Elsie Inglis - The Woman with the Torch by Eva Shaw McLaren
page 96 of 118 (81%)
page 96 of 118 (81%)
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told our experiences of the day, and Dr. Inglis said: 'But this is the
best of all; it is just like a fairytale.' And so it was; for as we looked there were groups of soldiers holding their horses, standing motionless, staring at us; we saw them only through the wood-smoke. The fire attracted them, and they came to see what it could mean. Seeing nine women laughing and chatting, alone and within earshot of the guns, the distant sky-line red with the enemy's doings, was more than they could understand. They did not speak, but quietly went away as they had come.... Rolled in our blankets, with the warmth of the fire making us feel drowsy, our chatter gradually ceased, and we slept as only a day in the open air can make one sleep." Another two days of continued retreat, and the different parties of Scottish women arrived at places of safety. "Thus we all came through the Dobrudja retreat. We had only been one month in Roumania, but we seemed to have lived a lifetime between the 22nd and 26th of October, 1916." In a letter to the Committee Dr. Inglis says of the Unit: "They worked magnificently at Medjidia, and took the retreat in a very joyous, indomitable way. One cannot say they were plucky, because I don't think it ever entered their heads to be afraid." Finally the scattered members of the Unit joined forces again at Braila, where Dr. Inglis opened a hospital. During the time at Braila Dr. Inglis wrote to her relations. The letter is dated Reni, where she had gone for a few days. "RENI, |
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