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
I was extremely thankful--if I had to be ill--that I had chosen a time
whilst military events in Serbia were still quiescent. For it had
always been understood, from the time shortly after our arrival, when
confidence in the organisation and the mobility of the hospital had
been established in the minds of the medical-military authorities, that
if military activities should be renewed, a portion of the unit was to
be detached to accompany the Serbian Army, as a flying field hospital,
to the front. Colonel Guentchitch wrote a letter to this effect, and
the prospect of this work kept up the spirits of those who wanted
active military work. And it was fortunate for all of us, in the light
of subsequent events, that our epidemic timed itself thus opportunely.
But, after my recovery, came Mrs. Dearmer's turn. From the first I had
misgivings about her; I felt that she had not the physique to withstand
this type of illness. It was partly on this account that I had been
unwilling to accept her services when first offered.
The circumstances of her offer could scarcely have been more dramatic.
Just before we went to Serbia, the Church League for Woman Suffrage
had, although we were not a suffrage unit, organised a farewell service
for us, with Dr. Dearmer as minister. They also generously collected
more than £500 towards our equipment fund. Before the service began,
Dr. Dearmer asked me to come into the vestry and discuss some details
of the service. He then told me that he had, only an hour or two ago,
been invited to go to Serbia as chaplain to the British units, and he
asked me if he might make his headquarters with our unit. I gladly
agreed. Presently, in his address, he referred to the fact that he
now was also going to Serbia. I did not know that his wife was in the
church, or that she had not known of his appointment. But as I walked
down the aisle, at the conclusion of the service, Mrs. Dearmer, with
tears on her face, came up to me. "This is the first I have heard of my
husband going to Serbia; Mrs. Stobart, you _must_ take me with you--as
an orderly. My sons are both at the front, and now my husband is going,
I must go too."
I'm afraid I was brutal. I pointed at her earrings and pretty chiffons.
"This kind of thing isn't suitable," I said.
"I will leave them all behind, and wear--well, your uniform!" as she
looked bravely at my dull grey clothes.
"But you would have to obey discipline, and as an orderly do all sorts
of things disagreeable to you."
"Oh! I should love discipline, and I wouldn't care what I did; anything
would be better than"--and tears would not be restrained--"being in
that house alone."
"But," I remonstrated, "you are not strong enough, you would never----"
She interrupted. "I never have anything the matter with me, and if a
doctor passes me? Besides, my husband will be there, and if I am not
suitable, you can send me away with him. You'll have no responsibility
for my health."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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