Sentence:  May was in New Zealand when war broke out, and immediately left for France, where she worked in a military hospital in a converted high school in Marseilles. Writing home, she said that the French officers were said to be 'fussy' so she was glad to be nursing the <WSD>Tommies</WSD> (meaning French rank and file): 'they are brave and good, and patient, and such grateful patients. They are helpful to each other, and take such an interest in their fellow sufferers.' 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Any common soldier; a member of the rank and file.