THE POSTE DE SECOURS ANGLAIS PERVYSE. ere TRH EDITOR OF
THE "STECTATOR.") Sin,—A great many people have heard about the work done in the Belgian trenches by the " Women of Pervyse," the Baroness de T'Ser- claes and Miss Mairi Chisholm. But very few, even now, realize what that work means, still fewer that it has proved so important in saving the lives of Belgian soldiers that their methods have been adopted by the enemy. If German women are now doing in the German trenches what these two English women are doing in the trenches of the 3rd Division of the Belgian Army, we may be very certain that it will be worth our while to pay attention and to send the help that is so urgently needed to support the Pervyse Poste de Secours Anglais. We quote from the Baroness de T'Serelaes's account of her work given recently at her public meetings in this country ;—
" I found that far too many of the stretcher cases contained dead bodies when they arrived at the base hospital. I thought to myself that there must be some reason for these deaths. It seemed to me that the only reason was that they had died from shock or from the way they were driven over the badly shelled roads. So I appealed to the Belgian Government, and asked if they would permit Miss Chisholm and myself to go into the trenches, and try and see if, by treating the soldiers for shock at once, we could save life."
After several refusals they were allowed to go into the trenches for twenty-four hours. They have stayed twenty-one months :-
" In March, 1915, when the big War Conference was held in Paris, and it was decided that no women were to be permitted in the trenches at all, or in the firing line, it was further decided, after examining the work I and Miss Chisholm were doing, that we should be the only two women who were permitted in the tiring line—because our treatment was necessary."
They were thereupon officially attached to the 3rd Division :- " I found it was as I thought, that if one could get to a soldier directly he was hit and treat him for shock, he was able to stand an operation better than one who was bundled into an ambulance and driven quickly over bad roads to the operating table, where he, perhaps, died under the operation or from the after effects. . . . We are in telephonic) communication with every trench in the Division, and have man' thousand men to look after. The telephone means that when a man wants our care we can get to him right away. We do all we can to save the men's lives, and on many occasions we are able to deal with them so quickly that they are on the operating table within twenty minutes."
Add to this the arresting of the first haemorrhages, first-aid in cases of accident, nursing in sickness, the general care of the soldier's health, and specially the treatment of sore feet. Can you exaggerate the importance of such services ?
But all this needs money. The Poste was mainly supported by the Belgian Soldiers' Fund, which no longer exists. The work has increased enormously, and now costs about £60 per month, or £700 a year. Ex- penses include the upkeep of the dug-out in the firing line, two ambulance cars, a motor-lorry, and a small base for storage. There are no Com- mittee expenses. That means that every pound and every shilling you give goes straight to the Poste. All contributions should be sent to The Manager, National and Provincial Bank, Baker Street, W. Cheques crossed " Pervyse Poste Account." Any further communi- cations should be addressed to Baroness de T'Serclaes, S. 10 Army Post
LOUISE JOPLING -ROWE. MAY SINCLAIR.
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