The Flaming Sword in Serbia and ElsewhereStobart, M. A. (Mabel Annie)
History
The Flaming Sword in Serbia and Elsewhere
Stobart, M. A. (Mabel Annie)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
But by the evening of Monday, the 19th, everything--tents, equipment,
stores, etc.--was on the trucks and ready to travel with us. And I,
with eleven members, as advance party, left Salonica at 8 a.m. for
Kragujevatz. We had all duly, the night before, performed the rite of
smearing our bodies with paraffin, as a supposed precaution against the
typhus lice. But it is probably a mistake to think that paraffin kills
lice. Paraffin is a good cleanser, and lice, which flourish in dirt,
respect their enemy, but are not killed by it.
The railway journey was interesting, especially to those amongst us who
had never before been away from England.
We were amused to see real live storks nesting on the chimney-tops.
So the German nursery tale, that babies are brought into the world by
storks, down the bedroom chimney, must be true. German fables will
probably in future teach that babies are brought through the barrels
of rifles, double barrels being a provision of Providence for the safe
arrival of twins, which will be much needed for the repopulation of the
country.
We reached Skoplye at 9 p.m. Sir Ralph Paget kindly came to the train
to greet us, and whilst we had some very light refreshments at the
station, he stayed and talked with us. Lady Paget was then, we were
thankful to hear, recovering from the attack of typhus which she had
contracted during her hospital work at Skoplye.
The country through which we passed, was magnificent; mountains,
rivers, gorges, and picturesque houses--one-storied, of sun-dried
brick--with clear air, warm sunshine, and blossoming fruit trees.
Occasionally a ruined village, or a new bridge replacing one that had
lately been destroyed by Bulgarian raids, or newly dug graves of those
killed in the last raid, were reminders that man, with his murderous
works, would see to it that enjoyment of Nature's works should not
enter for long into our programme.
We reached Nish at 7.30 next morning, April 21st. At the station we
were met by Dr. Karanovitch, Chief Surgeon of the Army; Dr. Grouitch,
Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs; Mr. Blakeney, British
Vice-Consul; Professor Todorovitch, Secretary to the Chief Surgeon; Mr.
Petcham, Official of Foreign Affairs; and Dr. Soubotitch, President of
the Red Cross Society.
All were most courteous and hospitable, and during the one and a half
hour's halt they took us to breakfast at the Red Cross Hospital, and
later accompanied us to the station to speed us on our last stage of
the journey to Kragujevatz.
We left Nish at 10 a.m., and reached Kragujevatz at 7 p.m. The scenery
was superb, and we were sorry when the journey came to an end. At the
station, we were met by Colonel Dr. Guentchitch, the head of the Army
Medical Service. He had most thoughtfully arranged sleeping quarters
for the staff in the empty wards of a hospital; but it seemed wiser,
and less trouble to all concerned, for us to stay for the night in our
train, in a siding.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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