The Nurses’ Home, The General Hospital
Birmingham
Feb 22nd 1915
My dear Sweetheart
I have been a selfish little prig not to have written you a decent letter for so many days but really if you knew how cross and disagreeable I’ve been feeling you’d be thankful I had refrained from my grousing for a bit.
You can imagine my surprise when Nurse Harston remarked á propos of nothing as far as I could make out, “Constable, you always strike me as being so good-tempered”! I burst out laughing and she asked me why so I told her I had been in a bad temper for at least a week! I told her she was a bad judge of character!
I actually summoned up energy enough to do a little shopping tonight – although it was of a prosy nature – namely underclothes and material for another uniform frock – it gave me some distraction so am beginning to think that ‘distraction’ is a better tonic even than going to bed early.
It is an awful bore having to invest in another frock but the washing days are awkwardly arranged, the soiled linen going out on Saturday morning and the clean comes in on the Saturday night so that one needs three of everything. Up to the present I have managed by wearing my dresses a fortnight but I don’t like doing so and also if one gets anything on them, as one is apt to do in the theatre, it is really necessary to have a third dress to change into. The hospital sewing maid is going to make it up for me for 3/6, which brings it to 7/9 and 1/3 for buttons, 9/- in all. Don’t you wish your kit only cost 9/-! If a nurse has signed on for 4 years the hospital allows her a dress and 6 aprons every year, but Matron felt she could not ask the Committee to give me mine as I am here for so short a time, although she would have liked to have given them to me.
My bedroom looks lovely tonight for when I came up after tea I found added to Mary’s tulips some gorgeous daffodils and a vase of snowdrops. I can give a shrewd guess who the good Fairy is! I’m pretty certain it is Nurse Sampson whose photo I sent you. By the way I only sent it to you to look at, not to keep! I’m afraid it is not very wise of me to send you photos of my girl friends – for of course, you being so susceptible – it is really stupid of me to put temptation in your way! “Oh, do be quiet Mela and give a fellow a chance to explain that it would not fit in the envelope.” That’s all very well ….. etc …..!
How do you like the wilderness of Blackdown? I should think Mr Marshall must be very sad and very lonely!
It is my Sunday off next Sunday. I shall have breakfast in bed and go to the eleven o’clock service and then if it can be fixed up I will spend the afternoon and evening with Mrs Jarvis. I shall think of four weeks ago – darling, how happy we were. It seems much longer than 4 weeks to me.
The fight for the Dardanelles is most exciting. I hope the Allies will follow up this attack as I should think it would be a great point to have a way here of access and also of egress. Russia is almost hemmed in at present.
We hardly ever mention the war in our letters to one another and yet it is ever present in my thoughts. Some days I cannot bear to read the papers. I got such a start tonight – my eye caught the name Constable under the heading of prisoners of war but on closer investigation I found the initial was “H” and the rank Private in the Middlesex Regiment.
None of the girls here can talk intelligently about the war or about any subject of interest in the papers or elsewhere, it is awfully boring. If only the nursing profession could be put on a higher level so that better educated girls could take it up how very much nicer it would be. Of course things are improving and doubtless in twenty years or so there will be startling changes. Matron is working slowly but surely for the 8-hour bill for Nurses, having 3 shifts of 8 hours, instead of two of 14 and 10.
We had rather ghastly operations today – three of them were amputations and on each occasion the Surgeon handed the severed limb to me. It is a horrid feeling to touch a severed limb even when partly covered with a towel.
Well, darling, I must go to bed now - and I hope my dreams will be of you.
You remember my telling you my nightly prayer, many months ago, ending with “for it is Thou only that makest us dwell in safety.”
God bless you, dear Love. I do wish this horrid war could end – it is partly that which helps to pull me down – it is like a nightmare.
I think of you always, as you know, and just as my thoughts are happy ones, up comes this horrible cloud of war and how can I be happy with the thought of your going so soon.
Goodnight, Sweetheart – write soon and often if you can manage it.
All my heart’s love.
From
Your own devoted
Mela
