, the soldiers nearly all wear capes too.
& they go in for the most gorgeous colours for their
uniforms, of course when they go to the front they
leave the colours behind,
For some things I shall be awfully sorry to leave
Palermo, I love Sicily, but it has been awfully
lonely here, there was no one I could make a
companion of, I do not care particularly for the
English Sisters, especially the ones we have here,
they are rather common, and did not like going
about to see things, I mean beautiful views, or
old churches or ruins & all that sort of thing.
I would love to think that I would come back
here again some day when the war is over, & just
go all round Sicily, there are two beautiful places
over on the Eastern side Syracusa & Taromina,
the latter is most beautiful they say, we just
passed through part of it coming round here
we landed at Syracusa (or Siracusa) & took the
train there, round by Catania & Messina, the latter
place was destroyed five years ago with a most
fearful Earthquake, all the magnificant old houses,
are in ruins, & have never been rebuilt, instead they