The First Woman With the Highest Serbian Decoration The

zz MONDAY, 15. September 2014, broj 6195, godina XVIII, c e n a 4 0 d i n , 2 0 d e n , 1 K M , 0 , 7 E U R (C G ) , 0 , 7 E U R ( S L O ) , 5 k u n a , 1 , 2 E U R ( G R )
www.danas.rs
Our
Great
British
Women
Na{e velike Britanke
Daily Danas and the Embassy of Great
Britain in Serbia are producing the series of the covers dedicated to the heroines of the British medical missions
who, as well as many other allies and
friends, during the First World War,
came to help Serbia. Under the motto
Pilgrimage, the representatives of the
British Embassy and Danas from August
2014 to February 2015 are visiting six
towns all around Serbia, which are indirectly linked to six great British women
who helped the Serbian army during
the First World War.
#WW1: Pilgrimage - phase 2: Mladenovac
The First Woman With
the Highest Serbian
Decoration
ELSIE MAUD INGLIS
(1864 - 1917)
TO THE SERBIAN
PEOPLE THESE
WOMEN GAVE GAVE
THEIR HEARTS:
Evelina Haverfield
Bajina Ba{ta, August 2, 2014
Elsie Inglis
Mladenovac, September 15, 2014
Isabel Emslie Hutton
Vranje
Katherine McPhail
Novi Sad/Sremska Kamenica
Flora Sandes
Valjevo
Elizabeth Ross
Kragujevac
E
lsie Inglish was born on the August 18th in
1864 in the Indian part of the Himalayas,
where her father worked in the Indian civil service. When she was fourteen, the family
moved to Edinburgh, where Elsie completed her
secondary education and enrolled at the Faculty
of Medicine. At the same time she was dedicated to the fight for the rights and enlightenment
of women.
During the First World War she organized the
hospital activities at the battlefields on behalf of
the allies of Great Britain and France - in France,
Corsica, Serbia, Thessaloniki, Malta, Romania
and Russia. As early as at the beginning of 1915,
she established the field hospital in Serbia. In the
November 1915 she was imprisoned in Kru{evac,
but she refused to leave the equipment of the
hospital and withdraw with the Serbian army.
However, as a result of the engagement of the
Red Cross and the US Government, she went
back to Great Britain.
Since at the time the conditions in the Serbian
ambulance were very bad, the Government of
Serbia invited Dr Inglish to come again, which she
readily accepted. The transportation of the hospital from England was very strenuous, it travelled
as far as across the North Sea to Odessa. The division of the Serbian volunteers together with the
hospital by Dr Inglish experienced the heavy
fights in Dobruja. As she got seriously ill, the
English Navy evacuated her, together with the
personnel of the hospital and the rest of the division back via Arkhangels. Upon the arrival of the
ship to Newcastle, Elsie Inglish died on the
November 26th in 1917. She became the first
woman who got the highest Serbian Decoration the Medal of White Eagle.
IIb
Our Great British Women / Na{e velike Britanke
We Will Remember Them
William English
maiming, death by shrapnel, bullet,
bomb, typhus 100 years on - it’s imposIf I should die, think only this of
sible to answer, but we hope they
me: That there's some corner of a for- would so that just for a moment we
eign field. That is for ever England
would rest easy that we did not give our
Rupert Brooke lives in vain.
Connectors with the past come in
hen recalling the First
varying forms, one powerful
World War in the
connector, not requiring the
South East of
doubting shown by Jesus’
Europe; a time
disciple, Thomas, is
FOR THE
FALLEN
when Britain and
through poetry. As a solSerbia stood side by side on
dier I know how conflict can
the Salonika Front from 1915leave its indelible stain upon
18, it is, sometimes possible, no,
your soul. And I know that solperhaps impossible, 100 years on, to diers will often write down their recolfind connection between our lives here lections to expel the stress and find a
and now in 2014 with those facing new level of peace. War poets wrote,
Total war in 1914.
and wrote, and wrote - and we at times
Imagine today, if we were once of remembrance read their writings of
more thrown together in the words of pain and torment, to connect and make
Max Hastings’ book title, into sense of their "catastrophe", their expeCatastrophe, would people, 4 or 5 gen- rience. After the Battle of the Marne
erations on remember us as we seek to Laurence Binyon’s poem - For the
remember those who died for our free- Fallen was published and is recited andom 100 years ago. Would they re- nually on 11 November at Britain’s
member how we suffered through star- Services of Remembrance around the
vation, freezing weather, suffocating world - a time when in the absence of
heat, driving rain, the relentless torture experience we try to reconnect with the
of the mind in artillery barrage, the people and the period:
W
IIIb
*
They went with songs to the battle, they
were young.
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and
aglow.
They were staunch to the end against
odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are
left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years
condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the
morning,
We will remember them.
On Sunday, I have left Serbia after 3
years as Defence Attache. I have attended many services of remembrance while
in post, but in relation to The First World
War, the most moving was the re-interment of Milunka Savic in The Alley of
The Names Which
Shine in the Dark
I
Verica Vukovi}
They mingle not with their laughing
comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of
home;
They have no lot in our labour of the daytime;
They sleep beyond England's foam
Elsie Inglis
n our family archives the special
place is occupied by the documents
dating from the September 12th,
1918, by which sub-lieutenant
Kosta Vukovi}, father of @arko, is
commended for bravery and composure he expressed. This document, as
the stories of the father warrior, volunteer from Dobruja and Salonika
Battlefield, the member of Young
Bosnia, also encouraged the first @arko's
interests and wish to find out more
about the Great War. He was not able to
do this during his education, since little
was learnt about the First World War at
the time.
Later on, as a doctor, he dealt with the
social medicine and the history of medicine and first learnt about the epidemics
of typhoid fever and great human toll. It
encouraged him to start his research
work about the First World War.
History and fiction dealt with the battles
and victories, whereas a little or insufficient attention was paid to the huge losses and casualties which affected the peo-
Poklon dr @arka Vukovi}a
the Greats in Belgrade on a damp and
drizzling day in November 2013. It was
moving for multiple reasons but one
contributing factor was that there we all
were, standing just feet away from
someone who had fought and survived
as a heroin in The First World War - I realized that I was once more connected,
not through the ritual reading of poetry,
but by the reality of the events past, connecting the present through the body of
Milunka Savic here present - a Thomas
moment! The last time I had had real
contact with The First World War was at
the age of 4 while helping my
Grandmother’s gardener, Fred Wood,
who had fought as a British sailor at the
Battle of Jutland; then as now I was
walking with a hero, a real person,
someone who was actually there; someone who had seen and taken part in momentous events unfolding on "catastrophic" world scale.
In the absence of such rare moments
of reality, we must as an absolute minimum continue to remember and honour those who fell. But it is more than
that. We remember to try and guide our
work and harden our resolve to prevent
such acts of near catoclismic conflict
from occuring again.
Standing together, Brits and Serbs,
as we do at British and Serb memorials
in Serbia and Britain is a time to recall
the debt we owe those who gave there
lives that we might live. When I attend
such events I read one name at each
memorial, and in so doing focus a moment of thanks to that one fallen but
through that name give thanks to all
their comrades. We remember and will
never forget.
As I leave Serbia, having stood should
to should with Serbs, civilian and military
in so many of our memorials, I say thank
you Serbia for looking after the graves of
our dead in your country - we do appreciate it and we will never forget all those
of fought in our joint name, be they Serb
or British, all those years past. „
The author is the Colonel,
British Defence Attache
* The title of the article
"We will remember them"
was taken from the long
poem "For the Fallen"
Monday, 15. September 2014.
ple, leading them to the edge of
nent. They consisted of doctors,
the survival.
nurses, and other personnel
@arko dedicated almost
from Britain, Ireland,
three decades of work and re- DOCUMENTS Australia, Canada, New
search to this part of the
Zealand and elsewhere. The
Great War. He paid the special
greatest attention in his reattention to the work of the husearch work @arko paid exactly
manitarian and medical missions,
to them. For many years he read and
who came to Serbia during these war studied the scientific literature, historiyears to help our people. Among them, cal materials, international and domesbecause of their number and organisa- tic daily papers and periodicals from
tion, the mission of the Scottish that time, diary notes and biographies of
Women’s Hospital and its founder, Dr the members of the missions. At the
Elsie Inglish, were particularly promi- same time he tirelessly wrote and published the series of articles and articles
about the work of these missions and
their female representatives, gave lectures and organized conferences on this
subject. He organized the translation
and publishing of the book by Monica
Krippner The Quality of Mercy - Women
at War Serbia 1915-1918, for which he
also wrote the foreword, as well as the
translation of the diary notes by Isabel
Ross Little Japanese Quail, for which he
wrote the foreword as well. He made
three documentary movies for RTS:
Good Fairies of the Serbian People, Good
Fairies in the World of Oblivion and
Serbia Does Not Forget. As a result of his
multi-annual work, the book Allied
Medical Missions in Serbia in 1915 was
written, which had two editions.
In our people also remained the vivid
memory of the dedicated and self-sacrificing work of the female members of
these hospitals and their founder, Dr
Inglish. Upon the arrival of the first hospital in Kragujevac, at Christmas 1915,
several hospitals were established all
around Serbia, and in them along the
care provided for the wounded and sick
soldiers, the civilians were getting the
great help, in particular women and
Dr @arko Vukovi} next to the
memorial plaque in Mladenovac
children. All through the war these
women were on the side of our people
and soldiers, not only in Serbia, but also
in Dobruja and Salonika Battlefieldv.
Out of the feeling of deep gratitude, the
citizens of Mladenovac and soldiers of
Morava Divisionv set up the beautiful
memorial fountain, dedicated to Dr
Elsie and members of the hospital. The
restored fountain today reminds of
Cicero’s saying that "gratitude is the
greatest virtue and mother of all virtues",
which @arko liked to quote often. Along
with initiating the renewal of the fountain in Mladenovac, in cooperation with
the local authorities, he initiated the setting of the memorial fountains in
Lazarevac and Kru{evac, where the hospitals were placed, as well as the setting
of the memorial plaques of the gratitude
to Canada and Australia, at the building
of the Serbian Medical Society, as well as
the setting of the memorial to Dr Emslie
Hutton in Vranje.
Writting about these noble women,
@arko always placed Dr Inglish to a special position, amazed by everything she
did for our people, fighting, literally, to
the last breath that "her Serbs" get all
necessary help. All that remains to us is
to remember her to deep gratitude and
reverence, convinced that the prediction
made by the Sir Winston Churchill after
her death, that her name will shine in
the darkness, has come true. „
The author is the wife of
Dr @arko Vukovi}, who diligently
worked so that the memory of
"our British women" be kept.
Timeline
11:00 Ceremony at Crkvenac (fountain; laying
wreaths and short programme)
12:00 Public lecture about Elsie Inglish (the
pupils of the schools from Mladenovac;
the most probably seven teams for five
minutes each)
Mladenovac Does Not Forget
Dejan ^oki}
and reverence for the allies of Serbia is
octor Elsie
embedded in the people of [umadija,
and it was forged in the hardest days
Inglish, the
legendary
for our homeland. During 1915 four
surgeon from
big hospitals operated in Serbia - in
Edinburgh,
Kragujevac, Valjevo, Lazarevac and
organizer of the special
Mladenovac. Doctor Inglish was
hospitals for war services, is one
encountered with the horrible
of the greatest heroines of the
state on the ground. The
First World War and one of
wounded on ox carts, with
AGAINST
the wounds of the head and
the greatest and sincerest
THE
friends of Serbia. Her senstomach, gangrene and
OBLIVION
tence "We are going where we
frostbites, exposed to the
are most needed - there you
freezing rain and frost. The
should send us", shows the iron will of
bandages were dirty and were not
Dr Inglish to set out on a journey to a changed for many days. The epidemics
distant and unfamiliar country with a of the abortive and abdominal typhoid
group of the ordinary women, girls, fever caused the death of 30.000 solhousewives, without pretence to be diers, 200.000 civilians and one third
brave and bold.
of the military ambulance. In
As the President of the Municipality Mladenovac next to the hospital the
of Mladenovac, born in Mladenovac, disinfection centre was settled.
but also the great-grandson of @ivadin
Nevertheless, the British, Scottish,
^oki}, who fought in the First World Canadian, Australian and other doctors
War, I know to what an extent the love and nurses from the allied countries,
D
who were led by doctor Inglish, were
the mighty ally of Serbia in the struggle
against such a wicked enemy. By the superhuman efforts and self-sacrifice, the
fight against typhoid was won, but the
price was high. The silent witnesses are
the numerous graves of these young
girls and doctors all around Serbia.
Their sacrifice were greatly valued by
the soldiers of the elite Morava Division,
who in the war year 1915 set up the
memorial fountain Crkvenac, dedicated to Doctor Elsie Inglish and the brave
women from Scotland. I am proud of
the fact that every year we cherish the
memory to those who helped Serbia at
the hardest of times. Our Municipality
renovated the assembly hall in the centre of the town named after Elsie Inglish
in 2009. Thereby our town, after the
war year 1915, when the memorial
fountain Crkvenac was raised, for the
second time expressed its gratitude to
the brave women from the allied countries. Those who will for many years en-
ter this hall, if nothing else, will ask
themselves - Who is Doctor Elsie
Inglish? The answer that they will get
will be our victory over oblivion. „
The author is the President of the
Municipality Mladenovac
IVb
Monday, 15. September 2014.
Na{e velike Britanke
Australian medical mission with the Serbian army at the Salonika Battlefield
The Nurses Used
To Faint at Work
TO BE
PROUD OF
ntil recently little was known about the participation of female doctors from Australia, as well as other medical personnel at Salonika Battlefied in 1916. The contribution of
the Australian women to the establishment of the ambulances during the time of the decisive battles, such as the
battle of Kajmak~alan, has not been known to a large extent either
to the public or Serbia or Australia.
U
Both American and Australian
The facts, on the other hand, show that the sixth unit of the
Scottish Women’s Hospital was led by Dr Agnes Bennett, doctor
from Australia, and that her assistants were Dr Alice De Garis and
Dr Lilian Cooper; that Mary Bedford from Brisbane led the "transportation convoy", and that Stella Miles Franklin, the famous
Australian writer, after whom the first literally prize of Australia
was named and who left the important literally works dedicated to
Serbia, was among the personnel. She is "responsible" for taking
down the words by which our wounded comforted the nurses affected by their suffering: "Do not mind anything, nurse"! These
books are nowadays the part of the legacy in the Mitchel Library in
Sidney.
The sixth unit was marked as the American, as the formation
and complete provision of equipment in it were enabled by the
contributions collected in the USA. However, as a result of the considerable contribution by the Australian doctors, the sixth unit can
be at the same time be called Australian, remarking that among
the personnel there were also women from New Zealand. During
the battle for Kajmak~alan, the women of Australia were engaged
in all activities of the ambulance services at Salonika Battlefield.
From the report by Dr Agnes Bennett we find out that General
Sondermeyer himself demanded from Dr Bennett that the
Hospital be dispatched and install as nearest as possible to the battlefield! The Hospital with the specially equipped tents was placed
by the lake, 135 km north from Thessaloniki, whereas the roads
led towards the battlefield, between the hills and the scattered
rocks, as nearest as to the western part of the Serbian part of
Salonika Battlefield. The members of the military circles used to
say that in this way the "military honour" was paid and it was "priviledged".
Dr Bennett wrote down: "We were in the right place at the right
time - battle of Gorni~evo and the storm from Kajmak~alan has
just begun!" The hospital consisted of five big tents containing 40
beds each... It readily welcomed the first wounded on the
September 19th in 1916. The wounded were transported directly
from Kajmaj~alan. The girls transported the "transporation units",
as a part of the hospital, by their "fords". "They came directly from
Kajmak~alan, and that implied that they were transported from
the dressing stations, where they were protected by the roofs made
out of the brenches and waited for the transporation... as long as
the ambulance came to pick them up... Some stayed there, they did
not survive and only the small wooden crosses spoke about them...
The ambulances moved up-down, usually in the convoy. The
group of 10-15 wounded were simultaneously transported to the
hospital, where they were moved to our white stretchers with white
covers, and subsequently to the tent for reception. It was our idea
and many ambulance workers complimented us on this".
The report continues with the description of the treatmeant of
the wounded and travelling of the ambulances. Dr Bennett wrote
that there were also "too many cases of gangrene" and they were
the burden to the operating tents. "The nurses used to faint at
work, they worked round the clock, there were no replacement,
and at the same time the instruments should have been sterilized
in the small sterilizer... The nurses acted absolutely heroically, as
Special edition of daily Danas
The Agnes Bennett Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library
Work of the Mission
well as our nurses who helped them. And since everything functioned perfectly, we were rightly delighted by the organization of
the activities and by our work..." Dr Bennett described the further
evacuation of the wounded in the hospitals in Thessaloniki, which
was carried out via French evacuation centre. The nurses used to
watch over the wounded as long as they were placed in the ambulance train... there were 350 operations in our operating tent. That
made us proud".
"The hospital was consecrated on the October 15th. Everything
happenned as a result of the initiative taken by General
Sondermeyer and the Commander of the Army, General Vasi}.
This solemn event was magnified by the presence of the Crown
Prince Alexander, who visited all our tents, spoke to many wounded. He was a really pleasant guest in every way. He told many nice
words to us..."
Royal Decoration
Olive May King, one of the great benefactors from the time of
the First World War, who got the highest (royal) decoration for her
deeds and as the guest of honour was present at the wedding of
King Alexander and Princess Marija, also occupies the special place
in the contribution made by the women of Austria. „
z Editor Dragan Sto{i}, the preparation of the text and photo material Zvezdana Crnogorac, paging Branislav Be{evi}, translation Marija Stojanovi}