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Martha Loder: Difference between revisions
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==War Duty== | ==War Duty== | ||
Martha was first assigned to London General Hospital for orientation, from whence she was sent to Boulogne, France. Working in a number of field hospitals and dealing with typhoid, and hospitalization herself due to a vaccine reaction, she became a theatre nurse, working on casualties from some of major war battles, such as the First Battle of Ypres. | |||
Poor conditions, bad sanitization, over work, and lack of sufficient provisions all took their toll, and in December 1915, Loder herself contracted diphtheria. At the time diphtheria had a mortality rate of 15%, and often left its victims with heart and breathing issues, however, Martha was back on duty in five weeks. | |||
On January 18, 1916, Loder was assigned to the 18 General Hospital at Camiers. Its poorly heated tents and wooden barracks would have taxed even the most robust. Camiers received casualties from many regiments. Extreme trauma cases poured in, and because of the contamination, coupled with rats, decomposing animals and humans, all manner of infections set in, exposing medical staff to a high risk. | |||
In mid-June 1917, she was sent to Étaples, a major military base. Étaples’ railways reached both the northern and southern battlefields and it had 16 hospitals. | |||
At Étaples, Loder served on the demanding Night Duty shift, mostly at the 24 General Hospital. This was periodically interspersed with short illnesses of her own (gastritis and styes), again requiring hospitalization. | |||
In February 1918, Nurse Loder was transferred to the 11 Stationary Hospital at Rouen, and was promoted to Night Supervisor. Rouen exceeded even Etaples in importance. In addition to its 18 hospitals with a capacity of 20,000 beds, it was a supply and repair base for the British Expeditionary Force with railway yards, a heavy repair workshop for vehicles, petroleum storage tanks, and the 3rd Echelon General Headquarters of the Deputy Adjutant-General. | |||
Loder served in the 11 Stationary Hospital during the period in which it received casualties from the Last German Offensive that began on March 21, 1918 | |||
On July 23, 1918, Loder took on her last and most dangerous assignment: the Number 5 Ambulance Train attached to the 6 General Hospital in Rouen. The train would bring her very close to battlefields. This was the culmination of a long-standing wish. In 1915 she expressed frustration that nurses “are not allowed to pick up the wounded [at the front]. I wish we were. I should like it. I hear that no Nursing Sister is allowed within five miles of the firing line.” She ended: “I shall be glad to go nearer if I am wanted.” | |||
She continued to work on the ambulance train till the end of the war. | |||
==Later Life== | ==Later Life== | ||
==Source Material== | ==Source Material== | ||
All info contained with in this page is a summarization of the wonderful Newfoundland Historical Society article embedded below. | All info contained with in this page is a summarization of the wonderful Newfoundland Historical Society article embedded below. | ||
<pdf width="800" height="500">File:Aspects.pdf</pdf> | <pdf width="800" height="500">File:Aspects.pdf</pdf> | ||