Feminine, graceful, business-like, it was invaluable as an introduction to the character of the Corps.
Before leaving England, it was necessary to appoint a representative in London to receive gifts and to send over these and any extra things which might be wanted. Dr. Louisa Woodcock undertook this work, and found that it was no sinecure. For as soon as the work of the hospital in Paris became known at home, her correspondence increased by leaps and bounds and her house was crowded with sacks and parcels coming from all parts of the country.
Her interest in the formation of the unit was only equalled by that of Mrs. Garrett Anderson, the pioneer woman doctor, who, though eighty years of age, came up to London in order that she might hear all the details at first hand.
‘If you go,’ she said, ‘and if you succeed, you will put your cause forward a hundred years.’
CHAPTER II
ARRIVAL IN PARIS
The authorities in Paris did not require the unit to travel until later than the date originally suggested. It was September before they decided that it should be located in Paris and should open a hospital in the Hôtel Claridge, which had been placed at the disposal of the French Red Cross.
On Tuesday the 14th of September 1914 the Women’s Hospital Corps left Victoria for Paris. The heavy baggage had gone the day before, and was to be forwarded on the boat by which the party would travel. Empty trucks were to await it on the other side, and these were to be attached to the Paris train.
A personal friend among the traffic managers reserved a saloon for the travellers and procured them the great privilege of having friends on the platform to see them off. This was immensely appreciated, and many well-wishers gathered round them, offering greetings and tokens of affection in the form of flowers and fruits. Madame Brasier de Thuy and her husband, accompanied by several French ladies, were there. Mrs. Granger came with her arms full of grapes. Many women doctors, well-known suffragists, journalists and photographers joined the little crowd. Relatives brought roses and chocolates, and ladies with sons in France asked that letters and parcels might be conveyed to them.
A little apart, Mrs. Garrett Anderson, a dignified figure, old and rather bent, stood quietly observing the bustle and handshaking. One wondered of what she was thinking as she contemplated this development of the work she had begun. Her eyes were tender and wistful as she watched her daughter in uniform directing the party and calling the roll of the Corps. A friend beside her said:
‘Are you not proud, Mrs. Anderson?’