ARMY NURSES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 87, 6 July 1943, Page 3

ARMY NURSES

LIFE IN NEW CALEDONIA

; New Caledonia. Three young ladies dressed in the white off-duty uniform of Army Nursing sisters formed a strange contrast in streets crammed Avith soldiers, civilians, natives and congested vehicles. Their arms Avere filled Avith parcels—small packets of cosmetics, big unAvrapped podgy dolls Avith Avobbly eyes, a few toAVcls, linen, >a trinket or two—which the}' dumped into the.-back of a waiting jeep. Then ofF down the road to their holiday camp, That Avas shopping day over. The day before it had ljc.cn. a hair-set. the day before that a swim and sun.Jjath., To-morrow . . . beach, launch trip or another visit to the shops. Who cared? Next Aveek the girls would be back in the bush country, clad in grey duty uniforms, tending the: sick and injured,, caring for ten. twenty, or thirty Ncaa' Zealand soldiers in their particular •ward of the General Hospital. Can't the}' have a holiday once in a while? Don't they earn it? To See neAv faces, sleep in different tents r Avear their best uniforms, get away from the solitude of familiar ■surroundings. Yes, e\'en to be bitten by a new mosquito. Doesn't it help these girls to regain vitliaty and to carry on their arduous duties? The hospital authorities think so,, and. that is Avhy they like to get. the nurses aAvav to some other part of the island for at least a week every three months, and away from the hospital a day a week as avcll. The story of the New Zealand Army nursing sisters in New Caledonia is an amazing one. A "unique beginning" is how Matron N. Hall, who went through it all herself, describes the init.al weeks ol opera-

tion. "Uniquely attrocious" would have -expressed, things more, forcibly, if less modestly. Fifty New Zealand sisters came here with the main body of the division. A hospital site had been selected which had 110 more than its share of mosquitoes, and was well sited according to the strategic needs of that time. A picturesque valley, a river ilowing past,, and trees to provide fuel and structural and roofing needs, were added attractions. The New Zealand girls then moved in. So did the rain and'the Hoods and. the mosquitoes. Week after week these sisters existed in liendish conditions. They Ave re Avet to the skin. They wore long gaiters or gumboots to squelch through a foot of mud. They were never free from mud. They Avcre never clean, never tidy, never dry. They Avore headnets to keep oil' the mosquitoes eAcn when on duty. At meals they grabbed their plates and Avalked into the open air, eating and drinking as the}' walked lest their faces and hands be bitten by hordes ol hovering mosquitoes. They s.ept, as everyone did on this island, under netting. When they climbed out in the morning, mosquitoes blackened their arms, legs and faces as they dressed. In three minutes sometimes eyes Avere closed, by the swelling from bites. Wind and rain squalls hit their tents during the night. More than once the tents Avere blown over, and medical officers lent a hand in their re-erection. Hurricane warnings came now and again, but fortunately no real hurricane, hit the site, or many of the tents Avould have been bloAvn beyond hope ot recovery. That sort of thing Avent on for week-:, until slowly, roads, took shape, wards were erected, draining eliminated some 01. the mud, uniforms

could, be kept a little clcancr and clothes a little drier. Patients were now taken in, but the troubles of the staff were not yet. over. Nor were they over for the patients. When nets round the patients' beds were opened for dressing, feeding and, massage, in came the mosquitoes,, making the cure sometimes worse than the illness. But as tlie days and nights became less stilling, and the rain less frequent, the mosquito menace diminished — just a little, for it has not yet gone altogether. There 1 were chances now for the nurses to wash and iron .uniforms to better effect. Flat irons heated on primus stoves were the order. Three sisters now have' petrol heated irons. There are four showers available. Many girls have taken up gardening, growing vegetables and flowers around their tents. They go for walks, picnics and to a beach in their off-duty hours. A car has been placed at their disposal. One girl has bought a horse; several enjoy riding when they get the chance. So their lot becomes better as the days pass. Having stuck to their tests without protest in the early privations., the girls deserve all the comforts they can gather together. And when all is said and done, such comforts arc still few and far between. If no shells have fallen in their area, remember that nature can supply even worse trials. Shells might even be a relief sometimes from the mosquitoes and the antsYou can dodge a shell, if you're luekv, bill you can't dodge millions of ants.. The nurses como up smiling through it all, as did those three on their shopping expedition. More power to them. So think 'of these sisters soiuct'mesf New Zeal-antlers, and spare a good luck wish for them now and again.