Page 180 from Ethel Moir Diary, Vol 1

Category

Library Item

Item no

25208

Title

Page 180 from Ethel Moir Diary, Vol 1

Description

Newspaper cutting:
Dr Inglis with admirable sympathy has divined the religious needs of the suffering men, and she sends a little account of the happiness she was able to give by her quick intuition and her grasp of the satisfaction that would follow on her efforts to provide for the spiritual desires of her patients. "Knowing how much their religion means to Russians, I asked Sister Kolesnikoff, the Russian Sister attached to us (as interpreter) whether the men would like to have ikons in the wards. She said at once that it would make a great deal of difference to them, but that the hospital would first have to be blessed. So we bought four ikons, one for each ward, and the priest came one morning about eleven o'clock and blessed the hospital and the ikons. He held a service in the ward where most of the patients were. He put on a green and gold stole over his ordinary great-coat, and the ikons were arranged on a table in a row before him. He placed three lighted candlesticks at the inner corners, and held a fourth lighted candle in his hand. He dipped a crucifix in a small bowl of water while he chanted some prayers, the patients giving the responses with great heartiness. He then sprinkled the ikons with holy water, and afterwards the patients and the sanitaires. We had to pay twenty roubles for the ikons, and ten roubles for the priest for his service, but when I tell the committee of our next adventure, I am sure they will think the money was well spent, for it is a great thing in a foreign country to show the people that one has sympathy with them. I have been very much touched at the way in which Russian officers have turned to me when they have seen the ikons, and have said: 'Indeed, madame, that was a kind thought.' Our Austrian orderlies were very much puzzled over the incident...'

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Artist / maker

Moir, Ethel

Date

1916

Size

20.4 x 16.0 cm

Type

Document

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Continued from Description:

'....very much puzzled over the incident, and they asked matron if we had been ordered to put up the ikons, and when she said no and added that it was our own wish, they seemed to think that this threw a new light on British character."

The unit was occupied at the time of the last report with accidents, ordinary operations, and medical cases, besides about twenty-five wounded men. They had also the care of two Englishmen, privates from the British Armoured Car Section. "They were wounded about five weeks ago near Galatz. One of them is doing very well; the other is still seriously ill, but his condition is very much better than when he came to us, and I hope that he will make quite a good recovery. They were at first in a little hospital opened by Dr Scott in Galatz, and when the armoured cars were moved, Mr Scott left these two men here. It is very nice having one's own countrymen to look after. We had quite a little difficulty about their food, for neither of them can bear Russian food, and at the same time I did not want the Russian soldiers to think that we gave them special delicacies. We therefore made a little plot, and arranged that one of the officers of the Armoured Car Section should take down to them from our house jam and butter. This he did. But we came to the conclusion that we were not born to be conspirators. The things were very nearly carried down to the hospital uncovered, and only at the last moment tied up in brown paper. Then when they were handed over to the men, the officer said: 'I have brought you some jam and butter,' and in a stage whisper added: 'Of course, I have not really brought them, they have been given by the hospital.' And the man answered with a twinkle in his eye: 'Yes, I know, sir.' Later on when one of the Russians said to Sister Kolesnikoff, 'You see how the English officers treat their men; do you think one of our officers would bring us jam and butter?' Sister Kolesnikoff was quite equal to the occasion, and she said: 'These poor boys are so ill, and are in a foreign country where the food is not what they are accustomed to. I think if you were in London and there was a Russian officer there, he would try to get you some casha? Since then they have both been so ill that they have had to be on special diet. We have managed therefore to give them things they liked without making undue fuss, as all the extra diet for the men in the hospital has always fortunately come from our house - eggs, milk, and white bread - and even green vegetables for the scurvy patients, that they are thus quite used to serious cases getting extra delicacies."

An out-patients' department has, according to Dr Inglis, "growed of itself." "There were at one time three regiments here who had no doctors, and the men used to come up for treatment. Now we have three or four regiments, also recruits and men from the expedition, and the department flourishes exceedingly. It is very monotonous work, but I am glad to have it, as it brings us in touch with the ordinary Russian soldier; also some of the men are really ill, and require treatment in hospital."

Dentistry also adds to the reputation of the unit, and Dr Laird, though ill-supplied with the necessary instruments, is preferred to the orthodox dentist at Reni. No better testimonial can be given to the work of the unit than the following:
"One day when matron went to Reni to see the commandant about something, she found a group of Russian soldiers round her horse when she came out. The men asked her if she had got what she wanted, and she answered that he had promised to see about it, whereupon the men said: 'The commandant must be told that the Scottish Women's Hospital is the best hospital on this front, and it must have everything that it wants.' That is the opinion of the Russian soldier."

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