大象传媒

An Army Nurse at Gebeit recuperates at Ercovit

Annette Le Page was a nurse who had trained in London. She came from Guernsey, which had been occupied by the Germans, so she was out of contact with her home and family. The following is an extract from the diary which is in the form of the letters which she could not send to her family.

Feb 1st 1941 onwards
We have had a very busy time 鈥� I have been working in the Officers ward 鈥� I have thoroughly enjoyed it tho鈥� we have been extremely busy.
Sister Mc Ewan & I opened the ward. After 6 weeks she was transferred to a Casualty Clearing Station at Agordat with three other Sisters 鈥� I was very sorry to see her go, but Miss Johnson came to take her place 鈥� we were still very busy and eventually I went 鈥渙ff sick鈥� on Monday Mar 24th 鈥� I was warded in the sick bay 鈥� we were all very excited when Cherem, the key fortress of Eritrea fell - & we realised that it would not be long before we were no longer needed in the Sudan.
On Wed, April 2nd Four Sisters with an orderly came to Erkovit to recuperate.
It is very high in the hills 鈥� the bungalow is situated at the top of a hill & is very comfortable with a wide verandah & three rooms. We went for a walk each morning & rested during the afternoon & in the evening we played games around a log fire.
On Thurs. morning Jack & I went for a walk to see the sea, & although we walked & tried to climb to the top of the hill we could not reach the apex & lost our way back. For a little while we were not very happy trying to find our way over hills, but eventually we reached home 鈥� quite enjoying the experience after it was over.
Yesterday, we went for a walk to see the river but again, we did not find it, however we quite enjoyed it.
This morning we arose early & a native boy acted as our guide & took us exactly the sane path as on Thurs morning 鈥� but when we reached the hill, he took us to the left instead of to the right & there was the most glorious panorama before our eyes 鈥� Hills & valleys & sands 鈥� miles of it 鈥� stretching out to the sea, which was like a strip of turquoise blue silk 鈥� simply beautiful 鈥� we were sorry that we had not brought a picnic breakfast with us, but both Cook and Jack did not want to accompany us.
We thoroughly enjoyed a breakfast of bacon & eggs when we returned. After breakfast the Sudanese boy guided us to the river 鈥� it was beautiful there too with the palms growing at the edge & several bullocks drinking in the stream.
I do not know how to describe the view from the verandah 鈥� just hills 鈥� rows & rows, with trees, bushes, and cactus plants growing in profusion & herds of goats or sheep with their native boy shepherds guiding them.
The other side overlooks a valley which might easily be an English meadow, with willow trees & grass & the inevitable flowering cactus trees & even more like home when the sheep are grazing.
We are very sorry to return to Gebeit, where the heat is more intense & where there is nothing but sand. We would all be grateful if they forgot to fetch us

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