November 8, 1917
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
We were called at 6 and had our final hot bath. After breakfast we settled our account and tipped the various employees we had come in contact with, an important thing as they do not receive wages at these hotels. This done we took a taxi to the Gare du Nord and bought our tickets to Boulogne, intending to get off there, and if possible go to see our friends at No. 2 A.G.H. We left at 9.10 a.m. and arrived at Boulogne at 5 p.m., having spent part of the time in the train making notes of items of interest connected with the trip.
Leaving the train and station we had something to eat at the Soldiers’ Institute and then returned to the R.T.O.’s office in order to enquire the time the next train left. This turned out to be midnight so after strolling round the town, without opposition from the Military Police (we were a day overdue) we took train to Wimmer and had tea with our friends. After a yarn we were shown round the chief wards, and operating theatre, being struck by their excellence, this Hospital being considered one of the three best in France.
Composed of huts and splendidly laid out, everything showed signs of splendid organisation and serious cases such as fractured femurs were treated by new methods of suspending the limb, which guaranteed the greatest degree of comfort to the patients, many of whom spent from 5 to 6 months in the same position. A Dance and Concert with supper being held in the nurses’ quarters we were invited round and spent a jolly couple of hours.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself, meeting old friends and officers who introduced me round to the nurses. The officers and sergeants of the 3rd Division Ambulance were there by invitation and the evening was jovial one, the crowd being composed of all ranks from Lt. Colonels down to privates, forming a social evening impossible in any army other than the Australian.
One nurse, bless her soul, on learning that we were returning to the line that night insisted on giving us hot soup before going and also a packet of sandwiches with an invitation to come again. It was a fitting end to a glorious trip. A car going to the Station took us along, but before going I procured a blanket for the train as it was cold and many of the windows of the carriages are missing.
With some difficulty we managed to get a seat and also some sleep during the journey, and reached Poperinghe at 9 a.m. perfectly content with our trip, the extra time we had in Boulogne through missing our train (on purpose) absolutely capping the bill.