I eagerly avail myself of the Author's invitation to write a foreword toher book, as it gives me an opportunity of expressing something of theadmiration, of the wonder, of the intense brotherly sympathy andaffection—almost adoration—which has from time to time overwhelmed mewhen witnessing the work of our women during the Great War.
They have been in situations where, five short years ago, no one wouldever have thought of finding them. They have witnessed and taken activepart in scenes nerve-racking and heart-rending beyond the power ofdescription. Often it has been my duty to watch car-load after car-loadof severely wounded being dumped into the reception marquees of aCasualty Clearing Station. There they would be placed in long rowsawaiting their turn, and there, amid the groans of the wounded and theloud gaspings of the gassed, at the mere approach of a sister therewould be a perceptible change and every conscious eye would brighten aswith a ray of fresh hope. In the resuscitation and moribund marquees,nothing was more pathetic than to see "Sister," with her notebook,stooping over some dying lad, catching his last messages to his lovedones.
Women worked amid such scenes for long hours day after day, amid scenesas no mere man could long endure, and yet their nerves held out; it maybe because they were inspired by the nature of their work. I have seenthem, too, continue that work under intermittent shelling and bombing,repeated day after day and night after night, and it was the rarestthing to find one whose nerves gave way. I have seen others rescuewounded from falling houses, and drive their cars boldly into streetswith bricks and debris flying.
I have also, alas! seen them grievously wounded; and on one occasion,killed, and found their comrades continuing their work in the actualpresence of their dead.
The free homes of Britain little realise what our war women have beenthrough, or what an undischarged debt is owing to them.
How few now realise to what a large extent they were responsible for thefighting spirit, for the morale, for the tenacity which won the war!The feeling, the knowledge that their women were at hand to succour andto tend them when they fell raised the fighting spirit of the men andmade them brave and confident.
The above qualities are well exemplified by the conduct and bearing ofour Authoress herself, who, when grievously injured, never lost her heador her consciousness, but through half an hour sat quietly on theroad-side beside the wreck of her car and the mangled remains of herlate companion. Rumour has it that she asked for and smoked acigarette.
Such heroism in a young girl strongly appealed to the imagination of ourFrench and Belgian Allies, and two rows of medals bedeck her khakijacket.
Other natural qualities of our race, which largely helped to win thewar, are brought out very vividly, although unconsciously, in this book,e.g. the spirit of cheerfulness; the power to forget danger andhardship; the faculty of seeing the humorous side of things; of makingthe best of things; the spirit of comradeship which sweetened life.
These qualities were nowhere more evident than among the F.A.N.Y. Theiresprit-de-corps, their gaiety, their discipline, their smartness anddevotion when duty called were in