May 7th, 1917.
France
Dear Mother,
Did you receive the message I sent when I arrived at [censored]. I cannot tell you anything about the hospital here, as we must keep absolutely quiet on these matters in France.
[censored] is quite a large city and some parts of it are very pretty indeed.
From the Ruby Ayre Album, p 27. Courtesy of the Archives and Special Collections (Coll-322 1.01), QE II Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL.
From the Ruby Ayre Album, p 3. Courtesy of the Archives and Special Collections (Coll-322 1.01), QE II Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL.
Of course the hospital is not in the city; we have to take a car to get there...
I am on night duty, which accounts for my going to bed at noon.
I go on duty at ten minutes to eight in the evening and come off at 8 a.m. Night duty is no laughing matter especially if the wards are heavy.
From the Ruby Ayre Album, p 18. Courtesy of the Archives and Special Collections (Coll-322 1.01), QE II Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL.
I have the care of five wards at night; so you can imagine I am kept a bit busy. I sometimes feel very very sleepy around the hours of one and two; but sleep must be sacrificed by all accounts, as one must keep a look out for all sorts of things, such as amputation bleedings, deaths, drinks etc.
From the Ruby Ayre Album, p 38. Courtesy of the Archives and Special Collections (Coll-322 1.01), QE II Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL.
This is a very wicked world mother; you cannot realize what sufferings there are: Some of the misery will ever live in my memory: it seems to me now as though I shall always have sad sights in my eyes...
I left my N.F.L.D friends in Lincoln. I miss them very, very much. Some of them were getting ready to go abroad somewhere; but I have not heard where. I don't expect to meet them this side of the Atlantic again.
Letter Courtesy of the Centre for Newfoundland Studies Archives
(Frances Cluett Collection 174), Queen Elizabeth II Library,
Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland