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An Army Nurse in the field hospital at Gebeit

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.

April 6th 1941
Back to Gebeit 鈥� but oh dear, everything is so hot and full of sand 鈥� no air, & I just long to be back at Erkovit.

June 29th
Dearest Mummy & Father
Apparently there is a big gap but there has been nothing new to write.
The most welcome news is in the form of cables from both Hildred and Aimee, on May 30th that Aimee had secured news that you were both well & then received air-mail cards with the messages from Henry, Auntie & Mr & Mrs Breton. I was so thankful.
The day I received the cable - I wept I know not why, and could scarcely believe it - & thanked God on my knees in our little Church tent 鈥� thousands of miles away from you.
Then on Saturday last I was overjoyed to receive a cable from Hendred, that she herself had received a message from you.
I wrote to you via the Field Censor on May 28th and again on June 21st, but the first message was returned. However I hope that they will reach you eventually.
We are still at Gebeit having completed our six months but there is still no sign of us moving elsewhere.
We have a very small percentage of British troops, having mostly Italians 鈥� they are very good. We have no difficulty except with the language, but I have learnt a few words that are necessary to us, but as they are far quicker at learning our language than we are 鈥� we soon give in and let them speak English

Aug 3rd
Another gap 鈥� but nothing new has happened, On July 24th at 8pm I went off duty as usual but rather hastily as it had begun to thunder 鈥� the lightning was very vivid, the whole camp was lit up as we were going to the mess. Down came the rain just as we entered the mess. We sat down to dinner knowing that we should have to return to duty 鈥� but the lights went out, & someone flashed a torch to enable us to eat our dinner but the rain simply poured in & we decided to give up our meal.
After sheltering a few seconds under the verandah, we went across to our quarters & then clad in storm cap - mackintosh & Wellington boots we struggled through wind and rain to the wards.
Tent 4 was the tent on which I was nursing but unfortunately it had completely collapsed 鈥� with the aid of a hurricane lamp and Sgt Price we ran some of the patients to earth in the recreation room 鈥� the remainder we sought an found in different tents & huts 鈥� but no patients were hurt.
Next morning the camp was a desolate spot 鈥� everything was rain sodden & ruined. Many tented wards were down
However the men of the ward set to and put up our duty room soon after first rescuing kettle & primus stove tea-pot and all the essentials for tea making & there in the middle of the desert we had our morning cup of tea as usual.
Apart form a day off spent at Erkovit & a day at Port Sudan nothing new has happened. We are all getting rather weary of being here & there seems no hope of moving for another six months. We did try to cultivate some melons & flowers outside tent 4 鈥� but since the storm they have been neglected - & the three melons which were about 3鈥� long have dried up. I am very disappointed because I was so very proud of them, having prepared the seed and then supervised our Italian gardener 鈥楢IELLO鈥� who by the way has offered to come to England to be my gardener after the war !!
I had looked forward to going on leave on Aug 10th to Asmara & then on to Khartoum 鈥� but alas all leave has been stopped 鈥� I feel so weary now that we have no thought of getting away from here.
It is terribly hot still & not much cooler since the rains.

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