Last night I was dressing wounds and bandaging at Dunkirk station till 3 a.m.  The men are brought there in heaps, all helpless, all suffering.  Sometimes there are fifteen hundred in one day.  Last night seven hundred lay on straw in a huge railway-shed, with straw to cover them—­bedded down like cattle, and all in pain.  Still, it is better than the trenches and shrapnel overhead!

At the Field Hospital the wounds are ghastly, and we are losing so many patients!  Mere boys of sixteen come in sometimes mortally wounded, and there are a good many cases of wounded women.  You see, no one is safe; and, oh, my dear, have you ever seen a town that has been thoroughly shelled?  At Furnes we have a good many shells dropping in, but no real bombardment yet.  After Antwerp I don’t seem to care about these visitors.  We were under fire there for eighteen hours, and it was a bit of a strain as our hospital was in a line with the Arsenal, which they were trying to destroy, so we got more than our share of attention.  The noise was horrible, and the shells came in at the rate of four a minute.  There was something quite hellish about it.

Do you remember that great bit of writing in Job, when Wisdom speaks and says:  “Destruction and Death say, it is not in me”?

The wantonness and sort of rage of it all appalled one.  Our women behaved splendidly.

I’ll come over to England if you think I had better, but I am sure you are the person I want....  If anything should prevent your helping, please wire to me:  otherwise I shall know things are going forward.

Your loving,
S. MACNAUGHTAN.

The vans should be strong as they may have rough usage; also, to take them to their destination they may have to be hitched on to a motor-ambulance.

One or two strong trays in each kitchen would be useful.  The little trollies would be for railway-station work.  As we go on I hope to have one kitchen for each dressing-station as well.

SALLY.

* * * * *

8 November.—­This afternoon I went down to the Hotel des Arcades, which is the general meeting ground for everyone.  The drawing-room was full and so was the Place Jean Bart, on which it looks.  Suddenly we saw people beginning to fly!  Soldiers, old men, children in their Sunday clothes, all running to cover.  I asked what was up, and heard that a Taube was at that moment flying over our hotel.  These are the sort of pleasant things one hears out here!  Then Lady Decies came running in to say that two bombs had fallen and twenty people were wounded.

Once more we got bandages and lint and hurried off in a motor-car, but the civilian doctors were looking after everyone.  The bomb by good luck had fallen in a little garden, and had done the least damage imaginable, but every window in the neighbourhood was smashed.

[Page Heading:  NIGHT WORK AT RAILWAY SHEDS]