13th October 1918 HMB
My dearest Father
Life becomes more hectic every minute, we are inundated with “grand Hesses” heavy cases from the front. Some of them have only been wounded a few days and are tired and dirty beyond description. And the wounds! I have never seen such things before. The x-ray work is terrific: I am constantly at it, localising foreign bodies, bullets, shell splinters etc. This morning we polished off twenty people in the x-ray room in 1½ hours !! We have got some more nurses in but we get more convoys in. The treatments have dwindled tremendously of course because we’ve had to evacuate most of our convalescent patients. It is a pity in a way that our equipment should be wasted, and we are awfully ill equipped to deal with such a huge influx of heavy cases, but we are doing our best.
There isn’t a day for the last 10 days that I haven’t done 10 hours a day & sometimes more. The Swedes have all turned into nurses too and are working like bricks. I have never been so busy in my life.
The war news is most thrilling from day to day: oh lord I do hope the Hun is going to be bled dry as far as money and resources go. I curse to think that we shall not have the chance of devastating the “Fatherland” not as they have done it, for that would be to lower ourselves to their level, but I should like the shock of battle to lay waste the fertile lands in the valley of the Rhine.
Poor Belgians: they have paid very heavily. They couldn’t get their artillery up quickly enough because of the bad ground, and they were fearfully knocked about.
A very nice Colonel I know had both his sons killed, one in fair fight, the other shot by a German officer prisoner at the head of a batch of captured Huns being marched off to the cages! Needless to say that particular batch did not reach the cages after this damnable act of Hun swinishness and treachery!!
This is intended to be a birthday letter. Many congratulations on your 74th birthday. Your next one will see a different picture I think. I longed to be with you at Claythorpe. I’m glad you had a good day – I’m very relieved to hear that Robin is safe.
I will write again in a day or two if I can, I am so sleepy when I come off. Your lighter is being made.
Best love to you all
Your loving Dorothy.
Please thank Mother for clips: stockings: flask & chatty letter. The interesting enclosure was missing !!
We have got two wards full of Spanish flu (pneumonic variety) as well.
About Alford 