"Over There" with the AustraliansKnyvett, R. Hugh (Reginald Hugh)
History
"Over There" with the Australians
Knyvett, R. Hugh (Reginald Hugh)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, English
The officers' ward was on the upper deck and our nurse had a twin
sister in another ward and there was not a particle of difference
between them. If I was lying on the deck and should call out to our
nurse as she passed to get me something, she would generally say, "I'll
ask my sister," for, of course, it was the wrong one. There was
endless confusion, for when we had a little tiff with our nurse, her
sister would be sent to Coventry as well, and in a deck golf tournament
there was great dispute over who won the ladies' prize, for both
sisters claimed it. This matter could not be settled, as the umpire
was not sure if he had credited the scores to the right one. The prize
was a set of brushes and we told them it would have to do for both,
which was all right, as we were sure they wore each other's clothes
anyway. They told us they had made a vow when they married not to live
in the same town for the husbands' sake!
The routine of the days was deadly monotonous with a break of a concert
on Saturday and church on Sunday. Unfortunately, we had on board only
two who could sing and one who thought he could recite. And even of
those whose performance exceeded their own opinion we got tired before
the journey ended. There were others who attempted to entertain us who
afflicted us so much that after three performances we gave them the
choice of suicide or having their tonsils cut, so the concerts petered
out and the audience at the last one did not pay for the moving of the
piano.
The shipping company who had transferred the ship to the Admiralty for
the duration of the war still kept on the catering, and retained the
same bill of fare as on their passenger trade. There was a good deal
of variety and we always were able to get enjoyment with wondering what
we would have for the next meal. They even helped us out a bit by
calling the same dish by different names on different days and the same
curry tasted differently under the names of "Madras," "Bengal,"
"Simla," "Ceylon," "Indian," and "Budgeree," and the cooking would even
have satisfied Americans. The nurses were seated at one long table in
the saloon and formed an island completely surrounded by officers. The
twins were on opposite sides of the table, and of course we always
found after dinner that we had been signalling to the wrong one. We
observed a good deal of ceremony and always stood to attention until
the nurses were seated, but the nurse who came in late and made us
interrupt an interesting conversation with a tender chicken got plenty
of black looks. When the matron rose we stood to attention again while
they filed out and then "carried on" with the meal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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