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[Page 6]
6.
and we who had dinner explored the town in our immediate vicinity. We camped close to an old wooden building (three stories) which subsequently proved to be a hospital. There were also a few Indian hospital tents close by, and it was after dark before we got settled, and had turned in hoping for a good night's rest. About 11p.m. I got roused by the Colonel to unpack some of the equipment, and post a couple of men for duty in the Indian hospital where some were dying. Returned to my blanket about 1 a.m. and next morning I beat the sparrows in getting up, and about 8 a.m. we commenced to take over a hospital of 500 patients. There had only been two doctors, two Imperial Sergts. and 2 men, and a number of Turkish prisoners to look after the patients, and it is absolutely criminal the conditions the place and patients were in. Until the night of our arrival the patients had had only one blanket to sleep with on a rough concrete floor, and the weather was cold and there were not any conveniences or even water for uso of patients save that drawn from a well in the yard and apparently clear, but the surroundings made its purity questionable. Some of the patients were in a dying condition, suffering from malignant malaria and pneumonia, and the Imperial Sergts. or M.Os. did not even know the number of patients in or their diagnosis. Before we could do anything we had to put our house in order first, get each patient's name, have their complaint diagnosed,which in the majority of cases meant a slide being taken for the laboratory, and then to feed and make them comfortable. It was not the fault of the Imperial men who were there before us, they did all they possibly could, working all day and nearly all night, the fault lay in the inadequate preparations made for the sick and wounded. Ouar casualtiel from wounds were few but after passing thro that heavily infested malarial unit of Afuleh and the Plain of Esdraelion the men went down like flies, and cold weather coming the weaker chested developed pneumonia, and it was very hard work for them to pull through, more especially so after a march of 400 miles with sleepless nights, the men being exhausted. However they knew they had won the day and that Bulgaria was surrendering, and that and their own wills saved the large majority. Some poor chaps who were too far gone. The scarcity of men made them hold out in the field as long as they could, some too long, and they died the night following the day they were admitted to hosptl. Our advance certainly exceeded our expectations and it seemed unfair to blame those responsible for the medical arrangements, yet when human life is the cost of the neglect it seemed hard that they should escape. However we did not know anything, and it is difficult to judge knowing one side of the case only.
We were in this hospital about a fortnight. We had not sufficient men to look after the patients properly, and although