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004 - Part 3 · Letters from the American Ambulance in France

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Speaker 1: Part three of with the American Ambulance Field Service in France.
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Speaker 1: Personal Letters of a Driver at the Front by Leslie Buswell.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Part three,
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Speaker 1: July fifteenth. Doc and I spent the day together. It
0:19
Speaker 1: was my duty day at Monteville, and although it poured,
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Speaker 1: I enjoyed it very much. All we did and saw
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Speaker 1: I shall leave to him to tell you about. So
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Speaker 1: good night, God bless you all. Pont Ain Mousson, July
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Speaker 1: twenty fourth, nineteen fifteen. When I last wrote to you,
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Speaker 1: I little thought my next letter would follow such a
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Speaker 1: tragedy as occurred on Thursday the twenty second. It is
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Speaker 1: now two days ago, so in the comparative calm of perspective,
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Speaker 1: I must try to tell you the whole story, from
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Speaker 1: beginning to end. Thursday morning, Schroeder and I went to
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Speaker 1: visit the hospital on the other side of the Moselle,
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Speaker 1: and there we were received by the sister Superior, who
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Speaker 1: personally showed us all over the building. The corridors are
1:03
Speaker 1: now used as wards, as every room but one in
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Speaker 1: the large old convent has been hit by a shell.
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Speaker 1: We got back to lunch about twelve o'clock, and Mignot,
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Speaker 1: our indefatigable friend in the position of general servant, upbraided
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Speaker 1: us for our unpunctuality, et cetera. We had hardly finished
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Speaker 1: lunch when a shell burst some twenty meters away, and
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Speaker 1: we hurriedly took to the cellar while eleven more shells
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Speaker 1: exploded all around our headquarters or cascerne, as we called it.
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Speaker 1: We then went for a round of inspection and found
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Speaker 1: that the twelve shells had all fallen on our side
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Speaker 1: of the road and were all within forty or fifty
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Speaker 1: meters of us. This made us feel pretty sure that
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Speaker 1: the shells were meant for us or for our motors.
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Speaker 1: Schroeder and I discussed the matter and came to the
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Speaker 1: conclusion that we did not like the situation very much,
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Speaker 1: and that if the Germans sent perhaps six shells all
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Speaker 1: at once, we should many of us get caught. I
2:01
Speaker 1: was very tired, and about one thirty went to sleep
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Speaker 1: and slept until five thirty, when I went to dinner
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Speaker 1: at the caserne. The evening meal over an argument started
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Speaker 1: about the merits of a periodical called Lemeaux. Do you
2:14
Speaker 1: know it? A kind of a futurist paper. After a
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Speaker 1: rapid fire commentary from one and then another of us,
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Speaker 1: which continued until about eight thirty, Schroeder and I decided
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Speaker 1: to go to our rooms to bed. We were walking
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Speaker 1: home when I reminded him that he had been asked
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Speaker 1: to tell four of our fellows who slept in a
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Speaker 1: house near by, to be sure that no light could
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Speaker 1: be seen through the shutters. So turning back, we rapped
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Speaker 1: on the window and heard merry laughter and were greeted
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Speaker 1: with a cheery invitation to join the nine who had
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Speaker 1: gathered inside. It seems one of them, who had been
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Speaker 1: on duty at Monteville, had managed to get some fresh
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Speaker 1: bread and butter and jam, and they were celebrating the event.
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Speaker 1: We had to decline their friendly hospital, however, as we
3:01
Speaker 1: wanted to get some sleep. I had just got my
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Speaker 1: boots off when whish, bang, bang, bang, four huge shells
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Speaker 1: burst a little way down the road toward our caserne.
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Speaker 1: Thirty seconds after came two more, five minutes later, six more,
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Speaker 1: and then we heard a screaming woman ejaculating hysterically say
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Speaker 1: leysay Merican. Schroeder and I looked at each other without speaking.
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Speaker 1: We hurriedly dressed and started to run to the caserne,
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Speaker 1: women and soldiers shouting to us to say where we were,
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Speaker 1: But rushing on through the fog, smoke and dust, we
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Speaker 1: reached headquarters. There we found the rest of the section
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Speaker 1: in the cellar, and hurriedly, going over those present, realized
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Speaker 1: that two were absent, Mignot and the mechanic of the
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Speaker 1: French officer attached to us. Out we ran, shouting Migno Mignot.
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Speaker 1: From the dust and smoke. There staggered someone we did
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Speaker 1: not know, blood flowing from head, legs and arms. Oh secure,
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Speaker 1: Oh secure, It was the mechanic, leaving him with the
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Speaker 1: section to be dressed. We rushed madly through the fog
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Speaker 1: bound street, crying Migno Mignot. Then suddenly across the road
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Speaker 1: a shadow, a dark spot on the ground, two women
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Speaker 1: quite dead, a boy dying, a man badly wounded, and
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Speaker 1: farther on a still blue form. Quick, old man, listen
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Speaker 1: his heart. It was he, Mignow and dead, our loyal
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Speaker 1: and devoted servant, who was almost the living incarnation of
4:33
Speaker 1: Kipling's gunga Den. We rushed back to get stretchers and
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Speaker 1: a car Ogilvy got his car and we got our
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Speaker 1: stretchers out to take away the Blessee there were a
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Speaker 1: few of us grouped about, some seven or eight and
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Speaker 1: a car with the wounded, just put on stretchers when
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Speaker 1: look out, bang bang bang, three more shells. We had
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Speaker 1: already thrown ourselves on the ground, and then, finding we
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Speaker 1: were still alive, Feverish loaded the car. Good God, i've
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Speaker 1: stalled it, said the driver. Then the cranking. Would it
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Speaker 1: never start? Try again? Oh? Thank heaven, it was off
5:10
Speaker 1: hardly thirty seconds after whish, bang bang, Two more came.
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Speaker 1: We retired to a cellar for a few minutes, as
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Speaker 1: the three dead could stay there while it was so
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Speaker 1: terribly dangerous. At last we emerged and were about to
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Speaker 1: lift Mignot's body when both arms moved. Was he alive
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Speaker 1: after all? No, it was only the electric wires he
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Speaker 1: was lying on that had stimulated his muscles. The car
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Speaker 1: turned the corner with the three dead and we ran
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Speaker 1: back to the caserne. There we found the rest of
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Speaker 1: our section very shaken. Indeed, a shell had burst just
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Speaker 1: outside of the house where the nine were making merry,
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Speaker 1: and the violence of the impact had hurled all of
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Speaker 1: them to the ground two feet nearer, and the whole
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Speaker 1: lot would have been killed. Schroeder and I decided we
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Speaker 1: had better go back to bed, and we insisted that Ogilvie,
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Speaker 1: who lived in the house so nearly destroyed, should come
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Speaker 1: with us. We made him a sort of bed on
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Speaker 1: the floor and turned in. As the light went out,
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Speaker 1: a strange silence crept over us three. And I am
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Speaker 1: sure that I was not the only one who was
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Speaker 1: offering a silent prayer for the wife and children of
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Speaker 1: our devoted friend Mignot, and of gratitude for our miraculous
6:23
Speaker 1: escape from death. I must have dozed off when I
6:27
Speaker 1: was awakened by the whole house shaking, and six more
6:30
Speaker 1: terrific explosions followed, and then still six more. Should we
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Speaker 1: go out again? No, all the rest were certainly in
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Speaker 1: cellars and out of danger. About two o'clock a tremendous
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Speaker 1: attack woke us up, and for an hour the whole
6:45
Speaker 1: place shook and re echoed with the sound of artillery,
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Speaker 1: hand grenade, and rifle fire. We stayed awake, expecting a call,
6:54
Speaker 1: but none came till five o'clock, when we were told
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Speaker 1: that the Mete sin de Visignere had ordered us us
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Speaker 1: to leave Pontomos soon. Immediately we dressed and packed and
7:04
Speaker 1: got around to the caserne to find that nearly everyone
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Speaker 1: had already left, and that all thought Ogilvy dead, why
7:11
Speaker 1: we asked, his house had been completely destroyed. Even a
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Speaker 1: two eighty shell had burst in the cellar itself. Two
7:18
Speaker 1: shells had to burst in our casern, and all around
7:21
Speaker 1: was wreckage and mess. We got some coffee at a
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Speaker 1: little cafe, and, being on monte Vive duty, went up
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Speaker 1: there a sad and depressed. Being that afternoon, about one
7:32
Speaker 1: o'clock a shell burst right in the middle of the
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Speaker 1: street at Dex, killing one soldier and badly wounding four more.
7:40
Speaker 1: I was not far away. I took them to the
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Speaker 1: hospital at dear Leois, where I found the rest of
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Speaker 1: the section getting themselves installed in their new quarters. In
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Speaker 1: the evening, we went at eight o'clock to poor Mignot's funeral.
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Speaker 1: Sad and horribly gruesome. It was. Imagine a little chapel
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Speaker 1: with four coffins in front of a small altar, one
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Speaker 1: of them with many flowers and of oak Mignot's, the
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Speaker 1: other three just pine wood. The ordinary war coffin. The
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Speaker 1: governor came and I shall not forget the deam scene,
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Speaker 1: the priest who intoned the Latin burial service out of tune,
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Speaker 1: and the choir consisting of one man who sang badly
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Speaker 1: and as loud as he could, and a congregation of
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Speaker 1: silent mourners. Every note, every word, as it re echoed
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Speaker 1: through the chapel, seemed like the cry of despair of France,
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Speaker 1: a small but pitiful note of the anguish of this country.
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Speaker 1: Over At last the coffins were shuffled out of the
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Speaker 1: little chapel, and we were allowed to follow them to
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Speaker 1: the bridge to Saint Martin, where they were buried in
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Speaker 1: a cemetery constantly upheaved by German shells. Horrible, horrible, horrible,
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Speaker 1: that is all I can write. There had not yet
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Speaker 1: been time to find rooms at dear Lard, and I
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Speaker 1: was asked if I minded sleeping in Pontemous. No, not
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Speaker 1: a bit. So I spent last night there alone, and
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Speaker 1: perhaps for the last time, in our little room Schroders
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Speaker 1: and Mine, of which I once sent you a photo.
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Speaker 1: He was at ex on night duty. This morning, I
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Speaker 1: am sitting in that room at the window, writing this.
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Speaker 1: All's quiet, the sky cloudless and blue, birds are singing,
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Speaker 1: the red roses in the garden blossom in the sun,
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Speaker 1: and the peace of Heaven is really on earth around me.
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Speaker 1: Then comes the memory of Thursday night, a vision of
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Speaker 1: another world. Doc will probably arrive here to day, as
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Speaker 1: we had to wire him at once, and so you
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Speaker 1: may get this letter next mail pont Amousson, July twenty sixth,
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Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen. Since Friday, things have been topsy turvy. Our
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Speaker 1: section leader was away Andre po and Glover, who is
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Speaker 1: in charge in his absence, naturally, feeling responsible for the
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Speaker 1: safe keeping of our many ambulances in this division of
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Speaker 1: the army, thought best to evacuate pont A Mousson. Of course,
10:03
Speaker 1: the point of virtue in the idea was to avoid
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Speaker 1: the possible loss of some of our men as well
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Speaker 1: as cars, which would be a tragedy for the French wounded.
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Speaker 1: But our section is here to give its best service,
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Speaker 1: and I can't help feeling that it is better not
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Speaker 1: to lower the standard of work and efficiency by retiring
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Speaker 1: to blank. Perhaps I have rather forcibly expressed this idea,
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Speaker 1: but a number of the men here are of the
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Speaker 1: same opinion. I sleep at pont am Moissan as usual,
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Speaker 1: and of course Schroeder does too, and now three others also.
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Speaker 1: I want to point out that the moral effect of
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Speaker 1: seeing us about this place is very great on the
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Speaker 1: soldiers encamped here. And if you could have heard their
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Speaker 1: condolences and seen the look of pleasure on their faces
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Speaker 1: when Schroeder and I walked down the street last night,
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Speaker 1: you would realize that what little extra risk it involves
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Speaker 1: is negligible compared to its beneficial effect. However, when Soul's returns,
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Speaker 1: we may have to leave for good. Dear old pont Amasson,
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Speaker 1: I suppose you saw in the official French report of
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Speaker 1: the twenty ninth that we had been shelled. It meant
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Speaker 1: something to you then, I am sure, but you little
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Speaker 1: realized that it was our little group of ambulances they
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Speaker 1: were hammering at. Our whole section has been cited by
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Speaker 1: order of the Division, and last night the official wording
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Speaker 1: and so forth was sent to us. It is really
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Speaker 1: a very great compliment, and I am so pleased. I
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Speaker 1: expect Salisbury will get decorated as head of the section.
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Speaker 1: Here is a translation of it. American Ambulance Automobile Section,
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Speaker 1: a y composed of volunteers friends of our country, has
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Speaker 1: been continually conspicuous for the enthusiasm, courage and zeal of
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Speaker 1: all its members, who, regardless of danger, have worked without
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Speaker 1: rest to save our wounded, whose affection and gratitude they
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Speaker 1: have gained. Poor Mignot, life at Ponte Mousson will be
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Speaker 1: very different without him, our mechanic who was wounded. Is
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Speaker 1: I now here to have his left arm amputated? What
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Speaker 1: a real tragedy the twenty second was for us. The
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Speaker 1: more we think about the evening, and as further details
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Speaker 1: come to light, the more we marvel that we were
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Speaker 1: not all killed. It is strange too, how those who
12:21
Speaker 1: one felt would behave well did, And I am proud
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Speaker 1: of my friends. In the section p S we hear
12:28
Speaker 1: that a German captain, a prisoner in Paris, said that
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Speaker 1: if any American ambulance man was captured prisoner, he would
12:35
Speaker 1: be shot. Nice lot of people, aren't they. July twenty ninth,
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Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen. I had a very interesting day yesterday. As
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Speaker 1: you will have seen by official reports. The German presented
12:48
Speaker 1: us again with some twenty to thirty big shells on
12:51
Speaker 1: Monday night, and although I was at pont Amousson, I
12:55
Speaker 1: was in a good cellar About three people were killed,
12:58
Speaker 1: but one woman was wounded just down the road, and
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Speaker 1: the doctor and I had to run out and bring
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Speaker 1: her in. We were sufficiently excited not to think of
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Speaker 1: more shells, and as she could run too, and did
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Speaker 1: so with a vengeance. It was not a long promenade.
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Speaker 1: Yesterday I went with Schroeder to lunch with the battery,
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Speaker 1: who had entertained us at dinner on the fourteenth July.
13:20
Speaker 1: They had moved their position nearer the Germans. I have
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Speaker 1: rarely enjoyed a day more. The sun was glorious, the
13:27
Speaker 1: views perfect, and the woods enchanting, though shells bursting in
13:32
Speaker 1: the air took the place of birds. We had a
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Speaker 1: splendid lunch, and afterwards went out and visited the numerous
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Speaker 1: guns and trenches. I took many wonderful photos set Adira.
13:43
Speaker 1: They ought to be I saw about five different sized guns,
13:48
Speaker 1: and then we advanced to the trenches. Finally we reached
13:51
Speaker 1: the first line, where silence reigned supreme, except for the
13:55
Speaker 1: occasional bang of a rifle or the intermittent explosion of shells.
13:59
Speaker 1: We went to an advanced post several meters in front
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Speaker 1: of first line, and there, carefully looking through a hole
14:06
Speaker 1: I saw the German trenches. I then expressed a wish
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Speaker 1: to be able to photo them, and I was shown
14:12
Speaker 1: a place where I could stand up and quickly get
14:15
Speaker 1: a snap shot. I regretted having made the wish, but
14:18
Speaker 1: I saw they were looking at me, and I didn't
14:21
Speaker 1: intend showing a white liver. So up I jumped and
14:24
Speaker 1: took two. The bullets did not whistle all around me,
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Speaker 1: as I suppose I ought to write, And although I
14:31
Speaker 1: was successful in taking the pictures, I do not intend
14:34
Speaker 1: to try the game again. In fact, I have now
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Speaker 1: seen all the trench life I want to and do
14:40
Speaker 1: not mean to visit them further. The point is that
14:43
Speaker 1: if I should be killed or wounded on a sight
14:45
Speaker 1: seeing expedition, it would not be very creditable, and we
14:49
Speaker 1: run quite enough risk when on duty. Strange to say,
14:53
Speaker 1: I felt far less nervous in the first line trenches
14:56
Speaker 1: than when on service at Moontalmoussin or Monte. In fact,
15:01
Speaker 1: I felt quite a sense of security in those splendidly
15:04
Speaker 1: built trenches, while in a town the shelling is so
15:07
Speaker 1: much more dangerous, and when you have to go out
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Speaker 1: into it, sitting on that little ford jostling its way
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Speaker 1: over the bumpy road. The sensation is not a very
15:17
Speaker 1: comfortable one. However, as I told you before, I am
15:21
Speaker 1: a fatalist. Now absolutely We made our way slowly home
15:25
Speaker 1: to pont A, Massan, and there saw shells bursting over
15:29
Speaker 1: a little town in the valley, and I got a
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Speaker 1: photo of it. I am tired, so good night, July thirtieth.
15:37
Speaker 1: All your letters from July fourth to July fifteenth have
15:40
Speaker 1: just arrived, and also a very nice one from Marconi.
15:44
Speaker 1: It was a great joy to me to know of
15:46
Speaker 1: your success and of your glorious effort. Things are gradually
15:50
Speaker 1: quieting down here, but we have had a dreadful time. However,
15:54
Speaker 1: I am glad the work we are doing is so
15:57
Speaker 1: well worth the cost. One has little time and less
16:00
Speaker 1: inclination in the presence of such great tragedy to consider
16:04
Speaker 1: the virtue of one's personal service. But somehow it is
16:07
Speaker 1: good to remember that although one has done work at
16:11
Speaker 1: the Front, it was without pay, titles, et cetera. I
16:15
Speaker 1: acknowledge that I look forward to October, when I plan
16:18
Speaker 1: to go back for a bit. I shall have had
16:21
Speaker 1: four months service at the front without a rest. And
16:24
Speaker 1: although I can, I hope keep going another eight or
16:28
Speaker 1: ten weeks. I feel that without some respite, the winter
16:31
Speaker 1: would finish me if the Germans omitted to do so.
16:35
Speaker 1: I find myself feeling an intense, though futile and unphilosophic
16:40
Speaker 1: resentment at my physical condition, the not being able to
16:44
Speaker 1: eat enough to keep always at top speed. And of
16:47
Speaker 1: course one can never allow even a shadow, much less
16:51
Speaker 1: a mention of one's own problems, to appear. The personal
16:55
Speaker 1: equation practically doesn't exist here. August second, Kent Salisbury, who
17:01
Speaker 1: has returned to us, has supported our little group who
17:04
Speaker 1: objected to the evacuation of pont Amaison. He found us
17:08
Speaker 1: a very fine, suitable house and esthet would go mad
17:12
Speaker 1: in it German and bad German at that and we
17:16
Speaker 1: were told that no shell had fallen near it for
17:18
Speaker 1: nine months. So we entered with confidence. The telephone was established,
17:23
Speaker 1: and after changing the furniture about altering a few details,
17:27
Speaker 1: and I confess it, bringing in a few flowers from
17:30
Speaker 1: the garden, we found ourselves almost magnificently installed. Yesterday, the
17:36
Speaker 1: first of August, the French violently bombarded a town where
17:40
Speaker 1: a German regiment was enripault. And when I arrived at
17:44
Speaker 1: Monteville for day duty. At seven thirty yesterday morning, I
17:48
Speaker 1: was told that all the towns around here were expecting
17:51
Speaker 1: a bombardment in revenge. Needless to say, it was correct.
17:56
Speaker 1: About ten o'clock I had a call to go to
17:58
Speaker 1: Obaa Saint Pierre for or too seriously wounded, and when
18:02
Speaker 1: I arrived there, the METI Saint Chef told me that
18:05
Speaker 1: if I got them to the hospital quickly, they would
18:08
Speaker 1: have a chance of living. So number ten tooted off
18:11
Speaker 1: down the hill at what the plain warrior would term
18:14
Speaker 1: a hell of a pace. As I entered Monteville, I
18:17
Speaker 1: saw no one about, but as I passed Upholsta de Rescuer,
18:22
Speaker 1: a doctor rushed out and told me to take two
18:24
Speaker 1: more if I had room. I noticed they filled my
18:27
Speaker 1: car with extraordinary speed, and it was not necessary to
18:31
Speaker 1: tell me that Monteville was being bombarded. My stretchers filled.
18:35
Speaker 1: I set off again for my destination. With the four
18:38
Speaker 1: seriously wounded. I decided to take a different road, which
18:42
Speaker 1: was quicker, though supposed to be more dangerous, and two
18:46
Speaker 1: big shells fell on the road I did not take.
18:49
Speaker 1: While I passed, I began to think myself lucky as
18:53
Speaker 1: I entered pont Amasson, I saw no one about a
18:56
Speaker 1: bad sign, and on turning to go to deu Lois,
18:59
Speaker 1: where we took the wounded, I saw a huge shell
19:03
Speaker 1: explode two hundred meters down the road I was to
19:05
Speaker 1: drive along. Had the ambulance been empty or with only
19:09
Speaker 1: slightly wounded, I should have waited, of course, but under
19:12
Speaker 1: the circumstances my duty was to go on as fast
19:15
Speaker 1: as I could. I noticed ahead of me three large
19:18
Speaker 1: motor trucks, and the thought struck me, what if those
19:21
Speaker 1: are hit and contain ammunition. I was ten yards away
19:25
Speaker 1: when bang, I was half blown out of my seat
19:28
Speaker 1: A shell had landed on the motor truck. Hardly believing
19:32
Speaker 1: I was not hit, I increased my pace and emerged
19:35
Speaker 1: from the smoke and blackness, going at a good clip,
19:38
Speaker 1: safe and sound, but shaken. I deposited my wounded and
19:43
Speaker 1: started to return, but was stopped and told that the
19:46
Speaker 1: road was not passable as thirty large two tins had
19:49
Speaker 1: fallen on it and trees were all over the place.
19:53
Speaker 1: I forgot to mention the truly gruesome part of the tail.
19:57
Speaker 1: When I arrived at dear Lois, I noticed that everybody
20:00
Speaker 1: was pointing at my car. I supposed it was because
20:04
Speaker 1: we looked so smoke grimed. But on arrival at the hospital,
20:07
Speaker 1: several people ran out to me with curious expressions, and
20:11
Speaker 1: I then got down to discover what was troubling them.
20:14
Speaker 1: One of the poor fellows had thrown himself off the stretcher,
20:17
Speaker 1: and all of his bandages had slipped, and a trail
20:20
Speaker 1: of red was flowing from the car and leaving a
20:22
Speaker 1: pool on the ground. I got back to our bureau
20:26
Speaker 1: about twelve o'clock by a roundabout way, and had lunch,
20:30
Speaker 1: and went up about twelve thirty to Montevilla again. While
20:34
Speaker 1: at lunch, the shells continued to fall at fairly regular
20:37
Speaker 1: intervals on the road. Suddenly those nearest the window threw
20:41
Speaker 1: themselves on the floor, an action familiar to us constantly
20:45
Speaker 1: under shell fire, And before you could sneeze, the lot
20:48
Speaker 1: of us did likewise, and we heard an ecla fly
20:52
Speaker 1: over the house. Laughing, we got up. We were about
20:56
Speaker 1: eight hundred meters from where the shells were bursting, and
20:59
Speaker 1: I went out in to the street to see where
21:01
Speaker 1: the eclaw had fallen. There it was on the road,
21:04
Speaker 1: weighing about three and a half pounds. It was hot
21:07
Speaker 1: to the touch three and a half pounds thrown eight
21:10
Speaker 1: hundred meters. I have kept it as a paper weight
21:14
Speaker 1: as a little luncheon incident. It is entertaining. Nothing of
21:18
Speaker 1: great interest happened during the afternoon, except that I broke
21:21
Speaker 1: my foot break and tomorrow must put in a new one.
21:25
Speaker 1: After dinner, being off duty, I went to bed about
21:28
Speaker 1: eight o'clock. Schroeder left yesterday to go and see his brother,
21:31
Speaker 1: who is wounded. He returns in about a week. Meanwhile,
21:35
Speaker 1: I am alone and don't like it. At one thirty
21:38
Speaker 1: o'clock this morning, I woke up. Something was wrong. Bang
21:42
Speaker 1: bang bang bang pont a musson being bombarded and badly.
21:47
Speaker 1: Fifteen shells falling in three minutes, I counted, and the
21:51
Speaker 1: firing continued for an hour and a half with intervals.
21:55
Speaker 1: I got dressed, prepared to descend into the cellar if
21:58
Speaker 1: the shells came to near my house, and then about
22:00
Speaker 1: six fifteen the bombardment stopped. I left the house to
22:04
Speaker 1: find several fires started around the town. They had shelled
22:08
Speaker 1: with incendiary shells as well as high explosives. As I
22:12
Speaker 1: got back to our new headquarters, imagine my surprise to
22:15
Speaker 1: find a huge shell hole two yards from the house
22:19
Speaker 1: in the drive itself. The house never bombarded for nine months.
22:23
Speaker 1: All the fellows, however, were safe, and our breakfast was
22:26
Speaker 1: a jocular one, for we could not help seeing the
22:29
Speaker 1: funny side of it all. August third, just a few
22:33
Speaker 1: more lines, as one of our section is returning to
22:36
Speaker 1: America and will take these letters over, and you should
22:40
Speaker 1: get them about August eighteenth. With luck. I hope the
22:43
Speaker 1: lecture was a financial success besides a personal one. If
22:47
Speaker 1: all those people in America only knew what this section
22:50
Speaker 1: and our work mean to the soldiers here, money would
22:53
Speaker 1: not be long in coming. No one can realize what
22:56
Speaker 1: our little group does for the mutilated wounded. But if
23:00
Speaker 1: anyone doubts it, I wish he or she could see
23:02
Speaker 1: the grateful thanks in the eyes of the wounded soldier
23:06
Speaker 1: as he has taken from our ambulance and put into
23:08
Speaker 1: a fairly comfortable bed with doctors ready to attend him.
23:12
Speaker 1: Let him see the poor soldier, hardly able to move,
23:16
Speaker 1: insist on taking your hand and let him hear that
23:19
Speaker 1: whispered Messie montcomrade, and let him talk to the soldier's
23:24
Speaker 1: newly return from the trenches or just about to enter there.
23:27
Speaker 1: Let him hear that smiling greeting and see those hands
23:31
Speaker 1: waving mont jour camrade. Let him hear what the officers say.
23:36
Speaker 1: Then if he has had any doubts, he could have
23:39
Speaker 1: them no longer. I don't claim that I personally am
23:42
Speaker 1: doing anything, but I do say that this section of
23:45
Speaker 1: twenty five men has done more to cement the love
23:48
Speaker 1: for America with the troops around here than any possible
23:52
Speaker 1: action the USA could take in this war. And I
23:55
Speaker 1: believe that the same fact is true of our service
23:58
Speaker 1: in the North and South from Everyone should realize this,
24:02
Speaker 1: and I hope that any of my friends to whom
24:04
Speaker 1: you read this letter will bear our field service in
24:08
Speaker 1: mind if they hear of anyone wishing to be truly philanthropic.
24:12
Speaker 1: The hospital itself cannot go on indefinitely supporting us, as
24:16
Speaker 1: they are very short of funds and have a great
24:18
Speaker 1: undertaking on hand to feed and keep up the Nui
24:22
Speaker 1: Eye and Shuide hospitals. Doc tells me they must get
24:26
Speaker 1: two million francs to keep things going till next spring.
24:29
Speaker 1: Only a small portion of that money, of course, could
24:33
Speaker 1: come to our field service. So your effort is for
24:37
Speaker 1: a great purpose. I must tell you what happened to
24:39
Speaker 1: the wounded before our little cars came here. We carried
24:43
Speaker 1: over eighteen hundred last week and more than seventy five
24:46
Speaker 1: hundred during July. They were picked up in the trenches
24:50
Speaker 1: voisle pretta et cetera when they could be god at, sometimes,
24:54
Speaker 1: if lucky, an hour after, and sometimes five or six
24:58
Speaker 1: hours or never. The Broncodiers, chiefly artists before the war,
25:04
Speaker 1: do this work, a terrible job and very very dangerous,
25:08
Speaker 1: as the wounded are often between the German and French
25:11
Speaker 1: trenches and they have to creep out at night and
25:13
Speaker 1: drag them in well. These wounded are carried on broncous
25:18
Speaker 1: stretchers down the hill from the trenches, probably a journey
25:22
Speaker 1: of some thirty minutes to the refuge de Blessee still
25:26
Speaker 1: in the wood, and there a primitive dressing to stop
25:29
Speaker 1: bleeding is put on. Then they are jostled on on
25:34
Speaker 1: on till they arrive at one of the poste de secieux,
25:37
Speaker 1: where our light little cars can go. These are the Aubert,
25:42
Speaker 1: Saint Pierre, plau Bois and Monteville. Here in former days
25:47
Speaker 1: they were re dressed and if there were room stayed
25:50
Speaker 1: in the little shelter, or if not, they had to
25:53
Speaker 1: lie outside till a horse wagon came to fetch them.
25:57
Speaker 1: Sometimes they would have to wait many hours before their
26:00
Speaker 1: turn came, and even the most urgent cases would not
26:03
Speaker 1: get away and arrive at the hospital for a long time.
26:07
Speaker 1: Hundreds of soldiers died. Thus, Now, with our little cars,
26:11
Speaker 1: an urgent case is at the hospital ready for operation
26:14
Speaker 1: in twenty minutes at the most, and generally about ten
26:17
Speaker 1: to fifteen, no matter what time of the day or night.
26:21
Speaker 1: That is why these soldiers around here are so grateful.
26:25
Speaker 1: I have seen cars go up to Aubert Saint Pierre
26:28
Speaker 1: to fetch an urgent case when the driver knew the
26:31
Speaker 1: road was being shelled, and the soldiers who see our
26:34
Speaker 1: cars tooting up the hill wonder and say, beaulonaire, I
26:38
Speaker 1: have got a call and so must stop, for before
26:41
Speaker 1: I could get back, the friend who is to take
26:43
Speaker 1: this letter would doubtless have had to leave one and
26:48
Speaker 1: one half hours later. I still have a few minutes,
26:52
Speaker 1: so I will continue. As you know, I almost never
26:55
Speaker 1: reread what I write, but I have run over this letter,
26:58
Speaker 1: and although every word I say accurate and unexaggerated. I
27:02
Speaker 1: don't want you to imagine that the French Red Cross
27:05
Speaker 1: is not efficient, but they cannot afford cars everywhere, with
27:09
Speaker 1: drivers and so forth. That is why our section here
27:12
Speaker 1: is so useful. The horror of the whole war is
27:16
Speaker 1: growing on me day by day, and sometimes when I
27:19
Speaker 1: have got into my bed or am trying to get
27:21
Speaker 1: a few hours sleep on a stretcher. Every other night
27:24
Speaker 1: I am on duty and so cannot undress the horrors
27:28
Speaker 1: of blood, broken arms, mutilated trunks, and ripped open faces,
27:32
Speaker 1: et cetera haunt me and I feel I can hardly
27:35
Speaker 1: go through another day of it. But all that is
27:38
Speaker 1: soon forgotten when a call comes and you see those
27:41
Speaker 1: bandaged soldiers waiting to be taken to a hospital. I
27:46
Speaker 1: almost love my old car. It was in the Battle
27:49
Speaker 1: of the Marn, and I often find myself talking to
27:52
Speaker 1: it as I pick my way in pitch darkness past carriage,
27:56
Speaker 1: guns or reinforcements. If one does not quickly become an
27:59
Speaker 1: exit driver, one would have no car to drive, for
28:03
Speaker 1: it is almost impossible to see five yards ahead. And
28:07
Speaker 1: it is at night that the roads are full of
28:10
Speaker 1: horse carts and soldiers. And of Part three