Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front, 1914-1915Anonymous
History
Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front, 1914-1915
Anonymous
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals, charities, etc.; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
On Friday--the day between these two journeys--Sister N. and I got a
motor ambulance from the T.O. and whirled off to Wimereux in it. It is a
lovely place on the sea, about three miles off, now with every hotel,
casino, and school taken up by R.A.M.C. Base Hospitals. It was a lovely
blue morning, and I went right out to the last rock on the sands and
watched the breakers while Sister N. attended to some business. It was
glorious after the everlasting railway carriage atmosphere. Then we
found a very nice old church in the town. It is too wet to load up with
the Indians to-night, so we have the night in bed, and take them down
to-morrow.
A sergeant of the 10th Hussars told me he was in a house with some
supposed Belgian refugees. He noticed that when a little bell near the
ceiling rang one of them always dashed upstairs. He put a man upstairs
to trace this bell and intercept the Belgian. It was connected with the
little trap-door of a pigeon-house. When a pigeon came in with a
message, this door rang the bell and they went up and got the message.
They didn't reckon on having British in the house. They were shot next
morning.
It takes me a month to read a Sevenpenny out here.
_Sunday (Advent), November 29th._--On the way down from Chocques. We
have got Indians, British, and eight Germans this time. One big,
handsome, dignified Mussulman wouldn't eat his biscuit because he was in
the same compartment as a Hindu, and the Hindu wouldn't eat his because
the Mussulman had handed it to him. The Babu I called in to interpret
was very angry with both, and called the M. a fool-man, and explained to
us that he was telling them that in England "Don't care Mussulman, don't
care Hindu"--only in Hindustan, and that if the Captain Sahib said
"Eat," it was "Hukm," and they'd got to. My sympathies were with the
beautiful, polite, sad-looking M., who wouldn't budge an inch, and only
salaamed when the Babu went for him.
_Monday, November 30th, Boulogne._--Yesterday a wounded Tommy on the
train told me "the Jack Johnsons have all gone." To-day's French
communique says, "The enemy's heavy artillery is little in evidence."
There is a less strained feeling about everywhere--a most blessed lull.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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