Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 8]
8.
were very persistent in trying to sell their goods, and as they all wore black fur hats clerical style and long side whiskers, we found a most effective way of ridding ourselves of them was to catch one or two of them and cut off the side whiskers on one side only. The females thought it a great joke. However by the time two had been done [indecipherable] all their attentions to us had ceased. Here it was that the M.O. who had been left at Damascus with the typhus patient rejoined us. We camped at another village that night and next morning we moved off watering our horses at noon then started on 46M. stage travelling all night before reaching Homs about 8 next morning, tired and covered with dust. We who had been walking had been given spare horses and donkeys from the regt. and I slept on horseback for several hours. We rode through Homs, camping near the river Orontes. We were too tired to make any inspection of Homs this day and slept and slept when we could. However the patients who had fallen ill on the journey had to be attended to and I took several slides and the laboratory tested same. About 4.30 p.m. we moved back into the town camping on a few vacant allotments opposite a rather nice building which subsequently we took over as a hospital. Next morning we heard this was the building, and on inspection found it to be littered with straw and Kapok from mattresses so all hands set to and cleaned it up. The owner of it had a harem and lived in a house in the back yard of our building and objected to it being take over as the Turks had used it and left it in a dirty condition. However after several hitches his objections were overcome and we took formal possession. The building was of modern design. Two storeyed light and airy, and the floors were tiled and rooms large, especially a living room in the upstairs centre of building. The tiles were rather cold for sleeping on but blankets altho not plentiful were not scarce and all were made fairly comfortable. We were kept very busy and intra muscular injections of quinine for malaria fell to my lot, and altho not hard the necessity for strict surgical cleanliness made it take a considerable time, as many as 30 or 40 being done daily. From here our patients were evacuated to Tripoli stopping at an intermediate station overnight. Only those able to stand the journey were allowed to go. Medical comforts were fairly scarce but we managed to get all we required, other places especially the hosptls. at Tripoli not being so fortunate. The owner of the harem was highly amising. In his walled enclosure he had a bathing pool and caught someone looking through a hole in the wall watching his harem bathe. He complained to the Colonel saying he did not mind the officers but he objected to the troops admiring his harem in the nude. It was 1st Nov. when we arrived at Homs and at 11.20 p.m. on 31st Oct. whilst we were resting the horses and drawing a fresh supply of rations