MOTOR DRIVING AT THE FRONT.

Matamata Record, Volume II, Issue 97, 29 August 1918, Page 1

MOTOR DRIVING AT THE FRONT.

A New Zealand Girl's Experience. A Morrinsville resident has received the following letter from a lady friend—a New Zealander—who is driving a car at the front. The writer relates a few of her experiences during the recent German push, which she very aptly and truthfully describes as most thrilling, " Well I certainly got all the excitement there was going when I came over to France. The first few weeks were a rest but after that we have been going day and night and most of both, especially this last offensive, when another girl and I were sent right up to the front in our ambulances. I believe we are the only women who have done it, of course for the French Army. I don't know about the British. We have another hospital (or rather had) upatVillers Cotterets, which is about 20 miles this side of Soissons. It was just a big barrack place, built of wood and paper, about 60 mihs from here. When the Bosche broke through at Soissons last month two of us were sent off at top speed to take staff up to the V.C. place. The night we got there wounded began to pour in and such wounded, straight off the field, as we were the first C.C.S. behind the French lines. I thought I had seen pretty bad things at Walton, but nothing compared to these poor things. Next day we were sent to a place 2 miles this side of Soissons, where the Bosche were, to evacuate a hospital dump. It was the most thrilling drive I have ever had in my life. We dodged in and out of convoys the whole way up, and there wasn't an inch of road that wasn't packed with men and guns being rushed up ; at one cross road we had to wait two hours for other troops to pass our road, so went and visited a Yankee canteen, which was very busy clearing out. The men simply piled us with presents of food, etc. When we go to our destination wo overlooked Soissons and watched all the firing, etc. The noise of course was just terrific and shells were whistling over our heads the whole time. We were armed with tin hats and gas masks. When we got to the dump we found 12 huge motor waggons driven by Yankees, they do a lot of driving for the French. We loaded in double quick time and had the same performance driving down past convoys. When we were near V.C. a Fritz flew over and placed a bomb neatly on my right, gave me somewhat of a scare. I thought he had got me. We then stopped and watched a French man go up and bring him down. It was the most thrilling thing I have ever seen. The anti-air craft first tried to get him and you could see the puffs of smoke just almost touch him, but he flew through them all. The raids at night were just awful, shrapnel dropped on the paper roofs just like rain. How we managed to escape a bomb I don't know as the railway passed through the camp. Next day we heard that the Bosche was in the town we had been to the day before, and we were sent off to another town in the same direction, but Fritz raced us and got there first. We got within a few miles of it, then were stopped at a big aviation place and the men told us to come in and load up with as much petrol as we could carry away, which, of course, we jumped at. While here a waggon came along with a wounded French officer, and they asked me to take him on down, as there was nothing else to send him in. The poor thing had only been wounded an hour before, and was almost taken prisoner. He had his leg broken, and as I had my car full of petrol he had to sit up by me for 5 hours. I couldn't stop to unload as we were being shelled. It was an exciting race, we hadn't been gone from the petrol dump more than 10 minutes when Fritz got it. When we got back to the hospital they met us by saying we had to evacuate tout-de-suite. Then the General came round just when they had the X-Rays down and lotions etc j emptied and said could we posi sibly carry on as he expected 100

very bad cases in, and there was no other hospital for them to go to, so of course everything had to be got into working order again, and 1000 came in. The work you have no idea what it was like, and the most terrible aid raid going on. Miss who had been operating for 2 days and nights without stopping, worked hard and operated by candle light all night, and next morning we simply had to clear. I was sent down here to bring up all cars and drivers, and take the valuable papers, down; -also-six-feols who were in the way. When I got back to V.C. we had to move all the wounded who were too bad to have been moved by train in the morning, just fresh amputations, etc. to a place eight miles to get a train. I don't suppose many of them lived, as the road was awful and the station where they had to wait was badly bombed that night. We tore about all night and landed here next morning. The Yankees with about 12 Ford ambulances were awfully good and helped us no end, otherwise we would never have got the wounded moved. The staff were set off to walk down here 60 miles, but most of them got lifts in odd motors. We have just been most fearfully busy down here, not more than abcut 3 hours sleep a night till this week we have been ever so much slacker. In my odd moments I was requested to go and help in the theatre which was splendid for me. Some days I was driving up till 10.30, then go into the theatre till 3, and probably up at 6, that kept going for nearly two weeks, but it has been an experience I wouldn't have missed for all the world.