My Diary in Serbia Part 4

I had nineteen letters, three papers and a book. I stayed up nearly all night reading them.

The sheep I bought the other day for 20 dinas is a great pet, just like a dog and follows us everywhere. We call it our mascot. It has a great blue ribbon bow round its neck which one of the nurses gave it.

To-day our sergeant, who helps with secretarial work, has typhus. He has been sent to the Scottish Fever Hospital. He is such a nice man and has been with us ever since we arrived at the camp.

We had another terrible storm. I never saw such rain; if one is out you are soaked through in a minute.

Several of our members have high temperatures to-day; they have been isolated.

I have been to an operation this afternoon. It was to see a toe removed and two web fingers cut. I am really proud of our women surgeons. They are really excellent and so quick.

Friday, _June 4, 1915._

We are still paddling about, up to our ankles. Two more members of our staff are in bed with high temperatures. We hope it is only malaria.

Two of the Serbian Army Medical Corps came to see our camp.

Mrs. Stobart is still in bed with high temperature. I have to take all my staff's temperatures every morning and report to the doctors.

Two of Dr. Berry's unit have come to stay in this camp for a few days.

Our six staff invalids are going on well, but they all ask for different kinds of food which is somewhat trying.

Lady Lethbridge is posting this for me.

We do not know what this fever is. Some of our staff and the doctors are beginning to think it is typhoid, but the temperature charts are most curious, not a bit like the ordinary typhoid.

I have felt unhappy to-day for our sanitary inspector has put disinfectants in all the ponds on the camp as the water was getting stagnant, and all the happy little frogs are suffering. Thirteen ducks from the farm near by have been to drink the poisoned water, and they have just run down to the kitchen gasping and their eyes nearly out of their heads. They have been given bowls of water and it seems as though they would never stop drinking. It has taken quite six hours for them to recover from the chloride of lime and water.

Sunday, _June 6, 1915._

We had service at 5.30 a.m. in the mess tent. Two ducks walked in during the service. They made a great noise, and after the service we found that they had laid an egg just outside the tent. We had another service at 10 and another at 4 o'clock, but the ducks this time did not visit us.

My pet sheep had to be sent away, as it loved having its afternoon nap in the other tents. I did not mind it as I had disinfected it, and it was beautifully white and so clean; it was a great pet. I call it Sir Thomas. It was killed for dinner, and I went without meat for several days. It had grown so fat, and it was the best piece of meat we had in the camp. It was most painful doing the carving.

Tuesday, _June 8, 1915._

We had five visitors to-day, four doctors and Lady Lethbridge. We again had turkey. This is quite a common dish in Serbia, and they are so cheap, only 7 dinas each; some are 5 dinas. Many of our units are down with fever; it makes us very busy.

Wednesday, _June 9, 1915._

To-day Dr. Dearmer and two of my kitchen staff and I went for a lovely motor ride as we have been too tired to go for walks, and Mr. Black took us in his car. We started at 2 o'clock and got back at 6. The weather is very hot, and in some of the tents the temperature is 110.

Thursday, _June 10, 1915._

At 3.30 this morning I was awakened by a gun being fired; I did not think anything of this, as one gets so used to the noise of guns. At 4.30 I dressed and went to inquire what the patients were going to have for breakfast, and when one of the nurses and I were standing talking we heard a great explosion. I knew at once that it was a bomb, as I had experienced the same thing in Antwerp. We then heard, as we thought, the Marconi working, and we looked above us and saw it was a German aeroplane. Then we saw another German aeroplane, and then two Austrian ones. We knew at once they were attacking Kragujevatz. They began dropping bombs first near the a.r.s.enal, which did not, fortunately, do any damage; then one near the King's Palace, which did no harm but battered several shops and made holes in the walls of the cathedral. The bomb fell in the middle of the road. Many windows were broken in the cathedral. Another bomb fell in a cottage and killed a girl of fourteen who had only been in Kragujevatz three days; her parents had sent her from Belgrade as she was so afraid of the raids there. Sixteen people were injured and five killed. Then they came over our camp, a splendid target for them as the Marconi is only 150 yards away. The next bomb dropped was about 150 yards from our camp.

The smoke was terrible; I felt sure some of us would be the next victims. Most of our unit turned out in their night attire. I was glad that I was presentable. The next bomb dropped was about 110 yards and the pieces were scattered all round the mess tent and the kitchen. One of the doctors came hurrying along and called for me to pick up some pieces of shrapnel, but as we got to the spot we found a poor woman had been struck. Her arm was quite a pulp; I do not think she will recover.

I got about fourteen pieces of shrapnel, a piece of the hanger-propeller and the fuse. Lots of trees were struck and I got a piece of shrapnel out of the bark. A wireless was sent from here and one of the aeroplanes was brought down.

There has never been a raid on Kragujevatz before. All the guards round our camp fired their rifles, but there were no air-craft guns fired. We have not got large guns round us as there had never been a raid on Kragujevatz before.

Another poor woman was brought in wounded about 11 o'clock. She had a little baby which was _not_ hurt; she was struck on the leg. The baby is exactly like a little old man, and it only weighs 6- lbs. and is a year old; its bones are coming nearly out of its flesh.

Some of our staff who have fever are very ill, and some delirious.

Mrs. Stobart is much better.

Dr. Dearmer is going to Salonika. He is meeting some fresh members for our unit, they are due on June 18. A Civil Hospital and some Dispensaries are to be started. They will be branches of this one. The pontoon bridges and the regiments pa.s.s our camp every day. The weather is terribly hot.

We have started to use our mosquito nets. I had an arrow given me yesterday by a French aviator, one of the kind they throw out of the aeroplanes; and I have had a very nice Turkish dress given me.

Letters come from England very well now; they take about thirteen days.

Our convalescents sing and play at nights; some of them have very good voices. Their songs were generally battle songs, and relate to their friends who had fallen in the war. They are very clever in making their instruments--flutes, violins--which are excellent.

Just heard that some more aeroplanes have been seen but they have been stopped coming over here. The Serbian Government think that they tried to drop the bombs on our camp; we can be sighted miles away.

Friday, _June 11, 1915._

Eleven of our staff are down with fever; it is getting quite serious.

The strange part of it is the doctors cannot yet discover what the fever is.

We have 125 patients in the hospital, thirty-seven soldiers as orderlies, Austrians and Serbs, and fifty-nine of our own staff.

It was very funny the other day. Two large eagles were seen flying very high. They were taken for aeroplanes, and were immediately fired upon. The Serbians are quite ready for air raids, as we have some splendid air-craft guns placed in excellent positions.

Sunday, _June 13, 1915._

The weather is very hot. I have never experienced anything like it, quite tropical. One of our doctors has been taken ill to-day; that makes twelve of our staff down with fever.

Mrs. Dearmer has been taken ill. Mrs. Stobart, a doctor and I had a conference about the disease. It was p.r.o.nounced by the doctor to be typhoid. One doctor stated that it was due to flies; but this point was condemned, as the flies have only become plentiful the last week.

It was suggested that it might be raw salad; but this was again knocked on the head, as no raw salad has been eaten for about three weeks, and then it was washed in distilled water and vinegar, and several of the fever patients never ate salad. The last suggestion was the camp itself. This is the most probable, as before we arrived this camp was covered with refugees from all parts; and with the very dry weather, and then the heavy rains, most of the doctors think it is due to this. Some of the cases have been pretty bad in spite of the inoculation. Temperatures are 104.8 and several are delirious.

Fortunately none of the wounded have it.

We have had a terrible hurricane to-day, and a bad thunderstorm. Two tents were blown down. The hailstones were as big as large marbles.

Tuesday, _June 15, 1915._

I was taken bad to-day with gastritis. Dr. Atkinson is attending me. I hope to be up in a few days. It is due to overstrain of the nerves. We have sent for five more nurses to come and help us. I have a lot to be thankful for that I have not got typhoid.

Wednesday, _June 16, 1915._