"Dr. Inglis was still working in Reni when the Russian Revolution broke
out in March.[20] The spirit of unrest and indiscipline, which
manifested itself among the troops, spread also to the hospitals, and a
Russian doctor reported that in the other hospitals the patients had
their own committees, which fixed the hours for meals and doctors'
visits and made hospital discipline impossible. But there was no sign of
this under Dr. Inglis's kindly but firm rule. Without relaxing
disciplinary measures, she did all in her power to keep the patients
happy and contented; and as the Russian Easter drew near, she bought
four ikons to be put up in the wards, that the men might feel more at
home. The result of this kindly thought was a charming Easter letter
written by the patients--
"_To the Much-honoured Elsie Maud, the Daughter of John._
"The wounded and sick soldiers from all parts of the army and fleet of
great free Russia, who are now for healing in the hospital which you
command, penetrated with a feeling of sincere respect, feel it their
much-desired duty, to-day, on the day of the feast of Holy Easter, to
express to you our deep reverence to you, the doctor warmly loved by
all, and also to your honoured personnel of women. We wish also to
express our sincere gratitude for all the care and attention bestowed on
us, and we bow low before the tireless and wonderful work of yourself
and your personnel, which we see every day directed towards the good of
the soldiers allied to your country.... May England live!
"(_Signed_) THE RUSSIAN CITIZEN SOLDIERS."
We cannot be too grateful to one member of the Unit who, in her
impressions of Dr. Inglis, has given us a picture of her during these
months in Russia that will live:
"I think so much stress has been laid, by those who worked under her, on
the leader who said there was no such word as 'can't' in the dictionary,
that the extraordinarily lovable personality that lay at the root of her
leadership is in danger of being obscured. I do not mean by this that we
all had a romantic affection for her. Her influence was of a much finer
quality just because she never dragged in the personal element. She was
the embodiment of so much, and achieved more in her subordinates, just
because she had never to depend for their loyalty on the limits of an
admired personality.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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