Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front, 1914-1915 | Page 8

is too sick at the state of affairs to enjoy it at all; some bathe,
and you can sit about in the pines or on the sands. We have had no
letters since we left Havre last Thursday, and no news of the war. We
took till Sunday morning to reach St Nazaire, and at midday were
stuffed into a little dirty train for this place. I'm thankful we didn't have
to get out at Pornichet, the station before this, where are Nos.--, --, --, --,
and --.
The Sisters of No.-- who had to leave their hospital at ---- handed their
sick officers and men over to the French hospital, much to their disgust.
The officers especially have a horror of the elegant ways of the French
nurses, who make one water do for washing them all round!
Tuesday, September 8th.--Orders came last night to each Matron to
provide three or five Sisters who can talk French for duty up country
with a Stationary Hospital, so M. and I are put down with two Regulars
and another Reserve. It is probably too much luck and won't come off.
The duties will be "very strenuous," both for night and day duty, and
we are to carry very little kit. The wire may come at any time. So this
morning M. and I and Miss J----, our Senior Regular, and very nice
indeed, got into the train for St Nazaire to see about our baggage, and
had an adventurous morning. The place was swarming with troops of
all sorts. The 6th Division was being sent up to the Front to-day, and no
medical units could get hold of any transport for storing all their
thousands of tons of stuff. One of the minor errors has been sending the
600 Sisters out with 600 trunks, 600 holdalls, and 600 kit-bags!! The
Sisters' baggage is a byword now, and we could have done with only
one of the three things or 1-1/2. We have been out nearly a month now

and have not been near our boxes; some other hospitals have lost all
theirs, or had them smashed up. We at last traced our No.-- people and
found them encamped on the wharf among the stuff,[1] trying to get it
stored with only one motor transport lent them by the Flying Corps.
They were very nice to us, offered us lunch on packing-cases, and
Major ---- cleaned my skirt with petrol for me!
[Footnote 1: Each hospital contains 78 tons of tents, furniture, stores,
&c.]
They sorted out the five kit-bags and boxes for us from the rest, as we
have to go in to-morrow and repack for duty,--only sleeping kit and
uniform to be taken, and a change of underclothing. They said we'd
have to make our own transport arrangements, as the 6th Division had
taken up everything. So in the town we saw an empty dray outside a
public-house, and after investigating inside two pubs we unearthed a fat
man, who took us to a wine merchant's yard, and he produced a huge
dray, which he handed over to us! We lent it to the Matron of No.--,
and we have commandeered the brewer for No.--'s to-morrow. Then we
met a large French motor ambulance without a French owner, with
"Havre" on it, which we knew, and sent Miss ---- in it to the Asturias to
try and collar it for us to-morrow. She did.
There were a lot of Cavalry already mounted just starting, and Welsh
Fusiliers, and Argyll and Sutherlands, and swarms more. We had
another invitation to a packing-case lunch from three other M.O.'s at
another wharf, but couldn't stop.
We saw three German officers led through the crowd at the wharf. The
French crowd booed and groaned and yelled "Les Assassins" at them.
The Tommies were quite quiet. They looked white and bored. We also
saw 86 men (German prisoners) in a shed on the wharf. Some one
who'd been talking to the German officers told us they were quite
cheerful and absolutely certain Germany is going to win!
Wednesday, September 9th.--It is a month to-day since I left home, and
seems like six, and no work yet. Isn't it absolutely rotten? A big storm
last night, and the Bay of Biscay tumbling about like fun to-day: bright

and sunny again now. The French infants, boys and girls up to any age,
are all dressed in navy knickers and jerseys and look so jolly. Matron
has gone into St Nazaire to-day to get all the whole boiling of our
baggage out here to repack. P'raps she'll bring some news or some
letters, or, best of all, some orders.
This is a lovely spot. I'm writing on our balcony at the Riffelalp, above
the tops of the pines, and straight