‘I wish to mak’ a complaint. There’s a lot of men in the ward gone to the theatre and the Sister kep’ me back.’
Under discussion, it transpired that he was not so well, and being kept in bed, he had risen and dressed to come down and make his complaint.
‘It’s true the doctor said I was not to leave my bed, me being with a temperature again.’
When asked whether he would have wished the other men to stay in, since he could not go out, he replied with dignity that he was not ‘an onreasonable man’; and on being advised to return to his bed and take care of himself, he said:
‘Would ye say a wurrrd to the Sister?’
Then with a ‘Thank ye kindly, lady,’ he retired to bed again all smiles!
With all their difficulties, they were the most grateful of people. It was the Irish who stood up in the ward and made speeches to the nurses before the Irish convoy left; and it took an Irishman to say that if he had been all the time in this hospital, he never would have had the heart to leave it, and then to confound the doctor by a bitter complaint at a fancied delay in procuring his transfer.
Australians and New Zealanders began to arrive from Gallipoli in August 1915. They were gaunt and grey after their terrible experiences. The wounded had suffered much during the voyage home, and all of them were wasted with disease. They were big, fine men, reduced by three or more stone below their usual weight, and so weakened by long illness that they lay silent and apathetic in their beds, thankful to be at rest at last. The sick were collected in special wards, and it was not long before they began to put on weight and lift up their heads. The pathologist concentrated on them, and the laboratory had a fine exhibit of lamblia and tetramites and kindred organisms, which excited the interest of the staff. Whenever special diseases were admitted, every one was invited to see the specimens and listen to brief lectures, even the cooks and the librarian’s charlady availing themselves of such opportunities!
These men were better educated than the British soldiers. Mentally they were more formed, and were accustomed to independence of thought. Their attitude towards the women, among whom they had been thrown so unexpectedly, was friendly and chivalrous. They enjoyed the hospital and they appreciated the work which was being done there; but they could not understand why the vote was withheld from women, and in face of their eager questioning the medical staff was unable to adhere completely to its rule of avoiding propaganda talk on the subject of women’s suffrage. They were almost the only men who wished to discuss this subject and other political subjects with the doctors and sisters. As they got better, they were able to go about, and they were greatly interested in London. A party which went to the House of Commons included Pte. King, a keen politician. At the House, various members were introduced to the Australian soldiers, and Mr. Ramsay MacDonald asked the politician what hospital he came from. Hearing that it was Endell Street, he could not resist saying what a great suffragist he was, and how much he had helped the women’s cause.
‘That may be, sir,’ replied Pte. King cautiously, ‘but these ladies have records of every M.P.’s career, and they know exactly what each one has done and how he has voted.’