Series 03: John Brady Nash letters, January 1914-December 1915 - Page 431
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[Page 431]
This evening while sitting here I wrote letters to Mr. Flowers, Mr. Fitzgerald, Sir. Herbert Maitland, and Mr. Usher ? thanking the last named for the kindness of himself and his family to you girls. I hope that he will like my letter, the address is Neutral Bay, I cannot think of his Christian name, however it may come to me before the morning when the envelope must go to the post.
I have been busy all the day. There are two hundred and fifty patients in this hospital, each one sick in some way or another, and requiring looking to, this entails a lot of work upon my limited staff, but each is working in first class manner for me, so that there is no trouble. I expect to ship one hundred of them for Australia by the Kyarra on Monday or Tuesday, poor beggars I am sorry for them, but it cannot be helped.
This morning we received a severe shock when we read the telegrams to the effect that the Germans had taken presmsyl [Przemysl, Poland] from the Russians. The telegrams from Petrograd are always so coleur de rose that the believers thought that the cossacks might be in Buda Pest in the course [of] a few weeks. The germans are putting up a great fight, and it looks as if they will be able to keep going for a long time in the future. Bob Paton wrote in his last letter that: "There is a feeling in my bones that the war will soon be at an end," I fear that his bones are but poor indicators of coming events, it were well for many people if they were better. Think you not so?
A New Zealander, who was for three weeks in Galipoli, told me in my room that but for the firing of the war ships they could never have effected a landing, and that after the men from his country had fought gallantly, during Sunday the 25th of April, they would have had to get back to the transports if it were possible had not the australian and Indian soldiers come to their assistance. This presmysl [Przemysl] business will have some bearing upon the movements of troops going to the Dardanelles, because some German troops will be set free from the eastern fighting area, these may be moved over to the West and may give our fighting units in that place too much of a task before reinforcements are to hand in sufficient numbers. The fight being put up by the Germans in truly wonderful, no other nation in the world could have done the like.
The lamp has gone out, the paper has gone wrong. Good night. Good night
Heaps of love do I send to each of you, with loads of kisses, and may all sorts of good fortune be with you now and always. The light is not good enough to work by. My kind regards to all my friends and to yours
Your loving and affectionate father
John B Nash
The Misses Nash
Macquarie Street
Sydney