New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-11-09
A Woman at the Front
An American Nurse Writes HON.
From a Casualty Clearing Station


Sir: am inclosing a letter which "a,
may like to publish. The letter Is from !,
nurse who went over with the second Amer
can unit and is located In a British b,,.
hospital in Frapce, but at this writing (, a,
duty at an Australian clearing station n.,,
the front.
The nurses at the base hospitals TAI.
turns going to the clearing stations. The,
remain there only about three weeks. Il.
work Is so strenuous as well as dangerous
In one Of my letters to her | asked he,
about the newspaper accounts, IL they wers
exaggerated. You can see what her reply /,
New York, Nov. s,'lsl7. H.w.H.
No. 3 Australian Casualty Clearing Station.
October 7, 1917.
At last am seeing some real service and
would give anything 70 write you at length
OF all we see and hear. You will have "a
trust TO newspapers and imagine the rest. I
told you in answer TO your remark about
newspaper accounts that you can believe all
they say and forty times more, for they are
very accurate.
We are housed in tents, my own being
shared with little English nurse. They
are small bell tents and we sleep on the
floor. the tent being surrounded with sand
bags on the inside to break the flying shrap-
mel as bomb or shell eXplodes. When Mr.
Boche goes overhead and we know bomb
is dropping we roll over against the sand
bags on our faces and place an eyerready
- aNgn han.
masks in case of gas shells, which We are
ready TO have on in five seconds.
Mr.. Boche has visited US very Frequently
and we have just got settled in a new sta.
ton, the old one having been shelled out
Dugouts are handy in case shells fall near.
hardly think Fritz Intentionally bombs
many hospitals, but when he is after air.
dromes, ammunition, etc, he sometimes
strikes things he had no intention of going
after. We get but little sleep at night for
every little while, sometimes forty times
night, Fritz goes over and the anti-aircraft
guns and our own machines give him q
merry chase and you think pandemonum Is
let loose.
Then when you get nicely TO sleep shell
meant for some village in our rear goes
screeching through the air and a second
later you near the eAplOsioH' OSNo's NHiee
or four 80 over in the course of a few min
utes. When we are operating we don't
mind so much, but when we know bomb Is
dropping we drop on our faces until the
danger is over.
shall certainly come again, and hope 1t
falls to me to get into an Australian sta
ton, for they are certainly dandy lot. II
my heart were not already lost it would
certainly be to an Australian. The New
Zealanders are great, too, but so far we are
better acquainted with the Australians, as
we have had several conveys of Australians
at the base. After ALL | could not very
seriously lose my heart to anything but an
American.
Don't address any mail here as ] expect
to be back at the base before you get this,
and, anyway, all mail addressed there will
reach me- Love. d.
p. S.-Don't think that because Fritz has
been familiar that we are not giving him
merry h, for we are giving him much
more.
P. ST. may not get chance TO write for
few days, as l expect TO be operating on
German prisoners day and night.