1 12.10.16 My very dearest Mother A Thousand thanks
for your very nice long letter of t
the 7th Oct. I cannot tell you
how delighted i was to get it,
but frightfully sorry to hear you
are having such a terrible time
with the Mumps && that my
darling Andrew has it. I sincerely
hope he is better by
this also poor Cecil. Really you have
had a terrible hard time since
I left && it has kept you
so isolated from the rest of
the family. I feel I have
been so slack about writing
but really we have not had
time for anything but work
& when i get off for an hour 2 I need to generally lie down so as
to go on fresh. I shall try &
give you an idea what I have
been doing since the 25th Sep:
when our big rush really started
here but I do not want you to think
I am being over worked, as you know
I have had a good week spring
cleaning an empty ward before
the rush —- I am glad to say I felt
a.1. at the time & seem quite able
for the long hours. I think it is
working under canvas as that is so
healthy & one does not get nearly
so tired. On Monday Sep 25th
I had had my usual day work in
my own tent & was going off
duty for the evening when I received
a message from Matron to say I
was to go to S.8. Surgical tent 3 open again when I got over
There was Sister St. Leger and another
V.A.D. the two tents were full of
wounded some very bad others only
slight hurt most of them & had
to have baths so all had to
be washed in the wards. this
was getting on to 6 o'clock & none
of the dressings had been touched
so we started off & did all the
worst & found a great number
had haemorrhage on the way others
were found with Gas Gangrene
which meant immediate operation
which had to be done that night
I think we got off about 10 o' clock
leaving one poor man named
Wood very bad they found
he had Septic absorption it had gone
too far for amputation & the only
chance was to drain the leg & they 4 & get rid of poisoning. Next morning
we came on to hear that he had been
to the theatre during the night
again & that the M.O. was going
to give a transfusion which is
a terrible job in itself & so many
of the others were very bad we really
did not know where to begin
I forgot to tell you that that he had
had a Ensol transfusion the night
before which I believe is the latest
treatment for these Gas Gangrene
in some case I believe it has proved
invaluable but it seems Gods will
this man should not live. He
lingered on for three days, every
thing possible was done for him
but he died very quietly on the
3rd night, it is a very sad thing
to watch. the patient is so frightfully
restless & has to be watched all
the time he was quite unconscious
on the last day & spoke in such a 5 weird way. Well things went on
fairly well operations after operations
but they seem to be getting
on very well, A great number
of arms and legs were saved with
G. Gangrene that they thought would
have to be amputated on the 1st
Oct. one of our tents was turned
into the accute Ward for the whole
surgical division which of course
made us very busy again
as we got all the worst cases
from the Hospital after operations.
Really we were dressing from
8 in the morning till 8 at night
& the three of us on duty all
the time except for one day
when we each got an hour.
Still we all felt wonderful &
it was such a joy to see them
all improving. but we had some
nasty frights one man started hammering 6 banging one night and in the end
had to get the M.O. to stop it after
having the orderly help for 15 min.
by Sister & myself he lost pints that
night so he haemorrhaged twice
but was sent to the line the next
day. I wonder how the poor man
got on. Well things were beginning
to get quieter & the work a little
lighter when a very large convoy
of skin cases arrived & my old
tents all 8 were open & I got a
message to go down there & take
charge again. What a change to
go & see these terribly disfigured
men covered with Scabies Impetigo
& the Lord know what after having
the most interesting work in the
whole hospital, so again I found
myself with 56 patients & one
orderly which meant no off
duty till I got help which arrived 7 two days ago. So we are able to
relieve each other now. I really
do not care for skins very much
The fact of the matter is I know
nothing about them except what
I have learned this past week.
Sometimes I feel quite sea sick
pulling off these horrible scabs
but I feel heartily sorry for
the men and someone has to look
after them. I believe this hospital
will be nothing but skins after
the 1 Nov: but by then I shall
know more about them. One
is dressing all day long as
one case sometimes takes
over an hour to do, especially
if it is a face case when its
the crust to be removed
We have two skin specialists
here who are frightfully keen
& expect you to be the same. 8 I must try and get up my
interest I cannot help thinking
of Uncle Charlie every time I
am dressing them his disgust
if he saw them with the big
sores all over them I do not think
he would ever kiss me again.
It is really sad to think there
is so much of it among our
troops the only good thing
is they can cure scabies in
three days if taken in time but
then it is so terribly infectious
Our staff has increased a great
deal but we are still rather under
staffed for our numbers. I have not
heard from Gerald G. since he
ought to be getting leave very
soon now, as it is open I
wonder if he will pass through
B.-- I may see him if so 9 did you ever send me those
two photos I asked you I want
to give one to Sister H Seger who
this morning present me with
a sweet gold brooch in remem-
brance of the happy and rosy time
we had to-gether etc. It was very
sweet of her and I did not
deserve it I only did my
duty - really mother I am very
lucky and always seem to be
sent to places where the work
is good and interest so I must
not grumble at the skin which
I am sure to like just as much
when I know more about them.
I hope you are feeling well.
It is too bad you should
have the shortage from the 10 company this year when every
thing is so dear however we
must all look forward to
brighter days soon as, as Gerald
said when I sent him the Photo
of Green bank Roses, which he
very greedily kept, he said they
look topping but we will all make
up for these bad times when the
war is over. I hope he will go &
see you on his way home when
he gets leave. Mrs Gartlan wrote
me such a nice letter with all
their news. I do feel for her being
left all alone but am glad her
anxiety is lessened with Gerald's
appointment. I must close
now hoping you will be able
to read this awful scrawl.
written in a hurry as I just
had two hours off this morning to 11 give Mrs Paul my help on half
day I had one yesterday
but had to go into Boulogne
to get another hut. as we are
not allowed to wear straw
after the 1st Oct. I got such
a nice useful sailor for 20 francs
My very fondest love to every
one & tell them all my thoughts
I do not have much time
for writing. I am always
thinking & wondering what they
are doing & how they are.
With every good wish love & thought I remain always dearest Mother
Your most grateful & loving
daughter Marie I hope you continue to have
good news of Tommy. how 12 wish we could get him home
I am very anxious to hear
the results of poor Uncle Frank.
Love
Marie You must be bored with
this but I just feel today
how I would love to be at
home have dear old chat
with you so if I have written
nonsense you know how I
am feeling. I am writing this
with your photo before me &
trying to imagine I am speaking
to you dearest Mother. Cheer Up the war will soon
be over I hope
Marie