28th May 1916
My very Dearest Mother
Thank you so much for your lovely long letter: I was delighted to have it. It is amusing to think that you are daylight saving and we are not.
Personally I get up every morning at 6:30am or earlier and I am glad to be in bed by 10 so it comes to much the same thing chez moi.
What an excellent thing that Bill Bailey is taking his leave of Huttoft, they can’t have anyone more mouldy than he.
It will do Archie a lot of good to be a Tommy for a bit and will also be very good for his wife and her female relations. He is lucky to be a Tommy in the artists rifles: its more than he deserves after shying off so long.
I’m so sorry to hear that Nellie Redford is so seedy. We have two men suffering from Lupus here, one all over his nose and the other on the knuckles of his hand: I saw them giving the poor chap’s nose jip with thermos-cautery a few days ago: really the only thing that does any good is the Finsen light cure. Is it affecting the sight of her eye or not ?
Was the Baggley boy actually wounded in the explosion or was it a contusion that caused the paralysis. I don’t know if I told you that last Sunday we had an informal visit from a Major Curtis-Webb who has a Stationary Hospital at Boulogne. He was in Rouen on business and had heard of our electro-medical installation and being an Electrologist himself asked through the British Consul if he might come and see it. Dr Stouffs was at Bonsecours when he arrived so Matron brought them along and told me to show them round. He was a man who spoke French better than I do, and so when I couldn’t explain in English I plunged into French, for as you know I have learnt all my electrotherapie practice and theory in French. It was delightful to have a man who really knew and was interested. He stayed for about half an hour and peppered me with questions about everything. Then Dr Stouffs came and they had a long hold together and he came again on Monday morning to see the treatments working as there were no patients on Sunday. He said it was a wonderful installation and was evidently awfully struck with all our little machines.
Thank you very much for the Daily Sketch: I should love to have it. Don’t bother to send it more than twice a week. It makes my mouth water to hear of flowers. I long to see our garden. The Bonsecours garden progresses nicely: all the things you sent are full of beans. Our own seeds are coming up very well. We migrate there on Friday next D.V. [Deo Volente – God willing] It will be close quarters after our roomy flat but still it is much nicer to be on the spot for ones work and it will save us a good deal of money, and therefore our parents !!
The address will not change as we have ou own military postman who calls and fetches our letters every day from the Army PO.
Yes my cap sticks out because it is very stiffly starched: it is much neater so it keeps clean much longer and does not crush.
I returned the Indian correspondence and other things in a registered packet last Tuesday. I hope you got them safely. I wrote to Molly about a week ago and told her all my news.
I have got another nurse with me and am teaching her. She is fairly new here and quite a good sort. She is interested in the work which is a good thing. It is in preparation for Bonsecours and for my leave. I can’t say how soon I shall get leave but I shall put in for it as soon as I get things running well and smoothly in my new work room, as it is now due to me. I’m just longing to get home to see you all: I get awfully homesick sometimes. However I hope it won’t be long.
I have a mournful tale to tell you: I knocked my Thermos flask off a hook and the glass lining shivered. There is a murrain on the things here: that is the 3rd that has broken in a week. May I write to the JANS for a new one; I’ll quote them my make and number and have it as a birthday present from you as they are so extremely useful.
Well I must stop now,
With very best love to you both
Your loving Dorothy.
About Alford 