Review: Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front, 1914-1915
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 1, 2013
Told from the very interesting perspective of a Nursing Sister very close to the front lines during The Great War. We first meet her as she is taking a ship to Havre along with troops and other medical personel. She tells of a rather festive atmosphere on board. When she reaches Havre she is keen to start her duties.The unknown Nurse is posted to a Hospital Train which travels to the front lines to triage the wounded and to give medical aid. She is later assigned to a Field Hospital before the Diary ends very abruptly.The writing is simplistic and straightforward, the nurse includes commentary about the weather, billets, food and the people.It almost reads as a travelogue.When she is posted to the Hospital Train and tells in a no nonsense manner of the conditions aboard Train, the writing is almost visceral.  The Nurse speaks of the mud, rain filled trenches, the constant bombardment, the casualties, the comradeship, the sacrifices, the sheer numbers of the men who fought.Other reviewers have spoken of the lack of medical procedures/diseases etc revealed, but for a diary I felt it was almost impersonal, a clinical account of events which must have been simply horrific and overwhelming.She writes of being on the train on night duty and having to care for at least 120 very sick men. No nurse to patient ratios in those days or conditions.It is the day to day struggle to care for her patients, even the enemy of occasions that I found to be quite compelling reading. It is the absolute stoicism that hits you with this very personal insight into life on the Western Front and the indefatigable spirit of the Nursing Sister.