Had there been a Myra Ivanovna in every sector of the Russian front in
the wavering days, it is not extravagant to think the troops of the
Czar might have resisted the propaganda as well as the guns of the
Germans and pushed on—perhaps to Berlin. Myra was but twenty years of
age, a Russian Sister of Mercy. She accompanied her brother, a military
doctor, to the front. She was small, and weak and nervous, but she
had a resolute will, an indomitable soul, and these gave energy and
endurance to her body. She was one of the most active and tireless in
ministering to the sick and wounded. The soldiers marveled to see so
frail a creature perform such tasks as mark the duties of an ambulance
nurse. Naturally, she inspired the devotion of those she served.
It was in 1915. There had been heavy and dogged fighting and there
were many wounded. The ambulances and the nurses were kept busy. Then
the Germans succeeded in outflanking the regiment to which Myra was
attached, and poured a deadly fire into the trenches. M. Kupchinsky,
correspondent at the front for a Petrograd paper, told her story. The
London _Morning Post_ translated it. Here it is:
“The ambulance near the 10th Regiment was not brought to the rear,
despite the instructions of the commander. It was discovered that
Sister Ivanovna was employed there in bandaging the wounded.
“‘Let the ambulance station go back,’ she said; ‘I shall stay here,
where my hands are wanted.’
“The doctors and the wounded officers appealed in vain—she would not
retreat until her brother ordered her to do so. No sooner, however,
was the ambulance posted in a new situation than she moved back to
her former position with a few volunteers. At this time the enemy’s
reinforcements with machine guns opened a deadly fire from some heights
commanding the position, and Ivanovna was slightly wounded by a bullet
in the left arm. She bandaged the wound herself, and, without saying a
word, continued her work.
[Illustration: Women in the Salvation Army Followed the American Army
Wherever It Went and They Served Doughnuts to Men in the Front Trenches]
“The position of the regiment was a perilous one. Every moment the
strength of the enemy was increasing, and the Russian ranks were
decimated by their long exposure to heavy fire. It was necessary to
strike a rapid blow, sharp and decisive; but officer after officer was
brought in wounded, and at last word came that the commander himself
had been killed. Men began to drop back from the front trenches.
Indecision in the ranks threatened a panic.