Official history of the canadian forces in the great war
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| was seven miles for the medical units. In the first fifteen 50 MEDICAL SERVICES CHAP, iv minutes a heavy rain came on, and the troops being again in review order were completely drenched. "The cold trickle of water between clothing and skin," one diarist records, "effectually destroyed any enthusiasm one might have for Bonar Law or any party he might represent. We waited interminably in the rain. The weather cleared, and in the distance was a motor car with staff officers and a single civilian. The party would descend in front of a battalion, walk for a little, then clamber into the car again. As they passed in the distance the officer commanding the medical units rode forward, dismounted, and saluted. There was a dumb show, and with ^photographers in ad vance the party proceeded. A slight man in dark clothes with short coat and bowler hat emerged from the photo graphers, but did not so much as look in our direction. The review was over, and the rain began again. It in creased to a storm as we moved off. The water on the road was over the horses fetlocks, and in two hours we reached our wet tents." On September 2, there was a review of the whole Division by the King and Lord Kitchener, "a real review, the king and his entourage splendidly mounted." They passed in front of the officers, behind the commanding officer who was a few paces in advance, and the King looked every man in the face, so close that one could feel the keen confident gaze of the sailor and king, and see, as one present remarked, "his lovely Stuart eyes blue with brows beautifully arched." This review was a sign of the end. On September 11, orders were issued to move off in a few days." On the following day the final order came. i British Official History of the War. Medical Services Gen. Hist. Vol. 1, p. xiii. CHAPTER V THE FIRST WINTER, 1915-16 Three Field Ambulances, the mobile medical units of the 2nd Division, were dispatched to France on September 13 and 15, 1915. No. 4 entrained at Shorncliffe on the former day, sailed from Southampton in the King Edward and Archimedes, and landed at le Havre the following morn ing. Next day the unit arrived at Wizernes ; and by the 20th the three sections were established in Boeschepe, Westoutre, and Mont Noir. No. 5 entrained at Westen- hanger on September 15, sailed on the Viper and Indian, arrived next morning at le Havre, at St. Omer the following day, and on the 23rd formally took over from the 84th Brit ish Field Ambulance at Dranoutre. No. 6 entrained at Westenhanger on September 15, sailed from Southampton on transport E.18, formerly the Tintoretta of the " Holt Line," arrived at le Havre next morning, at Wizernes two days later, and at Locre on the 21st. The detail of the movement of one ambulance from England to the front will suffice for all, as the procedure was nearly the same in every case : Marched out at 3.45 a.m. from Otterpool to Westenhanger, entrained, loaded trans port and horses, and moved off in two trains, 15 minutes in advance of schedule. The train had been backed up against a ramp; the ends of the open cars were let down to form a continuous platform; the wagons were run on by hand, and the horses loaded in box-cars from ( the side. Southampton was reached at 11.45 a.m. Embarkation was 51 52 MEDICAL SERVICES CHAP. complete in two hours. The horses with girths loosened and bits removed were walked on board to their stalls; the wagons on their wheels, but with poles and shafts removed, were slung loaded into the hold with only six inches clearance between the axles and the combing of the hatches, by means of four chain slings connected to a common link at one end, the other end passing under the felloe and being attached by a hook to the hub of the wheel. These three ambulances required six trains for their conveyance, but the move was made with the ease of an ordinary passenger service. This ease came by a long ex perience. In the eight days from August 10, 1914, as many as 334 troop-trains arrived at Southampton, and men, horses, guns and transport were embarked. Between 10.12 p.m., on August 21, and 6.02 p.m., on August 22, the con tents of seventy-three troop-trains passed over the docks. The ship sailed at dark without harbour or navigating lights. Le Havre was reached at seven next morning. The men disembarked; the vehicles were slung over the side; the horses were driven ashore, and as the animals of each unit had a distinctive riband braided in their tails they were promptly led to their places. A march of three miles brought the unit to the rest-camp in a low black field. "No one," an officer writes, " seemed very glad to see us. To welcome us was the surliest sergeant in the British army except the next two I encountered. There we stayed the night, lying in tents without blankets. The commandant was General J. J. Asser, C.B., and he kindly provided din ner for the officers at a moderate price." In the morning the ambulance marched three miles and entrained, the horses 8 and the men 40 in cars of the same kind. At noon Rouen was reached, Amiens at dark, Abbeville at ten, and St. Omer the following morning. The v THE FIRST WINTER 53 troops detrained at Wizernes, and in this place guns were heard for the first time, " away in the northeast, the sound mellow and musical, the notes almost bell-like in their purity." Marched out at 10, by Hazebrouck for Caestre which is Ypres way. By September 23, 1915, the three field ambulances had taken their positions, No. 4 at Westoutre; No. 5 at Dran- outre; No. 6 at Locre in the convent of St. Antoine, taking over from the 86th Field Ambulance, Northumbrian Terri torials. By two o clock an officer with 10 bearers went for ward and in an hour casualties began to arrive. Two days later the battle of Loos was fought fifteen miles on the right flank, and with its failure active operations for the season were at end. This convent was a stately pile of buildings occupied in part by the mother superior and twenty nuns. They had under their charge two hundred Belgian orphans and sixty decrepit women. A force of three hundred men and an average of three hundred sick and wounded were billeted upon them. This convent was for several years a home for many thousands of soldiers, and lent an air of humanity and religion to the hard life of war. It lay in front of Locre and behind Kemmel hill in the very theatre of operations. A 12-inch gun was in continual action in a hollow on the right, and four 9-inch guns on the immediate front; the place was frequented by troops of all arms; battalions being inoculated; officers for baths, meals, and even for those pathetic banquets by which they strove to keep old memories alive. This convent was the one centre of civilization in that desolate area, and although it was under the German guns it remained untouched for three years, which, as the Mother said, was marvellous or, correcting herself, miraculous. The courage, virtue, and charity of this reverend woman will 54 MEDICAL SERVICES CHAP. remain as a precious remembrance in the Canadian army. It was she who designed those horse-iines which were described by Sir Herbert Plumer as " the best in the army," and the design came to her as " a revelation from God, as she lay upon her bed, contemplating the misery of those wretched animals." The Canadian Corps was formed early in September. Colonel G. L. Foster became Deputy Director, and Colonel A. E. Ross succeeded him as Assistant Director of the 1st Division. There were now six Canadian ambulances in the field. The following table shows their disposition, and offi cers commanding as at December 31, 1915: No 1 Bailleul D.R.S Lieut.-Colonel R. P. Wright. No. 2.... Dranoutre Wulverghem . . . M.D.S.. A.D.S Lieut.-Colonel E. B. Hardy. No 3 Bailleul M.D.S.. le Romarin .... A.D.S Lieut.-Colonel J. A. Gunn. Neuve Eglise C.P No 4 \Vestoutre M.D.S . liemmel . . A.D.S Lieut.-Colonel W . Webster. No 5 LaClytte M.D.S. . Godewaersvelde D R.S Lieut.-Colonel G. D. Farmer. Mont Noir R.S. Officers. No 6 Locre M.D.S.. Lindenhoek A.D.S Lieut.-Colonel R P. Campbell. These positions were held during the winter of 1915-16 in support of the dull and sordid trench warfare that marked that year. Through the ambulances sick and wounded passed during those winter months to the number of 8,472, of whom 3,159 were evacuated. The winter yielded much that was pleasant. One diarist with an interest in the weather supplies continu ous notes: November 30, For a week, clear cold weather. December 8, A day like a day in spring time with a dry v THE FIRST WINTER 55 wind from the south. 19th, The stars are shining and a gentle wind comes in from the east. 21st, A soft warm night and a brilliant day. 24th ; A mild spring-like day, the sun bright, the grass green, the nuns linen like patches of snow against the hedges. 29th, Continued mild weather, and not unduly wet. 31st, Last night and to night brilliant with stars; a cool air by day and shining sun; the surprise of the winter is the pleasantness of the climate. January 5, 1916, A clear sun in the evening and a touch of spring; the air warm and with that "hazi ness " familiar in French pictures. The winter wheat is green; the trees are putting forth their leaves, and certain evergreens have a marked growth of flower. 9th, The spring is coming; the pansies are blooming in the open, and flowers are upon many shrubs. 14th, The first complete spring evening, like early May in Canada, the whole world filled with a rosy light. 21st, A flight of blackbirds; the crows that were with us all winter, but in silence, are now beginning to mate. A diarist in different mood was impressed by an offi cer s burial: It was a good grave, the eart*i sandy. The stretcher was at one end. The Jack was removed. Drag- ropes were placed; the body was slung away and gently lowered; the ropes were withdrawn; a few soldiers sauntered over smoking cigarettes. The chaplain took his place, and the men uncovered their heads. When he cast the earth upon the earth there was no sound: the earth fell upon a soft blanket. In yet a different mood a diarist deals with a more familiar picture. October 28, Cold rain, so cold and so wetting ; the earth is turned to black grease. November 3, With the heavy rain the trenches have gone to pieces; the men are waist-deep in water; to-day 75 patients were admitted, not sick but exhausted, and in the last extreme 83635-5 56 MEDICAL SERVICES CHAP. of misery; the horses are to their hocks in mud. 7th, A whole battalion went sick and was withdrawn; five days is more than men can endure, llth, It is quite dark at 7.30 in the morning, and again at 4.30 in the afternoon. The country is a sea of mud. It fills and covers shell- holes. A man may ride into these holes, and lose his horse, himself only escaping if he swim ashore. A horse in many places leaves a swathe in the mud as an otter does in the snow. 20th, The gun-lines a morass; a tall man on a small horse drags his feet in the mud. The horse has become as cautious as a cat ; he will thrust one foot forward testing the ground, and if he finds no bottom he withdraws. 27th, Sappers digging a new trench cut away limbs of the buried as if they were roots of trees. The medical service received every possible assistance from other arms, affection from all ranks, and the utmost of respect from general officers. Their visits were frequent, their inspections thorough, discriminating, and sym pathetic. General Alderson was indefatigable. Under date of January 2, 1916, one finds this note in a private diary written at a dressing station: General Alderson called and moved amongst the stretchers, about a hundred of them; a kind, gentle, little man; he spoke to the patients one by one, with a pleasant enquiry or a bit of banter for each. In the same diary one finds a note which, if date be observed, will appear to be prophetic. December 14, 1915: I was sitting in a colonel s hut when the door opened and two officers came in. He addressed the one as "General." I stood up. He was a tall large man, we dressed, with a clean, handsome, powerful face, kindly eyes, and an alert bearing. He was told who I was. said exactly the right thing, in the right words, and in the right tone of voice. When he had completed his business, having N asked searching and important questions he went v THE FIRST WINTER 57 away. The colonel told me this was General Currie; the |
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