A Nurse's Life in War and PeaceLaurence, E. C. (Eleanor Constance)
History
A Nurse's Life in War and Peace
Laurence, E. C. (Eleanor Constance)
Military nursing; Nursing -- Great Britain; South African War, 1899-1902 -- Medical care
Major ---- had been very ill with ptomaine poisoning before he arrived
here. He has been a difficult case to feed in this climate, and has been
very slow in getting up any strength; but he is well on the mend now.
Then there was a bright-faced _boy_ with acute rheumatism, who said he
had not been in bed for six months, and it was "just heavenly."
Lieutenant ---- (a bishop's son) is 6 ft. 6 in., and we have to wrap up
his feet on a chair beyond the end of his bed. He has enteric, but not
so very badly; he called me to him the other day, and told me that he
had had the most bitter disappointment of his life--the doctor had
ordered him an egg, and he waited patiently till tea-time, expecting a
nice boiled egg, but he never knew the orderly would bring him a
beaten-up egg, and he had nearly drunk it before he recognised it!
Then there is Second-Lieutenant ----, who looks about sixteen, and who
only joined his regiment nine months ago, but he has seen a lot of
fighting, and was at Spion Kop, Pieter's Hill, and other battles. Some
of his men are here, and they think a great deal of him; they say at
Spion Kop all his seniors were either killed or wounded, but he led the
men on as calmly and well as possible; I believe he got a "mention" for
it. His captain wrote to me so nicely asking after him, and said, "He is
a good boy, and A1 when the bullets are flying." He had been wounded
badly, and now has enteric, but only slightly. The other officers all
call him "the boy." I hope we shall be able to send him home to his
people soon, as I think he has done his share.
Some of these officers are beginning to get about now, and they _will_
go to visit the officers in the small ward and persuade them to give
them tea there, and then return and get their own tea as well. They say
they are "making up for past hardships"! Amongst that same batch of men
there were two or three rather smart R.A.M.C. men, and we don't think
they are going to be fit for duty at the front again this campaign: they
will be quite contented to stay here, and work as soon as they are well
enough.
We have just got the electric light into working order; and, though it
is rather erratic, and often goes out, on the whole it is a great
comfort.
There has been a case of bubonic plague in Durban, but they don't seem
to think it is likely to spread.
Twenty more orderlies have arrived, St. John's Ambulance men, and the
buildings were all complete by the end of May.
I have had a few rides on the funeral horse, and, as it is very tame in
harness, I was astonished to find it was quite gay and hard to hold; but
we have found out that it was once a racehorse, and of course it has
never had a side-saddle on before.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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