It was 8.30 p.m. when we marched into Medua. We were not allowed to
take the ponies through the village, which was crowded with soldiers
and refugees, and amongst these we had to jostle our way. I left the
party, and the ponies, and went to find Admiral Trowbridge, who was
in charge of the port. I found him sitting at a table in a tiny room,
about five feet square, in a cottage on the quay. I sent in my name,
and when I entered the room he said: "Good God! Mrs. Stobart, why are
you so late? I have been expecting you all day. The last British boat
has just gone." I explained that the Germans had a trick of dropping
bombs on parties who were starting to catch boats, and that Albanian
peasants didn't always play the game, etc. But here we were now, and
what should we do? "Well," he said, "there is a small Italian boat,
already overcrowded, leaving to-night, in half an hour's time, and I
have been spending a very uncomfortable day telling 3,000 people that
I can't find them room on a boat which only holds 300. But, of course,
you shall have places." He then amused me, for he warned me that
travelling by this boat involved grave risks; to-day, all day long,
submarines from below, and bombs from Taubes above, had been trying to
destroy her, and had fallen within five yards of her. Medua had also
been attacked, and all the Admiral's windows were smashed. The sea
outside the harbour was thick with submarines, and----. "But is there
any alternative way of getting home?" "No. This is probably the last
chance, except by that terrible march to Durazzo. And by that route,
the rivers are swift, deep, and bridgeless, and can only be crossed
by swimming. It would be almost better to fall into the hands of the
Austrians than to face all that." "Very well, then," I answered, "do
not let us waste time." He then sent for Commander Kerr, and told him
to see us on board at once. The latter was an old friend, for he had
visited our Kragujevatz camp, and we had also met him on the trek, two
days out from Petch, when he had, like most people, grown his beard,
and I did not at first recognise him. But I recognised him now, and
shall always be grateful to him, and to the Admiral, for the successful
exertions they made during that next half hour, to get us on board.
My only regret was that I had not time to send a line of thanks by
the returning soldiers, to the officer who had lent the ponies, and
enabled us to catch this steamer. We bade a hurried farewell to our own
soldiers, who cried, although we gave them our little stock of beans,
and rice, and mealie meal. We had no tinned foods left.
We were hustled into a little boat, which was hailed with difficulty,
to take us to the steamer, and we had no time to drink the coffee which
the commander's men had kindly prepared for us. But though we were
hungry, when we stepped on board, and heard that no food, not even
tea or coffee, was available on the boat, none of these trifles could
trouble us now, for now we were on our way home; home--a word that had
during three months been banished from our minds.
There were no berths or places downstairs; the boat was crowded with
refugees, and with Serbian wounded officers, and some families, on
their way to France and Switzerland; but the night was fine, and the
sea smooth, and we sat on deck all night, in life-belts. We were
accompanied by two torpedo boats, and we reached Brindisi without
adventure, at noon on Christmas Day.
We had promised ourselves a Christmas dinner at a good restaurant or
hotel, but we were greeted, in the harbour, with the news that the
Brindisians were afraid of typhus, and that we should not be allowed to
land, until just before the train left for Rome in the evening. We had
had no food since the night before last, and we spent Christmas Day,
close to the first town we had seen for three months which was not in
process of evacuation, gazing at the big houses, in which greedy people
were probably overeating themselves with good things. The British
Consul could not come on board. He had sprained his ankle--a Christmas
Day sprain with which we had every sympathy. I sent him a message, and
the Vice-Consul arrived, full of abstract kindness, but the non-landing
rule was inexorable. He stayed with us to take me and our treasurer,
at 6 p.m., to see the Consul and to make money arrangements for the
journey to London. The rest of the party must wait at the station. In
the station restaurant the most tempting-looking food was flauntingly
displayed. Might the staff not enter this Land of Promise while I
saw the Consul? No; admission was forbidden to all who had come from
overseas; but a kindly English resident in Brindisi, who made it
his work to look after refugees, undertook to bring food, from the
restaurant, to our starving ones on the station platform, and, bless
him, he worked nobly for them whilst I went to see the Consul.
There were no cabs, and we three walked to the Consul's house. I
thought we should never get there. On the way we passed a shop, the
most glorious shop I had ever seen. I couldn't believe my eyes. It
was full of real hams, and tongues, and sausages. "Oh! I must go in
here and buy some food for the unit for the journey," I cried to the
Vice-Consul, overcome by the desire to see and touch and make sure of
real food. "Better not now; it will do on the way back," he answered
indifferently, and we left the shop behind. I turned round to locate
it in my memory, for even though it was closed, I should not leave
Brindisi till I had secured some of those good things.
We reached the Consul's house at seven o'clock, and went into the
drawing-room with the Vice-Consul. The door of the dining-room was
partly open, and I saw the sprained ankle laid out all over the
side-board. I have never felt so hungry in my life. The Consul greeted
us kindly. He was walking about; the ankle only confined him to the
house. "How do you do, Mrs. Stobart? Would you like a biscuit?" I hoped
at first that he was joking, but he was not. "Oh, yes," I answered,
ready to cry with disappointment, "we're starving." Then he brought a
tin of biscuits and some port wine. That was better. He gave us the
biscuit tin to take with us, and he very kindly told the Vice-Consul
to arrange for supper for us all in the train. As to money, we could
have as much as we wanted; he had plenty. He gave us the sum for which
we asked, sealed in an envelope; it was not worth while, he said, for
us to count it. He was sure it was all right. I knew I ought to have
counted it, but there was not much time to spare to catch our train;
and when we opened the envelope, later, we found he had given us a
thousand lire too much. Had it been a thousand lire too little, I
should not have liked to write and tell him.
My anxiety now was to obtain a railway pass. As it was Christmas Day,
the Consul said he couldn't get an official pass. The Prefect couldn't
be found; his ankle was more seriously sprained; we should have to
take our chance. We should get to Bari, two hours distant, safely, and
if we had trouble there, we must telegraph to the Consulate. Not a
very encouraging prospect, especially as the Vice-Consul told us that
another party had been kept for two days at Bari.
But now for that sausage shop. The V.-C. came with us, in a cab, and
we found the shop. It was crammed full of things we had not seen for
nine months. On the counter was a lovely-looking Italian sausage. I
asked the shopman to cut a slice, and to let me taste it. It was an
absurdly thin slice, and I soon asked for another; and then I looked
for J. G. He was busy browsing all round the shop, on bits of cheese,
and figs, and dates, but he gave immediate attention to the slice of
sausage I offered him. I don't know what the V.-C. must have thought
of us, but my thought was that everybody ought to be made to starve
sometimes, just to know what it feels like; they wouldn't then ask
starving people to look in at sausage shops on their way back. But the
V.-C. was delaying his own Christmas dinner for our sakes, and he nobly
insisted on coming with us to the station. He saw us into the train,
which left at 8.37 p.m., and he gave us lovely parcels of supper for
the journey; supper number two for the others, who had now eaten well,
and drunk red Italian wine, and were very happy. We reached Bari three
hours later. I went to see the Station Commandant; he was charming, and
made no trouble about the railway passport, and he gave us, free of
cost, compartments to ourselves in the train leaving at 11.30 for Rome,
through Central Italy. We reached Rome at 6 p.m. on Sunday, December
26th, and at the Station Hotel Restaurant, we had our first good
sit-down, hot meal. We shall never forget that dinner.
At Rome station, and everywhere on the journey, we were stared at,
as though we were a menagerie. People crowded round us in quaintest
fashion. We did not realise it, but perhaps our clothes looked
weather-worn.
From Rome we were, at last, able to send telegrams home to our friends,
who had heard no news of us for three months. At this station again,
directly we arrived, I went to see the Station Commandant, and asked
him to expedite us farther. "Yes, by all means; first or second class?"
"First, of course." And we reached Pisa at 6 a.m. on Monday, December
27th; Spezzia at 8. At Culoz we changed, at 11 p.m., for Paris,
and arrived there at 8.30 a.m., December 28th. Here I had a little
difficulty, and was sent from one department, in one end of Paris, to
another department, at the other end of the town, all the morning, to
obtain the railway pass. Amongst other offices to which I was directed,
was that of the "Intelligence Anglaise." But when I arrived there, I
found neither the one nor the other. Finally, I went to the War Office,
and I saw the Minister of War, who was very courteous, and, though I
had to wait a long time, I eventually took away the necessary papers.
We all drove from the Gare de Lyons to the Gare du Nord, for Boulogne,
only to be told that the boats from Boulogne had been discontinued
three weeks ago, and that we had better make for some other port. That
was a blow; but as the pass had just been made out by the War Office,
for Boulogne, I assumed that a military boat would take us across, and
that we had better risk it.
We left for Boulogne at 1.15 on Tuesday, December 28th. The train was
horribly slow, and we did not reach Boulogne till 11 p.m. I thought we
might possibly have trouble here, about the pass, as we were nearing
the land of white chalk and red tape. I inquired at once, as usual, at
the station, for the Commandant, found his office, and, to my surprise
and joy, was greeted by "Hulloa! Mrs. Stobart, I _am_ glad to see you."
An old friend, of whom I had lost sight for some years. He was in
charge of the Transport Service, and I knew that the way would now be
smooth. He gave us supper in the excellent Red Cross restaurant; found
rooms for us at a good hotel (no easy job, as the town was crowded),
and facilitated in every way our departure for London, next day, by
military boat. We reached Charing Cross on the evening of Wednesday,
December 29th, after an absence in the Balkans of nine months--having
travelled free of railway cost, through Serbia, Montenegro, Albania,
Italy, France and England.
Our telegrams from Rome must have misfired. There was no one at the
station to meet us. Were they all dead? Or--but evidently London had
not yet been evacuated. Indeed, as we drove through the streets, we
wondered if peace had been declared. What a contrast! Here, thousands
of sleek and well-dressed people, jostling each other for places in
the music-halls; and out there, thousands of people, hungry, thirsty,
and in rags, jostling each other to escape every conceivable form of
horror. But we were, thank God, at home again. We had done nothing
wonderful--women are not allowed to do wonderful things--but we were
content to feel that we had contributed our tiny share towards the
relief of suffering, and we had, perhaps, made it easier for other
women to do more in future times.
PART IV
But this story will have failed in its purpose if it has not served as
a demonstration of three facts. It should show, without need of further
proof, that women can be of service, not only in base hospitals of
war, both in subsidiary positions, and in positions of command--that
had already been shown--but in flying field hospitals at the front.
Thus men can be set free for the fighting line. Much work at present
done by the Royal Army Medical Corps could safely be entrusted to
women. The proof given of the capacity of women to endure hardships and
privations incidental to campaigns, also points to the possibility of
the employment of women along the lines of communication, in various
forms of war work now performed by men. Much valuable fighting material
could thus be liberated.
The story should also show, if only, alas! in a small way, something of
the courage, dignity, and spirit of the Serbian people. It is difficult
for those who have not had first-hand evidence, to realise the heroism
of the Serbian nation, not only during their defeat and their retreat,
October to December, 1915, but also during the summer of political
temptation in 1915. At that time Serbia understood, only too well, the
intentions of the Bulgarians, and if she had acted as her political
instinct prompted her, the inevitable clash would have occurred, not at
the moment of Bulgaria's choice, but at a time favourable to Serbia.
It is useless now to conjecture the effect of this "might-have-been"
on the history of the war. But in the summer of 1915, the temptation
for Serbia to strike at her own convenience, must have been great. And
whether the Allies, in urging Serbia to abstain, were right, or wrong,
successful or unsuccessful, they owe much to Serbia for her loyal
adherence to their policy. Serbia was justified in expecting from them,
in return, the help which never came.
But another, and perhaps a greater, temptation must have presented
itself to Serbia. Why should not the Serbians have acted as the
Bulgarians had acted? Why should they not save their country from
further invasion, avoid further conflict, and come to terms with
Austria? Their nation and their Army were impoverished by previous
efforts; would it not now be wise to save their country from further
devastations? Their performances against the Austrians, in the autumn
of 1914, had shown the latter that they were worthy of respect, and
no one in Europe could accuse them of cowardice. Why, and for whose
benefit, should their beautiful land and their heroic people be further
sacrificed? As Serbian politicians looked from the heights of their
Serbian mountains, upon the glories of their fertile land, a land of
corn and bread, a land of wine and vineyards, they must have heard the
Tempter's words, whispering as of old, "All these things will I give
you if--if--you will fall down and worship militarism and the Central
Powers." But with one voice, the Serbian people answered, "Get thee
behind me, Satan. It is written in our hearts, 'Thou shalt worship
Freedom: her only shalt thou serve.'" Thus Serbia, the latest evolved
of the European nations, perceived, with an insight at which history
will one day marvel, the inner, the true interpretation of the word
"nation." She perceived that the life force of a nation is a spiritual
force, and is not dependent on material conditions for existence.
Serbia had existed during 500 years of material annihilation under
Turkish rule. Through all that wilderness of time, the ideal of freedom
had been her pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, pointing
to the Promised Land. Serbia is again in the wilderness, and the same
light guides and cheers her. She is full of courageous faith, because
she understands that a nation means, primarily, not physical country
(mountains, rivers, valleys), not State, not Government, but a free
and united spirit. That is the only definition which allows of the
indefinite expansion which will some day include all human kind in one
united nation. Serbia is full of faith and hope, because she knows that
she is not, and never will be, deprived of nationhood.
In some minor ways, Serbia may, in her civilisation, have been behind
other nations in the west of Europe, but she was ahead of Western
Europe in that one thing, which is of real importance, that one thing
which cannot be copied or learned from other nations, and which is,
therefore, either innate or unachieveable: Serbia is ahead of other
nations, in her power of sacrificing herself for ideals. All nations
are ready to sacrifice life for nationhood. Serbia made first this
common sacrifice, but when that did not avail, she voluntarily, for the
sake of an abstract and spiritual ideal, made the supreme sacrifice,
the sacrifice of country, the sacrifice for which other nations make
the penultimate sacrifice of life. The Serbian people sacrificed their
country, rather than bow the knee to militarism and foreign tyranny;
they sacrificed their country, in Utopian quest for the right, both
for themselves and for other Slav brethren, to work out their own
salvation, in spiritual freedom. A people with such ideals, and with
such power of sacrifice, must be worthy of a great future.
CHAPTER XLVI
Finally, the story will have failed in its purpose, if it has not shown
something of what women feel towards war; if it has not shown that
militarism is likely to find in woman, its most vigorous opponent, not
because woman lacks courage to face death, but because she is awake to
the duty of facing life; life as the basis, the evolutionary basis, of
a higher life.
Until woman had obtained some experience of war, she could only express
sentiments concerning war; but now she is at liberty to give opinions
as to the meaning of war. And in the opinion of woman--at least, of
one woman, who is, presumably, representative of some other women--war
means--the failure of society.
Society has failed to protect its members from its own more savage
elements; it has failed to overcome the tendency to atavism, latent
in all living creatures; it has failed in its primary function of
preserving life. In all its dealings with life, society shows cynicism
and inconsistency. It punishes the taking of life, called "murder," by
a further taking of life, which it calls the "death penalty." Again,
society holds that no motive justifies murder when it is retail, and
concerns individuals; but that when murder is wholesale, and concerns
nations, no motive justifies abstention from the murder-fields.
Society thus teaches that the taking of life, though it is regarded
as the biggest crime, and receives the biggest punishment, is not,
in itself, wrong. It is only, on some occasions, and for some social
purposes, inexpedient. Society is not yet awake to the idea that, for
spiritual purposes, the taking of human life is always inexpedient,
because human life is not an end in itself, but a stepping-stone to
further life, which may possibly be forfeited by blundering mankind.
In the eyes of woman, war also means the negation of civilisation and
of progress. Of what use the care and labour spent in science, art,
culture, education, if, at the command of militarism, these and their
votaries are to be periodically blotted out.
Civilisation, as we were taught, meant the progress of the human race
in ideals, spiritual and moral. Civilisation, as our children are being
taught, means progress in the invention of machines for destroying
life--the one thing on earth which can't be made by machines. (The word
"artillery," with its present murderous meaning, derived from Latin
"ars," "artis," art!)
War means that all the finest intellects, of the finest of God's
creatures, are set to vie one with the other--on what false track of
evolution are we rushing?--to vie, one with the other, how best to
destroy life and to precipitate death! Death is sacred, but not life.
War means blood, slaughter, brutality, deformities, and always death,
death, death. Is man jealous of God, that he destroys God's handiwork,
and spares his own, when he runs amok? When the Germans destroyed, at
Louvain, the works of man, a howl of horror rose from every voice and
newspaper throughout the civilised world. But during this European war,
thousands of unique specimens of the works of God, Europe's finest
manhood, are every day being destroyed, and we are still waiting for
the howl of horror.
The other day I was told by one who witnessed it, that, from one
trench, 800 men were killed within three minutes. Now it takes women
years and years of infinite love, and patience, of sacrifice, and
devotion, to mould their sons--their creations--after the image of
God, in body, soul and mind. They fashion, with infinite pains, these
precious lives for God, and the end is--to be blown to pieces, 800 in
three minutes. To this end has the wisdom of Man brought Man. Could the
wisdom of Woman bring us to a worse abyss than this? However desperate
the remedy, must not the help of woman be hailed, to save life from the
abyss?
This thought came to me vividly one summer night in Serbia. It was
during the typhus epidemic, and I stumbled unawares upon an open grave.
It was three-quarters full of naked corpses. They were typhus victims.
They had been prisoners of war, and the grave would not be closed
until there were enough dead to fill it. Heavy rain had fallen, and
the bodies were half-submerged in water; but I saw one man above the
others. His body, long and strong-limbed, was all uncovered, but his
face, fine featured, proudly ignorant of the ignominy, his face was
covered with--flies; filthy, bloodsucking flies. Round his finely-cut
nostrils, his mouth, his half-opened eyes, squatting, buzzing, sucking,
shunting one another for best place--flies, flies, flies, and no one
to beat them off. Flies in thousands, squabbling for his blood, and no
one to beat them off. Only flies knew where he was. His mother was,
perhaps, at this moment, picturing him as a hero, and he was--food for
flies.
The night, in old parlance, would have been called glorious. But is
there glory on this bloodstained earth? The stars of heaven were
shining; but could stars be of heaven, and blink, and blink, and blink
complacently, and nothing else, when they might have set the heavens
ablaze, in a million fiery points of indignation, at the bloody sights
which they were seeing on the earth?
And the moon--cold, cruel, heartless moon, hidden at first, behind a
thunder cloud--emerged suddenly, with revengeful triumph, to illumine
the grave, lest I might miss the horror; turned on full candle-power
to show me, a woman, to show me _that_, and other things unspeakable.
I walked away quickly, tears burning in my eyes; angry, cursing in my
heart, the ways of men who bring these things to pass. But I remembered
that he was unmourned--alone--and for her sake, his mother's sake, I
came back, and knelt beside that charnel pit, to spread round him, as
she would have done, thoughts of love, and, oh, God! how difficult,
of Faith and Hope. "You're not alone!" I cried aloud, that the stars
and moon, and God, if He were near, should hear, and understand. "You
are not alone, for the hearts of all the mothers on the earth are with
you--in your open grave--and will one day rescue you and all their sons
from--flies."
The glamour, the adventure, the chivalry, which of old gilded the
horrors of war, have vanished. War is now a bloody business; a business
for butchers, not for high-souled gentlemen. Modern militarism involves
tortures and extermination, not only of the fighting, but of the
non-fighting portion of the population, in a manner which would have
shocked even the heroes of the Old Testament.
War is not merely an encounter between rival armies of men. War is, in
these days, an encounter between equipped armies, and unequipped women
and children, with results that are bestial and humiliating; between
equipped armies and unequipped civilisation, with results that are
destructive of civilisation.
War, with brutal butchery, destroys millions of human lives for paltry
purposes: to avenge the death of an Archduke or to gain commercial
profits. But if life is a thing of meaning, a divine gift, to be
divinely handled, for divine purposes; if life is, as mankind generally
professes, the chain upon which the evolution towards super-conscious
man is strung, the chain upon which the pearl of immortality is hung;
if life, as an abstract possession of the human race, is all this, and
more besides, then war, which aims at the destruction of this priceless
gift, is a cosmic blunder, which only devils bent upon the annihilation
of the human race, could have conceived.
Militarism has, in one country at least, reached a climax, and I
believe it is because we women feel in our souls, that life has a
meaning, and a value, which are in danger of being lost in militarism,
that we are, at this moment, instinctively asking society to give us
a share in safeguarding the destinies of those human lives, for which
Nature has made us specially responsible.
The idea of votes for women, or justice for women, is not here my
concern; the idea, which, as a result of my small experiences, engulfs
all others, is the necessity of votes for life, justice for humankind.
This can only be achieved by the suppression of war, and wars will
never be suppressed by men alone. Man, says Bacon, loves danger better
than travail; man, says Nietzsche, loves danger better than play.
Men still regard battles as magnified football scrums; war is still
for many men a glorified sport, as letters from the soldiers at the
front daily testify. "The spirit of our boys was splendid. They simply
loved the fun." "He simply turned from right to left, and fired as if
he was in a shooting saloon. It was the best bit of fancy shooting I
have seen," etc. (_Daily News_, Saturday, July 8th, 1916). The courage
required for facing battlefields is superb, but that same courage,
channelled for moral, social, and spiritual purposes, might create a
new heaven and earth. The more "natural" it seems for man to fight
his fellow-man, in order to acquire supremacy, the more urgent is it
for society to intervene; for the progress of man is secured, not by
yielding to natural environment, but by resistance to environment.
Society has failed in its primary function of preserving life. But
society has hitherto been controlled by men only, and men have always
been more interested in producing death, than in preserving life.
Bergson shows that man, who is so knowing when he deals with the
tangible dead life of machines, is quite unseeing when confronted with
the intangible life of humans. We have yet to see whether Bergson's
"man" should also include woman. Had one-tenth part of the money spent
by society in producing death--and we, in this country, are spending
five million pounds sterling for that purpose every day--been spent on
investigations as to the best methods of preserving life, the world
might have reached a higher stage of evolution than its present phase
of militarism. But Nature, in her beneficence, generally arranges that
side by side with the poisonous plant, the antidote shall grow, and
thus, side by side with the growth of militarism, has also grown the
woman's movement.
The care of life, before and after birth, has been given by God, and
by man, to woman. Woman has hitherto protected the concrete life of
individuals; must she not now, in an enlarged sphere, also protect the
abstract life of humankind?
Democracy, in which pacifists had placed high hopes, has failed as a
protective social force; but democracy is not yet democracy, for it
consists of men only, and democratic men do not differ from other men
in instinct.
The Scriptures say that it was a woman who first had courage to taste
the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (symbol of the dawn of human
consciousness). That woman was, at the time, blamed by both God and
man; but man certainly would not, if he could, go back to the state
of sub-conscious life from which she delivered him, and God, if He is
all-powerful, permitted the deliverance.
And now the Tree of Life, of spiritual life, or super-consciousness,
still stands in the unwalled garden, waiting for some daring soul
to force an entrance, to taste of its fruit, and live for ever.
With prophetic insight, the poets of Genesis predicted the order of
salvation: first, the Tree of Knowledge, material knowledge, and then
the Tree of Life, spiritual life. But they tell us, that the way to
the Tree of Life, is past the flaming sword, which turns north, south,
east, and west; and we, in these days, can well believe it. Now man,
with his physical force, has failed to extinguish the flame, which
flames at this moment more forbiddingly than ever. Man has failed, but
may not this be because the force required for the extinction of the
flame, is not physical, but spiritual? And now woman, who has not her
own interests, but the interests of human kind, at heart, suggests,
with all humbleness, that if human kind is ever to reach the Tree of
Life, the spiritual power of woman must be added to the physical force
of man, in a determined effort to extinguish that flaming sword--for
ever and ever. Amen.
PART V
COPY.
_Letter from Colonel Dr. Lazar Guentchitch, Head of the Serbian Army
Medical Service, to the Chief of the English Medical Mission, Madame
St. Clair Stobart._
"Knowing your hospital as one of the best arranged amongst foreign
hospitals, thoroughly organised for the work nearer the front and
supplied with all up-to-date necessary material and utensils, I have
the honour to inform you that your hospital is on that account selected
to keep in touch with our Army--in case it moves or comes into contact
with the enemy--keeping always behind the Army and close thereto, and
thus be enabled to do the work of a real Field Hospital.
"Since your arrival in Serbia, Madame, you have succeeded in giving to
your hospital--first intended for military purposes only--a further
function of wider importance, by extending the same in a form of
Ambulance sections solely for civilian needs. This meant a greater boon
still, as our nation was almost left without doctors, all having been
engaged with the Army. The huge number of ambulance patients who call
on your Roadside Dispensary, situated close to the hospital of your
Mission in Kragujevatz, is the best proof how good the idea was of
forming such ambulances.
"Therefore it will quite meet the situation that your hospital--during
this lull until the Army operations begin--be extended by adding a few
sections for the treatment of civilians in the nearer districts.
"With the personnel and material now at your disposal you will be
able to establish some other small dispensaries in a few places in the
vicinity, besides the hospital in Kragujevatz, and thus work right up
to the re-commencement of war operations, when all the various sections
will quickly join into one big sanitary organisation, prepared to meet
every requirement near the front.
"I have the honour, therefore, to request you to kindly inform the
Committee, by whose help you have organised and brought your Mission to
Serbia, as well as your personnel, which is assisting you most heartily
in your continuous aims to help the Serbian nation, and to make clear
to them how urgent is the necessity for your hospital to continue its
work in Serbia for a further period.
"COLONEL DR. GUENTCHITCH,
"_Chief of Sanitary Section_.
"_June 26th (July 9th), 1915._
"Kragujevatz."
Letter from the Chief of the Serbian Army Medical Service (translated
at the Serbian Legation, London):
"General Headquarters.
"S.D. No. 29273.
"On the occasion of the suspension of the combined Anglo-Serbian Field
Hospital, over which you had command during the last fighting and
retreat of the Serbian Army, from the first half of September until the
9th December, 1915, I have the honour to address the following letter
to you:
"Soon after your arrival in Serbia, at the head of the Mission whose
chief you were, you organised, by the middle of April, 1915, a hospital
at Kragujevatz, where the Serbian Headquarters were--a hospital,
including tents for the Serbian wounded and sick soldiers, and provided
with all the necessary things, and a trained medical staff. Your
hospital began with our wounded work at once, and was an example for
all, with its inner organisation.
"Everybody who took an interest in the sanitary organisation, and
visited Kragujevatz at the time, considered it as his duty to visit
your hospital, and everybody has observed its work and order with
pleasure; and thus your hospital has become one of the most popular
organisations in Serbia.
"It did not take long before your hospital at Kragujevatz enlarged its
work for the civilians and female population, and so became a combined
hospital for the Serbian wounded and civil and female population.
"At the very beginning of your work you conceived the idea of starting
an ambulance not far from the hospital, and close to the road, where
the Serbian peasants had to pass going to Kragujevatz, free of charge
to these peasants, for medical consultation and the distribution of
medicine, and providing the sick with tea and food.
"The success of your first Road Ambulance was so quick that nearly 150
persons a day from the town and villages came for consultation and
medicine. It was quite natural, for just at that time the population
remained without medical help, as our doctors were very busy with the
difficult task of suppressing the contagious diseases in the Serbian
Army.
"The unexpected success and popularity attained by your first
ambulance, in so short a time, suggested to you a plan to organise such
ambulances outside Kragujevatz, in outlying districts. Your persistent
work, and the reception given to your useful idea by the Serbian
Relief Fund in London, and other people, who helped you with their
contributions and personal participation, made it possible to have in
a short time, in the very heart of Serbia--in Shumadia--quite a number
of such useful and humane ambulances, provided with all the necessary
things to give medical help to the population and, indeed, those
ambulances during the time of their existence, have done invaluable
service to our country, and population, and have become popular, and
attracted always increasing numbers of sick people. For the short
time in these ambulances which you erected in Kragujevatz, Lapovo,
Natalintsi, Rudnik and Ovcarska Banja, Vitanovatz, and Rekovatz, there
were more than 20,000 medical consultations and successful injections
of serum, for diphtheria and typhoid, on children and grown-up people,
and much medicine has been distributed free of charge, and not only all
the possible help, but consolation too.
"The sick people who required hospital attendance were sent from these
ambulances to your Base Hospital at Kragujevatz, there to undergo
operations, to be bandaged and examined with the X-rays, and poor
soldiers provided with clothing, underwear, and other necessities.
"With the erection of the road and village ambulances was satisfied a
great necessity to fight the contagious diseases of our people, because
in that way medical help was given there where it was not easy to be
found. Respected Madame, you can be satisfied with the result you and
your helpers attained, and believe that your action, and the work of
the Serbian Relief Fund in London, will be remembered deeply by the
Serbians, who have suffered much, and you have earned their eternal
gratitude.
"In the sanitary history of the Serbo-Austrian War 1914-15, and the
history of fighting with epidemics and diseases amongst the Serbian
population, the village and road ambulances of Mrs. Stobart took the
first place at that time.
"When, at the beginning of September, to every Serbian it was clear
that there were new enemy attacks to be expected on all sides, the
invasion of Austro-German troops on one side, and the Bulgarians
on the other, you did not stop in carrying your original idea into
practice, and during the military operations you followed the troops.
At once there was organised the First Combined Anglo-Serbian Hospital,
which consisted of your medical staff from Kragujevatz Military
Hospital, and a certain number of the Serbian additional staff. The
inspector of the Serbian Headquarters appointed you Chief of the
Hospital in appreciation of your services. It is the first case in
our military history that a lady has been given the appointment of
Commander of an operating unit during the war. Your First Combined
Anglo-Serbian Field Hospital, together with the automobiles and
other material for transports, has been attached to one of our best
divisions, the Shumadia Division, which, during the last campaign
has had the most important and most difficult task. You have been in
command with the Division on the Bulgarian front (Second Army), and
afterwards you were transported with the same Division to the Northern
Front (Third Army), where your Division had to fight against three
German Divisions.
"The Commander of the Shumadia Division, Col. B. Terzitch, who is the
Serbian War Minister at present, has expressed his best praise for the
First Combined Anglo-Serbian Field Hospital, and your cleverness and
endurance in commanding that hospital. With your automobiles for the
wounded, you have transported during the fighting with the Germans,
about 650 wounded officers and men, and all who have seen you work,
agreed with the favourable opinion about you. And when the Serbian Army
started the first difficult retreat through Montenegro and Albania, you
did not abandon your hospital and Division, but, riding on horseback
and at the head of your Hospital Unit, you remained as part of the
Division till the arrival in Scutari, going through all difficulties.
"You brought successfully, with your energy and splendid behaviour, all
your staff to Scutari. It was a tremendous task to achieve, on account
of the many difficulties and inconveniences through which the Serbians
had to pass. Your hospital was the only one that knew how to save the
staff and bring same to Scutari. That can be explained by the fact that
you did not give up your command for one moment, and shared all the
war difficulties and inconveniences. You have made everybody believe
that a woman can overcome and endure all the war difficulties, and as
a Commander of a Medical Unit, can save all the staff, and at the same
time doing useful work whilst going back to your great Motherland. You
can be sure, esteemed Madame, that you have won the sympathies of the
whole of Serbia through your useful work, and that you have left the
best impressions. The Serbian Army feels a very deep gratitude for the
work you have done.
"By order of the Chief of the Staff at the Headquarters.
"COLONEL DR. LAZAR GUENTCHITCH.
"_Scutari, December 9th, 1915._"
THE SERBIAN LEGATION CERTIFIES that the above
is a translation from the Serbian.
By order of the Serbian Minister. (SEAL)
GEORGES V. TODOROVIC,
_Secretary_.
_London, January 21st, 1916._
LEGATION ROYALE DE SERBIE.
_Who is writing_: Commandant of the 1st Schumadia
Division, Scutari.
_To whom_: The Chief of the Headquarters of the
Army Medical Service.
No. 25201. 9-xii-1915.
"By order of the Chief of the Headquarters of the Serbian Sanitary
Department, the Anglo-Serbian Field Hospital has been added to this
Division, under the name of the First Combined Anglo-Serbian Hospital.
For the Chief of this Hospital has been nominated Mrs. St. Clair
Stobart, and for the Secretary Mr. J. H. Greenhalgh. In addition, this
hospital had two Lady Physicians, Nurses and other English personnel,
altogether a total of 17 people.
"This hospital had 30 bullock-carts, 7 horse-carts, 6 light
automobiles, a great store of sanitary material, medicines and other
sanitary necessities, with a sufficient number of large tents. The
above hospital has the capacity for receiving up to 150 military
patients. For the work in the hospital 50 orderlies have been engaged,
also one chemist, an accountant and the other necessary personnel.
"This hospital, with the personnel, had been transported from
Kragujevatz to Pirot by railway, and they started their work in the
village of Suvodol, on August 20th of last year. Since that date,
during all the warfare, this hospital has done the principal work as
the second firing line Field Hospital, because this division had always
a very long fighting line.
"This hospital, in this capacity, has always been on the spot,
according to their official orders, and even near the firing line,
where they have done stoically their work until they received further
orders to move.
"According to the hospital's Register it has received and attended to
596 wounded soldiers and 52 patients. Notwithstanding these figures,
the number is even greater, for on certain occasions the wounded were
not entered, so many were there and so little time to enter their names.
"The wounded soldiers have been excellently attended to and very well
dressed.
"The evacuation of patients and wounded, not only from this hospital,
but also from the central firing line Field Hospital, as well
as from other hospitals, has been greatly facilitated--taking
into consideration the terrible weather--by the loan of the light
automobiles of this hospital. The hospital retired, acting according to
official orders, together with the troops of this Division, beginning
from the place in front of Smederevo to Petch.
"In Petch they were ordered to take as much hospital material as could
be conveyed by the bullock carts, which are specially arranged for such
purposes, and the personnel were instructed to call upon the English
Military Attaché for further instructions regarding the evacuation.
"The Chief of the Hospital, Mrs. St. Clair Stobart, with her Secretary
and the other Serbian Nurses, left Petch for Podgoritza, Kastrati,
until Scutari, she traversing almost impassable roads. The remainder of
the English personnel were directed previously to go to Scutari.
"During all the warfare, as well as during the retirement, the Chief of
the Hospital, Mrs. St. Clair Stobart, was riding continuously (on her
horse) at the head of her unit, as a splendid example to all, keeping
the discipline at the most critical moments.
"For her strenuous and successful work in her hospital, besides
grateful thanks, Mrs. St. Clair Stobart (Chief of the Hospital)
deserves the highest merits and decorations for her unceasing and
untiring work.
"BOZIDAR TERZIC.
"_Commandant Colonel._"
THE SERBIAN LEGATION CERTIFIES that this
Document is a true translation from the Serbian.
By order of the Serbian Minister,
(SEAL) GEORGES V. TADOROVIC,
_Secretary._
Traduction and Certifying free of charge, No. 1489.
_London, January 5th, 1916._
THE END.
Stobart Hospital at Kragujevatz
(SERBIAN RELIEF FUND UNIT 3)
LIST OF PERSONNEL
DIRECTRESS
Mrs. St. Clair Stobart
SURGICAL AND MEDICAL STAFF
Atkinson, Mrs. King-May, M.B., Ch.B.
Coxon, Miss Beatrice, D.R.C.P.S.R.
Hanson, Miss Helen B., M.D., B.S., D.P.H.
King-May, Miss Mabel Eliza, M.B., Ch.B.
Marsden, Miss Edith Maude, M.B., Ch.B.
Payne, Miss Catherine, M.B.
Tate, Miss Isobel, M.D. (N.U.I.)
NURSING SISTERS
Bury, Miss E. V. Leveson, Miss Alice.
Booth, Miss Alice B. Lawless, Miss Katherine.
Browne, Miss Alice. McGrow, Miss Mary.
Collins, Miss Ellen. MacLaverty, Miss M.
Clifton, Miss F. Newhall, Miss Dorothy.
Dickson, Miss Isabelle. Read, Miss Ada.
Ferris, Miss Lorna. Thompson, Miss Isabella.
Hill, Miss Emily. Willis, Miss Constance.
Kennedy, Miss Jessie. de Wasgindt, Miss Jessie.
WOMEN ORDERLIES
Beach, Miss Anna J. Maw, Miss F. B.
Benjamin, Miss Cissy (Head Orderly). McGlade, Miss Anne (Secretary).
Bradshaw, Miss Laura. Picton, Miss D. M. (Cook).
Brindley, Miss D. E. (Cook). Stanley, Miss Monica (Head Cook).
Burton, Miss A. K.
Cargin, Miss E. M. Shakespeare, Miss Phyllis (Cook).
Dearmer, Mrs. Percy (Linen).
Johnson, Miss Lorna A. (Laundry). Warren, Miss Fairy.
Wolseley, Miss Minnie (Dispenser).
Kerr, Miss Beatrice (Sanitation).
_Hon. Treasurer._--Mr. J. H. Greenhalgh.
_Hon. Chaplain._--Rev. Dr. P. Dearmer.
MEN ORDERLIES
Agar, Mr. (X-ray). Colson, Mr. (Chauffeur).
Black, Mr. (Head Chauffeur). Korobenikoff, Mr. (Medical Student).
Beck, Mr. (Refugee clothing).
Vooitch, Mr. (Interpreter).
_DISPENSARIES' STAFF_
SURGICAL AND MEDICAL
Cockburn, Miss H., M.D., C.M.
Hall, Miss H., L.R.C.P.I. and L.M., L.R.C.S.I., L.M.
Muncaster, Miss A. L., M.B., Ch.B., Edin.
Macmillan, Miss A. J., M.B., Ch.B., Edin.
Maclaren, Miss G. D., M.B., Ch.B., Edin.
Stewart, Miss M., M.B., Ch.B., Belfast.
Iles, Miss Mary M. G., M.D. (Lond.) B.S., D.P.H.R.C.P.S.I.
DISPENSER
Mr. E. Stone.
NURSING SISTERS
Bainbridge, Miss.
Cockrill, Miss.
Chapple, Miss E.
Downes, Miss.
Gambier, Miss.
Giles, Miss E. B.
Hall, Miss.
Henley, Miss.
Price, Miss M.
Smith Lewis, Miss.
Stone, Miss.
Stewart, Miss M.
Wells, Miss.
Willis, Miss.
Wren, Miss.
WOMEN ORDERLIES
(Cooks)
Aldridge, Mrs.
Barber, Miss.
Chesshire, Miss.
Dawn, Mrs.
Mansel-Jones, Miss.
Tatham, Miss.
Tubb, Miss.
MAN ORDERLY
Rev. E. S. Rogers.
CHAUFFEURS
Boone, Mr. G. D.
Dickinson, Miss E. K.
Holland, Miss G.
Holmstrom, Mr. O.
Hulett, Mr.
Jordan, Mr.
Little, Rev. J.
Marshall, Mr. A.
Sharman, Miss.
Printed in Great Britain by W. H. SMITH & SON, The Arden Press,
Stamford Street, London, S.E.
* * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Obvious punctuation errors were corrected.
Both "battlefield(s)" and "battle-field(s)" appear frequently and have
not been changed.
Hyphen removed: "bloodstained" (p. 313), "farmhouse" (p. 226),
"hairpin" (p. 136), "hillsides" (p. 111), "horseback" (p. 322),
"menfolk" (p. 153).
Hyphen added: "mid-day" (p. 197), "school-house" (p. 202), "side-light"
(p. 44), "sub-conscious" (p. 2), "thunder-storms" (p. 41).
P. 40: "enlightment" changed "enlightenment" (I should have liked
enlightenment).
P. 49: "battiste" changed to "batiste" (garment made of
white batiste).
P. 53: "innoculated" changed to "inoculated" (inoculated against
typhoid).
P. 129: "very" changed to "every" (in every deed).
P. 187: "avaliable" changed to "available" (only light available).
P. 214: "Monetenegro" changed to "Montenegro".
P. 214-15: "Austrains" changed to "Austrians".
P. 217: "sent" changed to "send" (I couldn't send).
P. 218: "viv" changed to "via" (via Valorno).
P. 227: "ever" changed to "every" (weaker every hour).
P. 289: "moral" changed to "morale" (the Army and its morale).
P. 305: "11.3" changed to "11.30".
P. 320: "Kraguyevatz" changed to "Kragujevatz".
Dispensaries' staff: "Bambridge" changed to "Bainbridge".