SERBIA
Serbia in January, 1915, was in a pitiable condition. Three wars
following in quick succession had devastated the land. The Austrians,
after their defeat at the Battle of the Ridges in October, 1914, had
retreated out of the country, leaving behind them filthy hospitals
crowded with wounded, Austrian and Serb alike. The whole land has been
spoken of as one vast hospital. From this condition of things sprang the
scourge of typhus which started in January, 1915, and swept the land.
Dr. Soltau and her Unit, arriving in the early part of January, were
able to take their place in the battle against this scourge. Their work
lay in Kraguevatz, in the north of Serbia, where Dr. Soltau soon had
three hospitals under her command.
In April Dr. Soltau contracted diphtheria. Dr. Inglis was wired for, and
left for Serbia in the end of April, 1915. She went gaily. There seems
no other word to describe her attitude of mind--she was so glad to go.
The sufferings of the wounded and dying touched her keenly. It was not
want of sympathy with all the awful misery on every hand that made her
go with such joy of heart, but rather she was glad from the sense that
at last she, personally, would be "where the need was greatest." This
had always been her objective.
THE ÆGEAN SEA,
"_May 2nd, 1915._
"DEAREST EVA,
"We have had a perfectly glorious voyage from Brindisi to Athens,
all yesterday between the coast and the Greek Islands, and then in
the Gulf of Corinth. I never remember such a day--all day the
sunshine and the beautiful hills, with the clouds capping them, or
lying on their slopes, and the blue sky above, and blue sea all
round. Then came the most glorious sunset, and when we came up from
dinner the sky blazing with stars. We put our chairs back to the
last notches, and lay looking at them, till a great yellow moon
came up and flooded the place with light and put the stars out. It
was glorious....
"Your loving sister,
"ELSIE INGLIS."
She landed in Serbia when the epidemic of fever had been almost
overcome, and with the long, peaceful summer ahead of her. It is a joy
to think of Dr. Inglis all that summer. Her letters are full of buoyancy
of spirit. She was keen about everything. She had left behind her a
magnificent organization, enthusiastic women in every department, the
money flowing in, and the scheme meeting with more and more approval
throughout the country. In Serbia she was to find her power of
organizing given full scope. She had splendid material in the personnel
of the Scottish Women's Hospitals Units under her command. She made many
friends--Sir Ralph Paget, Colonel Hunter, Dr. Curcin, Colonel Gentitch,
and many others. She was in close touch with, was herself part of, big
schemes, a fact which was exhilarating to her. Everything combined to
make her happy.
The scheme that eventually took shape was Colonel Hunter's. His idea was
to have three "blocking hospitals" in the north of Serbia, which, when
the planned autumn offensive of the Serbs took place, would keep all
infectious diseases from spreading throughout the country. Innumerable
journeys up and down Serbia were taken by Dr. Inglis before the three
Scottish Women's Hospitals which were to form this blocking line had
been settled, and were working at Valjevo, Lazaravatz, and Mladanovatz.
Dr. Alice Hutchison and her Unit, with "the finest canvas hospital ever
sent to the Balkans," arrived in Serbia shortly after Dr. Inglis. Dr.
Hutchison was sent to Valjevo; Lazaravatz and Mladanovatz were
respectively under Dr. Hollway and Dr. McGregor. Dr. Inglis herself took
over charge of the fever hospitals in Kraguevatz, working them as one,
so that soon there were four efficient Scottish Women's Hospitals in
Serbia. The Serbian Government gave Dr. Inglis a free pass over all the
railways. She calls herself "extraordinarily lucky" in getting this
pass, and writes how greatly she enjoys these journeys, how much of the
country she sees during them, and of the interesting people she meets.
For the first time in her life she had work to do that needed almost the
full stretch of her powers. And deep at the heart of her joy at this
time lay her growing love of the Serbs. Something in them appealed to
her, something in their heroic weakness satisfied the yearning of her
strength to help and protect. She writes glowingly of their soldiers
streaming past the Scottish Women's Hospitals at Mladanovatz, massing on
the Danube, "their heads held high." Every letter is full of enthusiasm
of the country and the people. "God bless her," writes a friend; "it was
the last really joyous time she knew."
Later on the Serbs erected a fountain at Mladanovatz in memory of the
work done by the Scottish Women's Hospitals in Serbia, and in particular
by Dr. Inglis. The opening ceremony took place in the beginning of
September. Many people, English and Serbs, were present, and a long
letter by Dr. Inglis describes the dedication service.
"A table covered with a white cloth stood in front of the fountain,
and on it a silver crucifix, a bowl of water, a long brown candle
lighted and stuck in a tumbler full of sand, and two bunches of
basil, one fresh and one dried."
At the end of the service the priest gave the bunches of basil to Dr.
Inglis. "These are some of the few things," she writes, "which I shall
certainly keep always."
The Serbian officer who designed the fountain has contributed to this
_Life_ the following account of his impressions of Dr. Inglis:
"Already five sad and painful years have gone by since the time that I
had the chance and honour of knowing Dr. Elsie Inglis. It is already
five years since we erected to her--still in the plenitude of life--a
monument. What a prediction! Whence came the inspiration of the great
soul who was founder of this monument?
"Oh, great and noble soul, there is yet another monument created in the
hearts of the soldiers and Serbian people! And if the pitiless wheel of
time crushes the first, the second will survive all that is visible and
material.
"One did not need to be long with Dr. Elsie Inglis to see all the
grandeur of her soul, her long vision, and her attachment to the Serbs.
I was not among those who chanced to pass some months in her company,
but even in a few days I soon learnt to recognize her divine nature, and
to see her relief in all colours.
"After the second big offensive of Germano-Austrian forces against
Serbia in the autumn of 1914, Dr. Elsie Inglis took a great part in
working against the various epidemics spread by the invasion in Western
Serbia. The significance and tenacity of this time of epidemic was such
that only those who witnessed it can understand the great usefulness,
devotion, and attachment of its co-workers. A great number of Dr.
Inglis's personnel were occupied in coping with it, and with what
results!
"The Serbian counter-offensive terminated, provisional peace reigned in
Serbia. Six months went by before the last soldier of the enemy left our
sacred soil; the second enemy--the great epidemic--has also been
arrested and vanquished. The terrors that these two allies brought in
their train gradually disappeared, and the sun shone once again for the
Little Armed People. Men breathed again, and tired bodies slept. One had
the time to think of the great soldiers of the front, as well as those
who worked behind the lines. And, indeed, in those great days we knew
not who were the more courageous, the more daring, the greater heroes.
"General Headquarters decided to give a tangible recognition to all
those who had taken part in this epoch. Among the first thus
distinguished were Dr. Elsie Inglis and her hospitals.
"On the proposal of the Director of Sanitation, it was decided to erect
a monumental fountain to the memory of Dr. Elsie Inglis and her Scottish
Women's Hospitals. This was to be at Mladanovatz, quite close to one of
these hospitals, at a few yards' distance from the main railway-line
running from Belgrade to Nish, in sight of all the travellers who passed
through Serbia.
"It was erected, and bears the inscription:
"IN MEMORY OF THE SCOTTISH WOMEN'S HOSPITALS AND THEIR FOUNDER, DR.
ELSIE INGLIS."
"The object of my letter is not to make known what I have told you; what
follows is more important.
"Dr. Inglis was present in person at the unveiling and benediction of
the fountain. The idea was to give her a proof of the people's gratitude
by erecting an original monument which, in recalling those strenuous
days, would combine a value practical and real, solving the question of
a pure drinking-water, and cutting off the danger of an epidemic at the
root; and also, the impression that she had after visiting a number of
fountains in the environs of Mladanovatz and its villages left her no
rest (as she said later), and produced in her an idea, long thought
over, and eventually expressed in the following conversation:
"'Look here, Captain P----, I have a scheme which absorbs me more and
more, and becomes in me a fixed idea. You suffer in Serbia, and are
often subject to epidemics, through nothing else but bad water. I have
been thinking it over, and would like to ameliorate as much as possible
this deplorable state of affairs. I have the intention of addressing an
appeal to the people of Great Britain, and asking them to inaugurate a
fund which would create the opportunity of constructing in each Serbian
village a fountain of good drinking-water. And then, I should return to
Serbia, and with you--I hope that you are willing, since you have
already built so many of these fountains round about--should go from
village to village erecting these fountains. It will be, after the war,
my unique and greatest desire to do this for the Serbs.'
"Oh, great friend of Serbia! Thy clear-sighted spirit was to have but a
glimpse of one of the most essential necessities of the Serbian people.
Thy frail and fragile body has not permitted thee to enjoy the pleasure
to which thou hast devoted so much love. For the well-being of this dear
people thou hast given thyself entirely, even thy noble life. What a
misfortune indeed for us!
"May Heaven send thee eternal peace, so much merited, and so much
desired by all those who knew thee, and above all and especially by all
those Serbian hearts who have found in thee a great human friend."
Dr. Inglis wrote every week to the committee. In the letters written
towards the end of September we are aware of the anxiety about the
future which is beginning to make itself felt.
"Last week Austrian aeroplanes were 'announced,' and the
authorities evidently believed the report; for the Arsenal was
emptied of workmen--and they don't stop work willingly just now.
So--as a Serbian officer said to me yesterday--'Serbia is exactly
where she was a year ago.' It does seem hard lines on our little
Ally....
"Well, as to how this affects us. Sir Ralph was talking about the
various possibilities. _As long as the Serbians fight we'll stick
to them--retreat if necessary, burning all our stores._ If they are
overwhelmed we must escape, probably via Montenegro. Don't worry
about us. We won't do anything rash or foolish; and if you will
trust us to decide, as we must know most about the situation out
here, we'll act rationally."
At last, in November, 1915, the storm broke. Serbia was overrun by
Germans, Austrians, and Bulgarians. All her big Allies failed her, "so
when her bitter hour of trial came, Serbia stood alone."
The Scottish Women's Hospitals at Mladanovatz, Lazaravatz, and Valjevo
had to be evacuated in an incredibly short time. The women from
Mladanovatz and Lazaravatz came down to Kraguevatz, where Dr. Inglis
was. After a few days they had again to move further south to
Krushevatz. From here they broke into two parties, some joining the
great retreat and coming home through Albania. The rest stayed behind
with Dr. Inglis and Dr. Hollway to nurse the Serbian wounded and
prisoners in Krushevatz.
"If the committee could have seen Colonel Gentitch's face when I
said to him that we were not going to move again, but that they
could count on us just where we stood, I think they would have been
touched."
writes Dr. Inglis.
At Krushevatz both Units, Dr. Inglis's and Dr. Hollway's, worked
together at the Czar Lazar Hospital under the Serbian Director, Major
Nicolitch. It was here they were taken prisoners by the Germans in
November.
"These months at Krushevatz were a strange mixture of sorrow and
happiness. Was the country really so very beautiful, or was it the
contrast to all the misery that made it evident? There was a
curious exhilaration in working for those grateful, patient men,
and in helping the Director, so loyal to his country and so
conscientious in his work, to bring order out of chaos; and yet the
unhappiness in the Serbian houses, and the physical wretchedness of
those cold, hungry prisoners, lay always like a dead weight on our
spirits. Never shall we forget the beauty of the sunrises or the
glory of the sunsets, with clear, cold, sunlit days between, and
the wonderful starlit nights. But we shall never forget 'the
Zoo,'[13] either, or the groans outside when we hid our heads in
the blankets to shut out the sound. Nor shall we ever forget the
cheeriness or trustfulness of all that hospital, and especially of
the officers' ward. We got no news, and we made it a point of
honour not to believe a word of the German telegrams posted up in
the town. So we lived on rumour--and what rumour! The English at
Skoplje, the Italians at Poshega, and the Russians over the
Carpathians--we could not believe that Serbia had been sacrificed
for nothing. We were convinced it was some deep-laid scheme for
weakening the other fronts, and so it was quite natural to hear
that the British had taken Belgium and the French were in Metz!"
During this time in Krushevatz Dr. Inglis and the women in her Unit
lived and slept in one room. One night an excited message was brought to
the door that enemy aircraft was expected soon; everyone was taking
refuge in places that were considered safe; would they not come too? For
a moment there was a feeling of panic in the room; then Dr. Inglis said,
without raising her head from her pillow: "Everyone will do as they
like, of course; _I_ shall not go anywhere. I am very tired, and bed is
a comfortable place to die in." The suspicion of panic subsided; every
woman lay down and slept quietly till morning.
The Hon. Mrs. Haverfield was one of the "Scottish women" who stayed
behind at Krushevatz. She gives us some memories of Dr. Inglis.
"I think the most abiding recollection I have of our dear Doctor is the
expression in her face in the middle of a heavy bombardment by German
guns of our hospital at Krushevatz during the autumn of 1915. I was
coming across some swampy ground which separated our building from the
large barracks called after the good and gentle Czar Lazar of
Kosovofanee, when a shell flew over our heads, and burst close by with a
deafening roar. The Doctor was coming from the opposite direction; we
stood a moment to comment upon the perilous position we were all in. She
looked up into my face, and with that smile that nobody who ever knew
her could forget, and such a quizzical expression in her blue eyes,
said: 'Eve, we are having some experiences now, aren't we?' She and I
had often compared notes, and said how we would like to be in the thick
of everything--at last we were. I have never seen anyone with greater
courage, or anyone who was more unmoved under all circumstances.
"Under our little Doctor bricks had to be made, whether there was straw
or not!
"In this same hospital at Krushevatz she had ordered me to get up
bathing arrangements for the sick and wounded. There was not a corner in
which to make a bath-room, or a can, and only a broken pump 150 yards
away across mud and swamp. There was no wood to heat the water, and
nothing to heat it in even if we had the wood. I admit I could not
achieve the desired arrangement. Elsie took the matter in hand herself,
finding I was no use, and in one day had a regular supply of hot water,
and baths for the big Magazine, where lay our sick, screened off with
sheets, and regular baths were the order of the day from that time
forth.
"One never ceased to admire the tireless energy, the resourcefulness,
and the complete unselfishness of that little woman who spent herself
until the last moment, always in the service of others."
"At last, on the 9th of February, our hospital was emptied.[14] The
chronic invalids had been 'put on commission' and sent to their
homes. The vast majority of the men had been removed to Hungary,
and the few remaining, badly wounded men who would not be fit for
months, taken over to the Austrian hospitals.
"On the 11th we were sent north under an Austrian guard with fixed
bayonets. Great care was taken that we should not communicate with
anyone _en route_. At Belgrade, however, we were put into a
waiting-room for the night, and after we had crept into our
sleeping-bags we were suddenly roused to speak to a Serbian woman.
The kindly Austrian officer in charge of us said she was the wife
of a Serbian officer in Krushevatz, and that if we would use only
German we might speak to her. She wanted news of her husband. We
were able to reassure her. He was getting better--he was in the
Gymnasium. 'Vrylo dobra' ('Very well'), she said, holding both our
hands. 'Vrylo, vrylo dobra,' we said, looking apprehensively at the
officer. But he only laughed. Probably his Serbian, too, was equal
to that. That was the last Serbian we spoke to in Serbia, and we
left her a little happier. And thus we came to Vienna, where the
American Embassy took us over.... When we reached Zurich and found
everything much the same as when we disappeared into the silence,
our hearts were sick for the people we had left behind us, still
waiting and trusting."
Referring to this year of work done for Serbia, Mr. Seton-Watson wrote
of Dr. Inglis:
"History will record the name of Elsie Inglis, like that of Lady Paget,
as pre-eminent among that band of women who have redeemed for all time
the honour of Britain in the Balkans."
We close this chapter on her work in Serbia with tributes to her memory
from two of her Serbian friends, Miss Christitch, a well-known
journalist, and Lieutenant-Colonel D. C. Popovitch, Professor at the
Military Academy in Belgrade.
"Through Dr. Inglis Serbia has come to know Scotland, for I must confess
that formerly it was not recognized by our people as a distinctive part
of the British Isles. Her name, as that of the Serbian mother from
Scotland (Srpska majka iz 'Skotske'), has become legendary throughout
the land, and it is not excluded that at a future date popular opinion
will claim her as of Serbian descent, although born on foreign soil.
"What appealed to all those with whom Elsie Inglis came in contact in
Serbia was her extraordinary sympathy and understanding for the people
whose language she could not speak and whose ways and customs must
certainly have seemed strange to her. Yet there is no record of
misunderstanding between any Serb and Dr. Inglis. Everyone loved her,
from the tired peasant women who tramped miles to ask the 'Scottish
Doctoress' for advice about their babies to the wounded soldiers whose
pain she had alleviated.
"Here I must mention that Dr. Inglis won universal respect in the
Serbian medical profession for her skill as a surgeon. During a great
number of years past we have had women physicians, and very capable they
are too; but, for some reason or other, Serbian women had never
specialized in surgery. Hence it was not without scepticism that the
male members of the profession received the news that the organizer of
the Scottish hospitals was a skilled surgeon. Until Dr. Inglis actually
reached Serbia and had performed successfully in their presence, they
refused to believe this 'amiable fable,' but from the moment that they
had seen her work they altered their opinion, and, to the great joy of
our Serbian women, they no longer proclaimed the fact that surgery was
not a woman's sphere. This is but one of the services Dr. Inglis has
rendered our woman movement in Serbia. To-day we have several active
societies working for the enfranchisement of women, and there is no
doubt that the record of the Scottish Women's Hospital, organized and
equipped by a Suffrage society and entirely run by women, is helping us
greatly towards the realization of our goal. It was a cause of delight
to our women and of no small surprise to our men that the Scottish Units
that came out never had male administrators.
"It is very difficult to say all one would wish about Dr. Inglis's
beneficial influence in Serbia in the few lines which I am asked to
write. But before I conclude I may be allowed to give my own impression
of that remarkable woman. What struck me most in her was her grip of
facts in Serbia. I had a long conversation with her at Valjevo in the
summer of 1915, before the disaster of the triple enemy onslaught, and
while we still believed that the land was safe from a fresh invasion.
She spoke of her hopes and plans for the future of Serbia. 'When the war
is over,' she said, 'I want to do something lasting for your country. I
want to help the women and children; so little has been done for them,
and they need so much. I should like to see Serbian qualified nurses and
up-to-date women's and children's hospitals. When you will have won your
victories you will require all this in order to have a really great and
prosperous Serbia.' She certainly meant to return and help us in our
reconstruction.
"I saw Dr. Inglis once again several weeks later, at Krushevatz, where
she had remained with her Unit to care for the Serbian wounded,
notwithstanding the invitation issued her by Army Headquarters to
abandon her hospital and return to England. But Dr. Inglis never knew a
higher authority than her own conscience. The fact that she remained to
face the enemy, although she had no duty to this, her adopted country,
was both an inspiration and a consolation to those numerous families who
could not leave, and to those of us who, being Serbian, had a duty to
remain.
"She left in the spring of 1916, and we never heard of her again in
Serbia until the year 1917, when we, in occupied territory, learnt from
a German paper that she had died in harness working for the people of
her adoption. There was a short and appreciative obituary telling of her
movements since she had left us.
"For Serbian women she will remain a model of devotion and
self-sacrifice for all time, and we feel that the highest tribute we can
pay her is to endeavour, however humbly, to follow in the footsteps of
this unassuming, valiant woman."
"MY RECOLLECTIONS OF DR. ELSIE INGLIS.
"I made her acquaintance towards the close of October, 1915, when, as a
heavily wounded patient in the Military Hospital of Krushevatz, I became
a prisoner, first of the Germans and then of the Austrians.
"The Scottish Women's Hospital Mission, with Dr. Inglis as Head and Mrs.
Haverfield as Administrator, had voluntarily become prisoners of the
Austrians and Germans, rather than abandon the Serbian sick and wounded
they had hitherto cared for. The Mission undertook a most difficult
task--that is, the healing of and ministration to the typhus patients,
which had already cost the lives of many doctors. But the Scottish
women, whose spirit was typified in their leader, Miss Inglis, did not
restrict themselves to this department, hastening to assist whenever
they could in other departments. In particular, Dr. Elsie Inglis gave
help in the surgical ward, and undertook single-handed the charge of a
great number of wounded, among whom I was included, and to her devoted
sisterly care I am a grateful debtor for my life. She visited me hourly,
and not only performed a doctor's duties, but those of a simple nurse,
without the slightest reluctance.
"The conditions of Serbian hospitals under the Austrians rendered
provisioning one of the most difficult tasks. At the withdrawal of the
Serbian Army only the barest necessaries were left behind, and the
Austrians gave hardly anything beyond bread, and at times a little meat.
The typhus patients were thus dependent almost entirely on the aliments
which the Scottish Mission could furnish out of their own means. It was
edifying to see how they solved the problem. Every day, their Chief, Dr.
Inglis, and Mrs. Haverfield at the head, the nurses off duty, with empty
sacks and baskets slung over their shoulders, tramped for miles to the
villages around Krushevatz, and after several hours' march through the
narrow, muddy paths, returned loaded with cabbages, potatoes, or other
vegetables in baskets and sacks, their pockets filled with eggs and
apples. Instead of fatigue, joy and satisfaction were evident in their
faces, because they were able to do something for their Serbian
brothers. I am ever in admiration of these rare women, and never can I
forget their watchword: 'Not one of our patients is to be without at
least one egg a day, however far we may have to tramp for it.' Such
labour, such love towards an almost totally strange nation, is something
more than mere humanity; it is the summit of understanding, and the
application of real and solid Christian teaching.
"Dr. Inglis cured not only the physical but the moral ills of her
wounded patients. Every word she spoke was about the return of our army,
and she assured us of final victory. She did not speak thus merely to
soothe, for one felt the fire of her indignation against the oppressor,
and her love for us and her confidence that our just cause would
triumph. I could mention a host of great and small facts in connection
with her, enough to fill a book; but, in one word, every move, every
thought of the late Dr. Inglis and the members of her Mission breathed
affection towards the Serbian soldier and the Serbian nation. The
Serbian soldier himself is the best witness to this. One has only to
inquire about the Scottish Women's Mission in order to get a short and
eloquent comment, which resumes all, and expresses astonishment that he
should be asked: 'Of course I know of our sisters from Scotland.' ...
"But the enemy could not succeed in shaking these noble women in their
determination and their love for us Serbians. They at last obtained
their release, and reached their own country, but, without taking time
to rest properly, they at once started to collect fresh stores, and
hastened to the assistance of the Serbian Volunteer Corps in the
Dobrudja. They returned with the same corps to the Macedonian front, and
thence to Serbia once more at the close of last year, in order to come
to the aid of the impoverished Serbian people. The fact that Dr. Inglis
lost her life after the retreat from Russia is a fresh proof of her
devotion to Serbia. The Serbian soldiers mourn her death as that of a
mother or sister. The memory of her goodness, self-sacrifice, and
unbounded charity, will never leave them as long as they live, and will
be handed down as a sacred heritage to their children. The entire
Serbian Army and the entire Serbian people weep over the dear departed
Dr. Inglis, while erecting a memorial to her in their hearts greater
than any of the world's monuments. Glory be to her and the land that
gave her birth!
"(_Signed_) LIEUT.-COL. DRAG. C. POPOVITCH,
"_Professor at the Military Academy._
"BELGRADE.
"_December 24th, 1919._"
Dr. Inglis was at home from February to August, 1916. Besides her work
as chairman of the committee for Kossovo Day, she was occupied in many
other ways. She paid a visit of inspection for the Scottish Women's
Hospitals Committee to their Unit in Corsica, reporting in person to
them on her return in her usual clear and masterly way on the work being
done there. She worked hard to get permission for the Scottish Women's
Hospitals to send a Unit to Mesopotamia, where certainly the need was
great. It has been said of her that, "like Douglas of old, she flung
herself where the battle raged most fiercely, always claiming and at
last obtaining permission to set up her hospitals where the obstacles
were greatest and the dangers most acute."
It was not the fault of the Scottish Women's Hospitals that their
standard was not found flying in Mesopotamia.
During the time she was at home, in the intervals of her other
activities, she spoke at many meetings, telling of the work of the
Scottish Women's Hospitals. At these meetings she would speak for an
hour or more of the year's work in Serbia without mentioning herself.
She had the delightful power of telling a story without bringing in the
personal note. Often at the end of a meeting her friends would be asked
by members of the audience if Dr. Inglis had not been in Serbia herself.
On being assured that she had, they would reply incredulously, "But she
never mentioned herself at all!"
The Honorary Secretary of the Clapham High School Old Girls' Society
wrote, after Dr. Inglis's death, describing one of these meetings:
"In June, 1916, Dr. Inglis came to our annual commemoration meeting and
spoke to us of Serbia. None of those who were present will, I think,
ever forget that afternoon, and the almost magical inspiration of her
personality. Behind her simple narrative (from which her own part in the
great deeds of which she told seemed so small that to many of us it was
a revelation to learn later what that part had been) lay a spiritual
force which left no one in the audience untouched. We feel that we
should like to express our gratitude for that afternoon in our lives, as
well as our admiration of her gallant life and death."
The door to Mesopotamia being still kept closed, Dr. Inglis, in August,
1916, went to Russia as C.M.O. of a magnificently equipped Unit which
was being sent to the help of the Jugo-Slavs by the Scottish Women's
Hospitals.
A few days before she left Dr. Inglis went to Leven, on the Fifeshire
coast of Scotland, where many of her relatives were gathered, to say
farewell. The photograph given here was taken at this time.
[Illustration: ELSIE INGLIS
TAKEN IN AUGUST, 1916, JUST BEFORE SHE LEFT FOR RUSSIA]
FOOTNOTES:
[13] The name the nurses gave the huge building they had converted into
a hospital.
[14] Dr. Inglis's report.