Snow and sleet

Although the censor won’t allow Ruby to tell people back home where “there” is, she is destined to be stationed for the next 19 months in Kalamaria, a suburb of Salonika which is now known as Thessaloniki.  Among the nursing sisters from back home are E. Mildred Clarke, Agnes Browning Baird and Sarah Agnes Campbell. The Capt. Trump she mentions is Leonard Thomas Trump who was born in Bristol, England, and has been living in Toronto with his wife Ann at 164 Beech Ave.

The winter weather continues to be a source of extreme discomfort. The nursing sisters improvise new styles of outlandish clothing to ward off the cold, and festoon their tents with blankets and rag rugs on the so-called “floors”. Coal-oil stoves provide a modicum of comfort.

The challenges extend to a lack of water for laundry and personal use. Meals are “good” although bread is scarce and everybody is reduced to hard tack.

Convoys of new soldier patients are brought in daily to the medical ward.

Ruby sends greetings to her niece Marie Curtis Peterkin (this blogger’s mother) and to her sister-in-law Minnie Peterkin.

It is close to Christmas of 1915, with 1916 just around the corner. Wearing pre-war style clothing that covered her from head to toe, and concerned that someone might actually be able to see her socks, could Ruby begin to imagine life in 2016?!

No. 4 Canadian General Hospital
British Forces in Greece
December 3rd – 15.

Dear People –
I want to tell you all about everything, and as it will be greatly the same I am writing a kind of Round Robin effect to save time – although time is not as great a consideration now, as heat and energy. When I tell you that I am sitting as nearly on top of a coal-oil stove as I can get and wearing woollen gloves and a sweater coat, you will understand why I am condensing as much as possible.

Now to begin at the beginning. We had a fearfully rough passage from Malta, and everyone was sick. We were all pretty tired you see, and could not fight it off. We arrived here a week ago last Tuesday and after a wait of about 20 min. on the dock the ambulances conveyed us out to the camp, about four miles. I don’t know whether I told you all that twelve of our sisters had remained on the “Kildonan” to staff it when we were put off at Malta. They made the trip out here and then, the boat acquiring a staff of British sisters, they were left off here, so of course were here when we arrived. The officers and men had been here about ten days. They had had patients sent in to them thirty hours after they arrived so you may imagine how they had to work to be ready for them, for of course there was not a tent pitched.

Then the twelve sisters arrived a week later and they were beginning to get things running in a small way, when we arrived. They were all most glad to see us, I may say.

The hospital has almost an ideal situation, a little back from the road on slightly sloping ground, and then the officers and our quarters at the top of the slope. The officers in bell-tents one in each tent, and we have large marquees with four in a marquee. I am with Miss Clarke and Miss Baird (Prof Baird’s daughter of Winnipeg, both she and Miss Clarke are graduates of the Presbyterian, N.Y.) and Agnes Campbell. We have the end tent in the third row (and there are four rows) up near the mess tent. Ours

Mess hall

and the officers’ mess are run conjointly, with the same kitchen, although separate mess tents. Some of us are very glad of this for we are sure of good meals, at any rate as good as circumstances will allow. Food is very hard to get and prices appalling. I fear our mess fees will be very high. Laundry is ridiculous – fifty cents for a uniform, and twenty-cents each for aprons, and there they are not clean and no starch in them.

Well, it was about three o’clock when we struck the camp and we got our tents, left our grips and things in them and then had tea in the mess tent and most of the officers came over to welcome us. Our luggage did not arrive till after dark and we all had to stand around with lanterns and as each piece was unloaded one of the officers called out the name on it and the owner marched down to her tent in front of the men carrying it. It was quite exciting. We got our beds put up and that was about all, that night. We were each supplied with a mattress and three blankets – but I never cease to be glad that I brought my eiderdown.

The next day some of the sisters were on duty and the rest spent the day working around the tents. I was posted for night duty and went on that night. Well, the first night the cold was bearable, by wearing our sweaters and raincoats. The next night, it started to rain and it rained continuously from five in the morning till five at night, then it turned to snow and sleet and grew steadily colder. By the next morning everything was snowed over and frozen up. Talk about cold! And I thought it was cold in France, but France was balmy to what this was. You would have died to see the clothes we put on. I have good heavy flannel and a pair of cashmere socks and all my ordinary underclothes, then I put on a suit of flannel pyjamas and another pair of socks. Then my uniform and rubber boots. And top of that a little white sweater coat, then my big sweater and my big great coat. I have bought a Jaeger woollen cap and fortunately got fur-lined gloves in London, which I have worn steadily. Even then, by three o’clock in the morning, I was shivering. However, the weather has moderated, and I have left off the coat of my pyjamas the last few nights and the fur lined gloves and am wearing woolly gloves instead. Also my rain coat in place of the great coat. We have been given woollen socks and gloves out of the Red Cross stores and last night they gave each of us an overcoat from the same source. They had been sent out for the patients, but they thought we needed them more. Skirts are quite superfluous, and those who wear them pin them up to their knees, first on account of the snow and now for the mud. It was a happy genius that decided me to bring my rubber boots, for I pretty nearly hadn’t.

You know, we heard when in London that the sisters who had come to the Dardanelles were getting riding habits. Well, we quite understand now, why they needed them – not for riding, but for wearing on duty. Some of the girls have got corduroy trousers from town and I am trying to get a pair. Those of the sisters who are fortunate enough to have a particular friend among the officers, who has an extra pair, has borrowed them. I don’t know whether you can realize at home the necessity for this but it is very real, and of course we always have to wear a coat anyway. We have cut our rain coats off half way up to our knees and some of the girls have cut their great coats. Fortunately I did not cut my great coat and now we have been given these overcoats, they are short and will save our own.

During the very cold time, I used to creep into Agnes Campbell’s bed for she was on day duty and so we kept the bed warm. Now, however, they have got our tents banked and we have hung blankets round the walls, and they are much warmer. They have no floors of course, but we have procured malting from the Greeks, and it keeps the floor dry. Then we have four rag rugs one in front of each bed so we are quite comfortable. We were supplied with two oil stoves to a tent and we each purchased a lamp each from town. We are not allowed to leave the camp, but can send in orders with Capt. Trump who does some wonderful purchasing. We got Alice blue satin to cover our packing boxes and really our tent looks quite pretty and comfortable for our stoves painted Alice blue.

I don’t believe I mentioned the wind. Believe me it has been a most important factor of the weather, such vicious wind I have never known. Some night it kept us up half the time on the outside watching the tent ropes, and getting them tightened up, for I thought sure some of the tents could blow down. But after the ground froze up, the pegs stayed in better. Things are getting better all the way around now, but I think you will understand why I have not written anything except a note to Irene so far. The first four days I was on, I did not sleep more than two hours a day, but now I sleep like a top all day for I can keep pretty warm.

There is a great shortage of water so we are quite used to washing once a day in a tea cup. It has been too cold to bathe anyway. We fill our hot water bottle & then use the water when we get up to wash in. It is all chlorinated for drinking, besides being boiled and tea, coffee and cocoa all taste alike, of nothing in particular but chlorine. Also, there is some difficulty about procuring bread so that if we get enough for the patients we do well. We have been eating hard tack for days now. But outside of the bread and water our meals are good, only that the cook house was blown down and of course, for a day or two the meals were not much to boast of, for the wind was blowing so they could not get it up again.

I am on medical wards, six of them with thirty patients in each, and last night a marquee of ten was added. The convoys come in every night. So there is no lack of excitement. In fact, there is never a dull moment and nevertheless and not withstanding we are having the time of our lives, and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

I think I must go to bed now, and since I have been writing the sun has come out and it has got quite mild and lovely, so the bad weather may be over. I will try to write you the rest of what I have to say soon, but I think most likely it will be in the same form as this one. Keep on writing and address them as I have headed this. I got a stack of letters the day we arrived here, four from Rene, one from Marie, one from Minnie and the rest from different people. I wonder if Rene went up to the Soo. It will probably be after Xmas when you get this so I’ll send you my best love and wishes for the New Year.

Yours
Ruby