AMONG THE SERBIANS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 213, 3 June 1919, Page 2

AMONG THE SERBIANS

SCOTTISH WOMEN'S HOSPITAL UNIT

Of tho work which has been done in Serbia by the Scottish Women's Hospital Unit (formerly commanded by Dr. Agnes Bennett, of Wellington),, and is at the present time still being done, somo idea may ho gained ]>y tho following letter, written by llrs. Green to a member of the local executive from Vranja (Serbia):—

"About a month ago wo had orders at Ostrovo from our Director of Medical Services to evacuate all patients, mid prepare to go tosSerbia at once, as our help was urgenllyliteedcd. Dr. Einslio and I started for Serbia to soe whero our hospital was. to be. The first day wo got ns far ns Uskub, and that in .'spite of having to pass many Bulgarian dursins leaving iSerJiia. They looked tolerably well cared for, and not as if tliey had been starved or neglected in any" way. Officers mid men saluted us as we passed. Wo arrived <it Uskub about 8 o'clock at night, and got a room in tho hospital where Colonel Vladosavlovitch was staying. Ho was delighted to find tluit wo wero moving 60 quickly, and said that the need for us was very terrible. Next day we started early and arrived at Vranjn about G o'clock..

"The hospital is an enormous building and was originally used, as a. .barracks. Doctors and students were working night and day, and'patients were pouring, in all'the time. The doctors attacheu to the ambulance wanted us to take charge' at once, !>ut of courso we could not. They were anxious to get on behind the army wlioro tlio need was even greater. Tlie prospects before us were appalling, hundreds of patients there wanting help of every kind, and practically no food in the country—coffee ,£1 a kilo, tea .E4 10s., .sugar ,15drs., or about .£1 10s. a- kilo, am} everything in proportion and verv little to bo got even at these prices. /Die day after we arrived :at Ostrovn, I hurried down to : Salonika ; - ■ to collect - all the food, drugs, and. oriuipment that I could manage to buy. General Fortescue was very good and gave mo permission to buy what I wanted from the British Ordnance. The Bed Cross people nlso were very good and gave mc 100 sheets, 100 nillow-slips, 100 pairs socks, 100 pairs pajamas, cotton for making shrouds, 6ix caeks of flour, 1001b. sugar, two boxes of milk, one case coffee, and. a' few other tilings,

'Before I go further I must tell you iow absolutely overjoyed we were to find liiit our long-lopked-for Seidell lorry hftd irrived in Salonika in time to help us o bring our sisters hero. Wo wero a most mposing looking 'convoy' when wo startid with two touring cars, small Ford an, three ambulances; two Seldens, and he Oi.M.C. lorry, with so many sisters ii each, with the bare necessaries of life n their haversacks, and food enough for ivo -clays! journey. I'lach car carried a mail Serbian flag, which we had made', .ml the leading car had a small Union 'nek. All our sisters were in splendid pirits at the prospect of really good rork, and all wero in- splendid health, felt very thankful as Spanish influenza t-as very' bad here, and I was anxious hat they should nil keep fit. We wero uc.ky enough to have lovely moonlight or "our journey, and it was rather a ronderful sight to see onr rows of littlo leds with the sisters sleeping placidly, rhile a few yards away guns, amniuniion, and soldiers of many nationalities wssed along in a steady stream. In all lie villages through, which wo passed wo ound. Serbian ; flags flying, and overyine looking ■' relieved and . expectant, as >f course the' Serbs wero hurrying back is fast as ever they'could to :l heir Homes. In our. .return to Ostrovo,'after our'first ,i ip . to-y.rajija.:. we met thousands of Serbian 'soldiers'giiing 'kick into /Serbia We arrived in Voles about 8 o'clock and were luckv enough lo' : find two of the 'Elsie Inglis' unit who took us to the house where they hud got rooms for the night. Our party cTid not turn up, but spent 'the night nt the top of the Dabcona Pass,- where the Serbs nad longnt so valiantly, tmd . they .did pot appear until about 2 o'cToc'c. next day. "A lot of onr old.patients greeted us iu IJskub. Wo were glad to'fi'nd that tho town had not been very, much destroyed, bill most of tho railway bridges and telegraph and telephone systems were blown up and useless.'upd wanton waste everywhere. We arrived in Vranja about 8 o'clock, ami felt our spirits'a little damped, as the night was very.cold, with rani, and no-preparations had been made for u= The Serbian ambulance left the hospital about 0 o'clock in the morning, and wo all sot to work to do what we could to »et some or. the wards cleaned up. Patients had simply poured into Vranja during the advance, and at times, there were 1500 patients, stowed away .in all sorts of odd corners, but by the we arrived there wero only about 400. Four Serbian doctors and a few medical students had worked heroically, and treated not only the wounded and sick in hospital, but all the people in town who were suffering .from Spanish influenza. The cleaning or keeping sanitary arrangements in any kind of order ww a great task in itself. "The peuplo say the Germans look nil the food and useful material of all kinds out of the country beforo they left, so that the suffering has been terrible, but we are going to do all that we- can for the poor people here. Tho efforts of tho S.W.H. are much appreciated by all the S'H-bs, French, and British. It' it is possible we want all the warm clothing we can get, shirts, pyjamas, socks, mufflers, bedding, blankets. Everything is needed badly, hs men, women, and children are nearly naked. The roads, of course, will be very difficult during tho winter, but we aro hoping that the railway from Salonika will soon be repaired, and that we can get things 'brought up more easily. "We are working hard and the suffering and sadness, all round one arc simply terrible. A poor Serbian officer was brought in unconscious two nights ago. To-day ho insisted on getting up and going on to Uskiib. lie was most unlit to go out, and Dr'. Emslio and I did our best to persuade him to remain for a night or two longer. Then lie told us his pitiful tale; how he hud gono into Serbia with his heart full of joy and hope that after three years of separation he was to see *ils wife and little children again in the home lie loved. Ho found his homo burned to the ground and an old coffee house arranged iu tho ruins, and his wife and little children -hanged by the Bulgars, 1 He i said ho was only one of many officers who had had tho samo experience. 'Most of them shot themselves "or went mad, but I have come on to find my regiment, as my men wero left behind at Uskub, and may not be able to get rations until I return, When I have made arrangements for them I will take something to make mo sleep ancl sleep. 1 am not ill at all with any ordinary cnra-blo illness, but just my heart ,is broken, and' I don't want to jive.' I took him to the mess 100111 and him some Serbian eoffeo and got him to cat a little, and it seemed to comfort him a little to talk, but ho insisted on leaving'-the'hospital and going off to Uskub. I fear that there is terrible suffering and sorrow ill storo for many of the poor Serbs, and tho olid of tho war will only mean tho beginning of fresh sorrows for many of them. On the other hand, there will bo some happy meetings.