WOMAN'S WORLD
. 4 (Continued from page 2.) AMBULANCE DRIVING IN FKANCE A. CHRISTCHUHCH GIRL'S EXPEKI- - A Christchurch girl, writing to hei pwrents irom Ji'mucu before tho cessation of tlie fighting, says:— iou may ■Uβ inti-rcslud to hear something of what we are doing in France. At present oiu convoy, wnich consists of iii aiiLtauluncee ivnd 50 drivers, is attached to tho Second Army. We are right up in the war area working foi casualty clearing stations, about 10 miles lrom the "line." It is all a very woiidoi'fiil experience, and nl. times, when they are shelling our area and during an air raid, which is practically every tint night, wo find it almost too exciting, and one gota very tired of having to turn «ut of bed several times during the night to go to the dug-outs. When 1 first went out it was in the middle of the big "push," ami they were very short of drivers. The girls were working 20 hours on and four hours off. I was rather uorvous starting off quite alone, us 1 didn't know in the least how to get to • —, and no one seemed aaiiouu to tell me. I was just given a handful of papers and my passport—all of whicli 1 had to give up at various stages ot, tho journey—and told to report at headquarters in on arrival of the boat, but when I did get there everything waa quite easy, i was mot by a B.R.C.S. orderly, who took possession of me and my kit, and from tliht moment I din not have to think for myself at all—l was in the Army and simply did what 1 was told. I slept in that night, and the next morning was sent in a car up to the Gas Instruction School, where I was given a gas mask, taught to put h on quickly, and then taken into a gas chamber to show how safe one is with a gas mask, the idea being to give one confidence during a gas attack, but so far we \have not had to use our masks, but we always carry them With us as well as eteel helmets. That afternoon I was sent up to in a Staff car—about two horn's' run. We are camped here in tiny tin huts in the grounds of an old Frencti monastery, about two miles from the town; the main building is used for a C.C.S., and tho old monks still live in the cellars. We see them pottering about the grounds; they are very old, and one or two have died lately from shock during a very .bad raid. Four of us sleep in 'each' hut, and we are very happy and comfortable, in spite of the rate and earwigs, but one very soon gets used to that. I think it will be very cold in the winter, as there are large cracks m the walls, and I have a nice littio plant of oats growing up through my floor, but we have all got great schemes for keeping out the cold.. We park our cars just outside the town, and go aown tiiers every morning now aibout 7.30 to work. Wβ used to live there altogether, but when they were shclh.ag the town we moved out here to sleep, and it is very much nicer, as we are able to spend our off duty times hero too, and tiicre are lots of shady places to sit out this hot weather, and on very hot nights we often sleep out, just going to the. dug-outs during a raid, and bacii to bed again. iN'uw I'm more used to the raids, and have time to look about, it's a quaint sight to eee everyone rushing to tho dugouts in all sorts of costumes. The alarm, which goes by the name of "Windy Lizzie," . generally sounds directly a Him 'plane crosses our. line. If we hear it we are prepared, but more often the first we hear is a bomb, or the antiaircraft guns blazing away. '.We throw on a coat .or anything we havo handy, put on-tin-Hats, grab a «aa iua.sk, and run as hard ae we can .'.cross the open to the dug-outs, where we all sit uiutil the worst is over, wondering where the next bomb is going to drop. _ . The work is very well organised. We each have our own car, and do everything ourselves, even putting on . new springs when they break, which is fairly often on "these roads.' We havo a large yard where the ears are parked diagonally, : facing each, other, with a space between, and a gate\at each end; then just outside the exit gate, there is an office with a telephone, where the secretary remains to take calls, "e get all our orders foom the Embarkation Medical Officer. Our names are on a slate in alphabetical order, and each call as it comes in goes to-'che rest girl in order, whatever the job is. It might bo a«run down to the Somme or only to the station here, but no one is ever sent out of turn. If a girl goes cut on a. job she wains the girl who 's next on the list that she is next for a. job, then when a call comes the secretary blows a whistle, and the girl whose turn it is is supposed to be on the read in three minutes, and as she goes out of the gate she is given a slip of paper with ,the orders written on it. ,
When there is a train, an-1 there aro. generally two or more ev.ary day, everycar ii on the roai, and it is rather a fine sight to see them all starting out in convoy,' perhaps 25 to one C.C.S., ten to another,-and so on. We all start up out cars, and then when all ready start out of tho yard from the far end alternately, one car from one side, then'one from tht other, getting our orders at the gate as we got out. Sometimes it happens that when we are off duty up at cur camp a telephone message will cotne through that there is a train immediately. It happened the other day when we were all at a concert up at the hospital. There is a general rush for coats. i.nd we all bundle into a car and go down to the town to get our cars, o.ud '.an generally manage to be on the road within fifteen minutes. We'are all very proud of the fact that our ambulances'ore always up to time. ■ .
Most of our work consists or cvacuat. ing the C.C.S.'s to the trains for the base and taking men'fironi the T.A.T.'s (temporary ambulance trai.vj vl ich come straight down from the f ront, to the C.C.S.'s for treatment. Then there are countless other jobs as well, accidents at the different schools, of v]. ich there are a good many abo:it here, and generally two or three csvrs go c'own to the ■base every day to take special cases or sick sisters.—"Press."
• Good idea, very. A seasonable present. Milsoni's Hygienic Face Powder. 3s. box. all shades. A pure skin food and the .finest ever placed before the public Cultene Skin Pood, nisht use, 3s. Cultene Balm, day use, 3s. 6d. Two Creams that stand alone. Order now,, posted immediately. All hair work. Miss Milsom, Ha,ir and Fnce Specialist 9'i Willis Street. 'Phone 814-Advt.
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Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 71, 18 December 1918, Page 3
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1,248WOMAN'S WORLD Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 71, 18 December 1918, Page 3
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