Finding Themselves: The Letters of an American Amy Chief Nurse in the British Hospital in FranceStimson, Julia C. (Julia Catherine)
History
Finding Themselves: The Letters of an American Amy Chief Nurse in the British Hospital in France
Stimson, Julia C. (Julia Catherine)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
You can’t begin to guess how welcome your letters are. Some seem to come
through so very quickly now. One of Mother’s dated July 12 reached me
July 28th and Elsie’s of the 13th came just as fast. I wish Elsie’s
kiddies could make jigsaw puzzles for our men. They are just crazy
about them, and we arrange tables so they can get at them, and they
spend hours working on them. It is so much easier for the one-armed ones
than reading. Couldn’t Billy make and send me one, or some knitted
things. I’d give it myself to one of our boys and have the boy write
Billy a letter. I wish I could send you pictures, but we can’t send a
single thing. All the kodaks were taken, and we each had to sign a paper
that we had none in our possession. I wish I could draw, there are so
many wonderfully interesting and picturesque things about here, and
right in our camp.
August 8, 1917.
We have just finished our weekly inspection by the “D. D. M. S.,” which
means the Deputy Divisional Medical Supervisor, who is a very pleasant
Colonel. Every Wednesday at 3.30 we all line up at the entrance to our
camp and wait to meet him after he gets through inspecting No. 10
General Hospital. By “we” I mean our “C. O.” Major Fife, our “M. O.”
Major Murphy, our Liaison Officer, a British Colonel, the Quartermaster,
and the “Matron,” me. It really is a very pleasant occasion. We sit out
there in the sun, if there is any, on a park bench and gossip until we
see the D. D. M. S. aide appear from out of the last tent of No. 10,
then we stand up and walk over a bit to greet him. He always shakes
hands with me first and asks me how I am getting along, then salutes the
others and has a word or two with them, then turns to me and asks what I
want him to see. I usually turn to Major Murphy and ask him if he has
anything special to show the Colonel, and Major Murphy says: “Let’s show
the Colonel line so and so.” I have accidentally mentioned before what
lines I would like to have visited. It is usually tea time when he
comes, and, unless we tell the nurses to hold off with the tea until
after the inspection is over, the tents are in a mussy state. So every
Wednesday I usually warn two or three different lines that I may have
them inspected. To-day as a matter of fact we went to three different
lines that had not been warned, as Major Murphy wanted to show the
Colonel some special cases. After inspection is over, the officers take
him and his aide to tea in the Officers’ Mess, or I take him up to the
Sisters’ Mess. While we were making rounds to-day, it began to pour, but
one of my nice aides brought me an umbrella and Captain Schwab lent me
his rain coat to save my clean white dress. When I went down to the
point to wait for his Elegance, the sun was shining beautifully, but it
was about the second peep of the sun we have had in over a week. And now
it is pouring.--I had to stop then and put on my rain hat and coat and
go up to the Sisters’ Quarters with a Lieutenant from the Royal
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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