Barge duty in France

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume X, Issue 4, 1 October 1917, Page 208

Barge duty in France

The cold weather being practically over this means of moving patients is again m demand, and it really is a splendid way. The barges hold thirty patients each. They are gay with lovely flowers, and we keep them all arranged between trips, as when patients are on there is no time. Two barges are run together, with two sisters on each, and one medital officer for the two. The sisters share a cabin, rather close quarters, but as the hatch is almost always off we can get on very well. We have a very light time on the whole ; on an average we make one trip a week, that is up and down. We can take the patients from here, where we arrived this morning (no names allowed) to the base m thirty-six hours, occasionally it is longer, as we fail to arrive m time to evacuate, which means they remain all night with us instead of being taken off at 8.30 p.m. As soon as the patients are off we have perhaps an hour or more to go into town or to the sea, and then retu.n for another load. On the way back to reload we have to get stores, also report to our headquarters. The M.O sees the officer m charge, and we report to our matron, who is the matron at 10 Stationary. Sometimes there are repairs or alterations to be done , so that it takes more than twice the time to come back. Going down everything has to give way to the hospital barges. You can hardly imagine how beautiful the whole trip is. When I started there was hardly a leaf out, the trees I thought beautiful m their wintry bareness, now m four weeks they are just a dream. The country is the most lovely picture, we go through long avenues of glorious trees and sweet little villages. The French barges, too, are a great interest ; the families on them have lived for generations, such dear children sometimes, and picturesque old women and girls. The fields are perfect, golden with buttercups. There are lovely oxeyed daisies out, and beautiful old white horses on the tow path ; the dark ones have gone to the front. We have had the most glorious weather, some days rather hot, but after the winter I feel we must never say it is too hot. We have most exciting times,

too. We were m a town the other day when the enemy started to shell it ; the town folk were all down m the cellars m a few minutes. They pulled down the shutters of their shops and the streets were cleared at once. They invited us (four sisters) to go to the cellars, but we preferred to hurry back to our barges. However, when we started to cross the square a shell came on to a three-storey building right m front of us , and we were covered with dust. It was alarming for a few seconds ; one could hear the whizz of the shell, it gives a horrible shriek and then explodes. This town was shelled this morning, but very little damage done. The people all flock along the canal banks with their bundles and families. Moving backwards and forwards, we stay at different spots almost every trip. We never get away exactly at the same time, and it brings us to different mooring places. We generally have a walk when we tie up for the night, we can sometimes get out and walk along the banks m the day time, but it is rather hard walking to keep up to the barge. We have a powerful little tug to take us along. We went a lovely walk this afternoon, the crops about are a picture, everything is so luxuriant, flowers m profusion,' and the country is so picturesque. I love the village people, and the bargees. I have just been on an ordinary barge. We met a girl — a Belgian — on the side of the canal, she could talk a little English, and invited us to come and see her barge on which she lives with her parents. There were three nice little rooms, two bedrooms and a living room, everything was spotless, lots of brass, all most beautifully kept. A beautiful crocheted quilt on the parents* bed and nice pillow shams, everything spotlessly clean, woodwork polished. She was such a nice mannered girl, a black handkerchief tied round her head. We all sat m the little living room (four sisters), and she, after some persuasion, got out her mandoline and played quite nicely. Then we brought her to see our barges, and got her to put her name m our visitors book, m which we have many interesting names.