I WAS A NURSE IN SPAIN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23009, 9 April 1938, Page 11 (Supplement)

I WAS A NURSE IN SPAIN

fiiisiralian rVolan teer s Grim Experiences I Serving with the Government Forces AFTERMATH OF BATTLE ON THE ARAGON FRONT Specially Written for the NEW J[EALAND HERALD by AGNES M. HODGSON

October, 1936, the Spanish ij| Relief Committee in Sydney 1 sent iour nurses, Sisters Macfarlane, Wilson, Lowson and myself, to offer practical assistance to the Spanish Government. Sisters Wil&n and Macfarlane are still working there. None of us expected the ■war would continue so long, and eten now, in my opinion, it is innpossible to predict when it will end. When I left Spain recently the Government was prepared for the war to last yet another two or three years. .•yVo arrived in Barcelona at the beginning of, December, 1936. There were inany foreign volunteers in the city then and. the authorities were finding it "difficult to utilise their services to the best advantage. ~ - When the other three nurses went off to Valencia I was kept behind to work in a hospital it was proposed to establish in Barcelona for the Internatiorfal Brigade. While I waited 1 was given work under a Hungarian doctor at one of the barracks where volunteers received elementary training.

but after any heavy attack I worked in tho theatre. Outside the theatre one doctor and one nurse and any other assistants available ministered to pain and shock and gave what comfort they could to those unfortunates awaiting their turn. In tho wards two nurses looked after post-operative cases and those less seriously wounded who were put to bed until there was more time to attend to them. Amazing Endurance At times we were kept working long hours with only brief periods of sleep snatched when wo could be spared. Such a rush rarely lasted for more than three days, though there was plenty | to do afterwards, when the wounded all wanted attention at once. One concentrated on the more urgent ones, but it was hard to differentiate. Many* who in ordinary hospitals would have been giveu immediate treatment had of necessity to wait. Fortunately most of them survived, amazing us by. the power of human endurance., .v? j Deadly Shrapnel Ihen the wards became a nightmare in spite of the soldiers' bravery; groans and cries escaped ; them; some were driven out of their minds by pain and shock. Brothers watched each other die in adjoining beds. .We had not had time even to discover that they 'were brothers. Men we had nursed during the winter iivith iufluenza were brought in. It was'heartbreaking to be hailed by them and, stopping a moment to see where they were hurt, find that they had lost an arm or leg, or would surely die. They smiled at us, anxiouslv trustful. '■ "■ -

left hor to go to sleep happily. Faceslapping is often done to encourage the sick. Some of the soldiers screamed hysterically. It alarmed me, but I found that if given a bandage to bite on they would endure torture. 1 imagined handing a bandage to an Australian without explanation and was certain that instinct would not make him put it between his teeth.

The problem of laundry was a constant one. There was a washing machine attached to the division, but sometimes it broke down and had to go to Burce-j lona for repairs. At other times there was no soap; for two months after a big attack no washing was done at all. Oress and Recreation

During the winter and in the mountains we nurses wore riding breeches or slacks under theatre gowns. In tho summer we were able to wear white and blue overalls, and rope-soled sandals. These sandals were a boon and 'saved us from tired feet trouble. Workmen's overalls were our most useful garments, because they were suitable for all kinds-of work and conditions, and had many pockets.

v Between attacks we took what recreation wo could.; The Veterinary Corps was billeted in the village, and allowed us to exercise likely cavalry horses. We bathed in the river, both for cleanliness and exercise.

Dog-Fights at Meal-Times | Tho barracks was an ex-Jesuit school, old and cloistered. There among the ftuit trees and woods batches of raw recruits drilled, and marched back to meals singing the "International," We all dined in the huge underground rooms, and the din was terrific. Dogs fought under the tables. On the walls were posters and notices: "Con la disciplina ganaremor, la guerra" (with discipline we shall win the war.) My services there were not really necessary, and I asked to-be sent to the front ■until the hospital! for the International Brigade should materialise.

I made some friends in the tillage, and'after duty often went to take "una coppa" with them; after drinking the glass oi: anis or liqueur brandy my Spanish was more fluent. The two old men of tho family were shrewd farmers and questioned me about primary products, seasons,«etc., in Australia. The stables led oft the living room and I went with the old farmers to bed down the mules and horses.

It was the abdominal wounds we feared most. A single hole hid as many as twenty perforations caused by the deadly piece of shrapnel as it travelled

Two weeks later I went up to Granen, in Aragon. The hospital was a derelict old farm house which the first British ..Medical Aid Unit had taken over. Theire iwere seventeen beds in. the two surgical Awards and about thirty more upstairs vfor chrbnic"cases in transit. The staff slept on canvas stretchers in the loft.

Learning Spanish On arrival there I went on night dutyknew, only a few words of Span^i, the older patients' .help and learned, enough Tto understand,-their'.immediate needs. That .first night three wounded arrived, and;;- leaving' an ambulance driver in charge oL»the ward, I assisted in the operating theatre. It was my first experience both of nursing wounded and of assisting at a major operation, using forceps instead' of the usual technique preferred general hospitals. We needed to economise with the sterile stock. .' .

When the British Medical Aid Unit iad. Jeft-ior JLguilo, the/brilliant young surgeon in charge of the hospital, asked some of 'the British nurses to remain, and five e|theni did so. The rest of the staff *ere all Spaniards, the oldest being twenty-sever, years of age. There were three/doctors, one medical student, two administrators, two cooks, four ambulance drivers, and four guards, -who also acted as stretcher-bearers. | During the winter 19;ife-37 the fighting in that' part of Aragon was not |eavy. This was mainly due to lack of Munitions, which were going to Madrid. Howevei, on fine days tbe firing of biig guns'went on a'l day. We had plenl.y of work, but we treated more medical cases ihan wounded at Granen. Our living conditions were good enough, food Was plentiful and, compared with later Jeriods of the war, that time seemed'a icnic. V .Ghastly Wounds . r In March we moved to Polenino, ten miles from Granen. Our division went to fight in the Sierra of Alctibierre. The local girls to whom we had given some training remained in charge of Granen Hospital. On several occasions Dr. ijiguilo was called to operate there when pranen received wounded and a surgical unit went with him. On one of these -visits t"he truck overturned on the way and we landed in a canal, but aoone was hurt. We made a creditable ■ hospital at Polenino. The house was '•'Wore modern and cleaner than at Granen. There was a large terrace, inhere patients were given sun treatW nt "

about the body. Yet seventy-five per cent of these cases recovered. Thin straw mattresses covered iron stretchers and pillows were few in number. This taxed one's ingenuity to make the wounded comfortable. How I dreaded their incessant cry for' water, which if gi'ron would mean xindoing surgeon!s work and certain death. Explanations were of little copifort and' when some died in spite of all our efforts to save them, r .one thought remorsefully that by -letting them drink one might have lessened,their distress. It was comforting to us when 1 men who had called us hard names begged the newer- arrivals to bear their thirst and treatment a 'little longer. Civilians also came for attention. About seventy-five per cent of the population olf Polenino were tubercular. This can only be explained by ignorance of general hygiene. "The nearest

The people of the village were very good to us, offering "almuerza" or "merieiKla" (morning or afternoon refreshment, consisting of bread and sausage or raw ham, and wine). We thcun in the cafe on Saturday nights and joined in their singing. Those days have passed and my friends are-short of food —if nothing worse has befallen them. When we had been four months in Polenino the whole division moved to Fraga, in order that the soldiers could rest. Then, after general reorganisation, the division was sent to Upper Aragon to fight in the lower Pyrenees. The objective was to encircle Huesca and approach Saragossa from that side. Aragon is a large district, where the fighting lino is very extensive. The soldiers were already in action when we, now a mobile surgical unit, arrived. They had captured several villages and were steadily advancing, hut fighting was very fierce and meant storming concrete parapets and field-gun batteries fired by electricity. We arranged our "casa c!e urgencia," three miles behind the lines, at a solitary farmhouse.

The staff lived in tents or in caves across the shallow river. The farm's slaughterhouse served as the operating theatre. In each of the two earthernfloored istore rooms which we used as wards there was room for seven beds. We had beds, blankets and a few pillows, but no sheets. The casualties were heavier. Blood 011 the beds, mud on the floors and flies wherever there was blood, made the work more grim. Only the most urgent cases were operated 011, and we had to evacuate them continuously to Boltana by ambulance. Thirty Hairpin Bends It took three hours to reach Boltana, over a narrow and difficult road, which zigzags steeply as it descends to the small town. Around some of the thirty hairpin bends it was necessary to drive the ambulances to the edge, then reverse. One mistake, and the ambulance would fall hundreds of feet. There were no chains to put on the wheels after heavy rain; when the ambulances were late coining back we worried until they returned safely. Enemy wouyded were brought in and treated as our own soldiers. Deserters from the rebels arrived, but the curious crowd around was too big for me to get through and ask questions. Besides, there was 110 time. One hundred rebel conscripts arrived together one day. Prisoners passed down in truck loads. L became ill before we had been there very long and left my good colleagues, who 1 expect have been working near Teruel recently. Air Raids At one time or another there was shortage of everything—anaesthetics, antiseptics, medicines, instruments, gloves, etc. Drugs we had. When I left the unit they had one lamp for theatre and candles were unobtainable. We were still better off for food than civilians, but latterly were short more often.

It is very hard to write of one's *ork with the wonndc-cl. In letters hoitjfi 1 could not help speaking of some i,-of the horror, of the ghastly wounds;, a Dd suffering. One worked in a state shook, caused by the sight of wholeBa ' e human wreckage. Ambulances drew . , on 6 after another and the mangled wHes were brought in. Sometimes we |haired warning of an attack; then ,'' wa ' Prepared. The fifty beds were i and canvas stretchers ready to P l )t wherever there was floor space. ;«°spital trains waited to evacuate the 8 ' periods the nurses took Uteatre, ward and night duty in turn, j

doctor, an old man, lived miles away, and his practice covered several villages. One of our doctors was particularly patient listening to the old women of Polenino, and they all came to tell him their troubles.

At Granen,. ft young woman was sick in an alcove off the ward. She was a great trial to me when I first arrived. I understood when she shouted that she was ..being killed, but 1 was unable to convince her that she was wrong. In desperation 1 called Dr. Aguilo. "What is the matter, my daughter," he aske<{, and in answer to her accusations he replied, "apa," cheer up, smacked her hard on both cheeks and

While at Polenino the villages around us were bombed. Nineteen, aeroplanes passed over one day. Granen was their

objective. The warning was given in our village. I was busy in the ward, but thought the engineers were trying out the siren. Suddenly the village seemed quiet and I went out on the terraces. Antonia, the Spanish nurse on duty, was running down the hill to join the villagers in the caves by the river. I watched Granen being lioinbed. It sounded very close, although it was ten miles away. Granen hospital was destroyed in a later bombardment. Afterwards I "chipped" Antonia for leaving her job. She grinned, and said she was not taking any chances. Her village was captured by the rebels at the beginning of hostilities and she had had bitter experience of bombs ant] shells.

Lerida, a large town on the border of Aragon and Catalonia, was bombed when I was en route to Barcelona. Lack of transport forced me to spend the day there,' 1 arrived a3 the sirens sounded. My immediate business was to find a room and 1 plodded on' carrying my rucksack, heedless of the warning. I believed in mv luck that the town would not be bombed until I had left it.

However, after lunch, when I was hoping to sleep, the sirens. sounded again. Some bombs fell, shaking the house and rattling tile windows. I decided not to die with my boots off. More bombs fell, and a woman in the house screamed, 1 quickly finished dressing and arrived, on the with my knees knocking. The aeroplanes returned several times during the afternoon, f went out for a walk and heard people betting where the next bomb would fall. There were no casualties that day. In Barcelona I found bombardments of the city far worse to bear than the

noise of battle. At the front, sounds of war were expected, aitd one had little time to think; bu'S the shock is greater when these sounds break suddenly on normal city life. Falling bombs and exploding shells from the anti-air-craft guns made the night horrible. Flash after (lash lit the sky, and unseen, the aeroplanes could be heard swooping down. One sat in darkness and uncertainty wondering what was happening where the bombs fell. The rebels are using more powerful bombers now. On cloudy days they approach the city at a tremendous height. Then, with the engines turned off, they glide down and unload their cargo of bombs. The explosions are the first knowledge the city has of the presence of these destructive forces.