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Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume VIII, Issue 3, 1 July 1915, Page 134

France, February 27th, 1915. Dear I have been meaning to write and thank you for your last letter, but things have happened so busily with me that there has not been much time for letters. Within a day or two of receiving your letter, I left Honolulu for England, arriving November 2nd ; joined the British Red_ Cross Society at once and was detailed for foreign service on the 14th unit. We were all ready and waiting when there came some hitch in the proceedings, and no more units were sent abroad by the Red Cross. We then accepted service at Home, and my friend and I went down to Hampshire and opened an auxiliary hospital for the Red Cross. It was in Lady Rosemary Portal's house, which she gave up entirely for a hospital except her own rooms and ours. We had three delightful months down there, though not much nursing as our patients were mostly convalescent when they came to us. We then, through the New Zealand Office, joined Queen Alexandria's Imperial Military Nursing Service, and have signed for one year, or less if the war should end sooner.

I think nine New Zealanders came over altogether and are now scattered about France. The New Zealand Agency did the cabling to the hospitals for our records. My friend and I are now at No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station. These stations are all along the line and are where the men are brought after being dressed by the Field Ambulance. They come in quite cold and wet and hungry, poor fellows, and some such terrible wounds. Nobody can possibly realise what war really means till they have seen it at close quarters. I do hope it will end soon. We are between five and ten miles from the trenches and can hear the guns quite distinctly, and even sometimes at night the rifle fire. We are of course not allowed to mention names or any details in our letters, so they are not very interesting. ■ Our men are, I think, still in Egypt, but out here one hears absolutely nothing of what is going on except just from the portion of the front which we get men from, and they only know what happens in their own little corner. We are billeted on the townspeople and have our mess-room in a convent. It is a decidedly primitive life, but we are fortunate in having such decent accommodation. It is bitterly cold. We had quite a snowfall the day before yesterday. We are all hoping for fine, warm weather. There are altogether seven sisters here. When a convoy of wounded comes in everything is bustle and hurry to get them fed and dried and warmed as much as possible, their wounds dressed, and then they usually sleep — and how they sleep ! poor boys, till the ambulance train comes and they are all evacuated to the base hospital and thence to England when they are fit. Of course, our hospital is of the most primitive description, mostly convent buildings and we rely more on antiseptics than asepsis. It would be impossible to have the latter perfect in such a temporary place as this. We may be moved forward or back any day. With kindest regards, Yours very sincerely, Clare Jordan.