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Diary of a World War 1 surgeon INTRODUCTION Charles Roberts (b.1874 q.1896 d.1935) was born near Slough and studied medicine at the Middlesex Hospital where he qualified with first class honours and a gold medal in anatomy. He served as a civil surgeon to the South African field force in the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1899, shortly after gaining his FRCS Eng.1 After his South African adventure, he was appointed in 1901 to the Manchester Royal Infirmary and to the Royal Children’s Hospital, Pendlebury, the beginning of a long career in paediatric surgery, and it was said ‘He had a very unusual and striking gift in attracting the confidence of his small patients’.1 He served with the 18th (East Lancs) Field Ambulance, having enlisted at the outbreak of war in 1914. His diary is presented here by his grandson and great grandson, outlining his exploits for his first 2 months in theatre. He worked in B section, a dressing station of the 18th Field Ambulance, making their way by train, wagon and marching across northern France towards Belgium. His diary shows the events and items that interested him on this journey, and how bearing witness to so much destruction and suffering can alter your sense of humour and tolerance of others. Charles married Ethel Annie Nicholson before the war and was always appreciative of the letters and parcels that she sent. His chief companion on tour was Albert Ramsbottam, ‘Rammy’, a physician colleague from the Manchester Royal Infirmary2—always on the lookout for fine food, drink and shelter, they tried to make the best of it. Working in a dressing station near the front, sometimes for several consecutive days and nights, he tirelessly dealt with what was presented to him. The critical attitude to authority, and the constant vigilance for any comforts, will be familiar to many medical officers who have served in austere conditions. Although rebellious and operating at the edge of discipline, when the situation called for it, he dug in and gave his best.
DIARY ENTRIES September 1914 8th Left Cambridge. Train Southampton. Embarked Archimedes. Engineers, also Headquarter staff. Rotten food. Bad treatment by A. D.M.S. Rotten chap. 9th Escort French battleships with band. 10th Unloading. St Nazarre all night. Camp 5am, orders to move 12.30, met other party 18. Very hard to load on train. Free supper at hotel. 11th In train St Nazarre thro English country with hedges. Versailles, outskirts of Paris. Cheery, presents, crowds of people. Good news Germans retreating. 12th Unloading train Marles marched 10 miles. Manchester Frenchman. Refugees all along returning- pitiable. All house shutters & only a few women & children. Barbier Professor of Leeds joins us. 13th Chateau Faremontrey. Beautiful house, lake & grounds & garden with flowers & pond. House ransacked. 14th Malanboust farm. Dirty hole. Slept in lofts. 15th Marched 28 miles. Chateau Thierry, arrived 11. Waking people to get billets. Fire in house. Bacon & eggs butter & wine often. 16th Hartennes bivouacked. Walked 1 mile into wood at night looking for a chateau to stay in. Slept ambulances. i24
Marched 21 miles, saw many wounded in motor transport. French motor ambulances very nice with German officer. Russians said to be 10 miles off. 17th Crecy 6 miles booming guns. Billeted in church, rain all day up to firing line. Small village. Block with horses & transport. Rate of travel 2 miles per hour for men marching well. Bad boots. C.O. losing head & snubbing people & worried to death. Ramsbottom my chief companion. 18th Stayed all day. 18th Brigade marched off leaving us with Divisional troops. French M.P. gave us Telegraph for tin of Bully Beef. Feeding well. Plenty of wine & cheap liqueurs. Fighting going very well. Germans got 150 doz cider here thinking it champagne. 19th Left village 2 o’clock, trekked by ourselves in a round about way. Lost. Rammy billeting officer took us along a lane to a swamp where we stayed all night. Raining & miserable. Had rum ration. Slept without kit in ambulance, very cold. B Section men & waggons left behind & stayed out all night at station. 20th Up 4.30 a.m. to turn & move out waggons by hand. Trekked 2 miles to Bazoche. General French near here. 18th Bgde gone to 1st Division leaving us with headquarters. Marched to Bazoche. Billeted in School house, 6 miles from firing line. Heavy cannonary all day. Our men simply holding trenches. All Division split up to relieve other Division in trenches a few days. West Yorks cutt up on leaving trenches. We saw them march out 1200 strong. 2 hours after going into action only 3 officers & 260 men left. 21th Saw Turcos going through all day, Bazoche. Nothing doing. British holding trenches round Soissons. Biscuits from home, much appreciated by boys. Playing auction. Letter Rickli & David Orr. Raining every day. 22nd Still at Bazoche. Reims Cathedral destroyed, few miles off. 22nd-24th All the time at Bazoche. Several letters. Beautiful weather. 6 miles from front. Padre goes up for a day. See many aeroplanes shot at by English. See plenty of shells falling. Walks & rides. Our trenches 150 yards from German. Their shells deafening & demoralizing. Few casualties in the trenches. We are tired of doing nothing. 25th-30th All at Bazoche. Little or no work. Watson a b [loody] idiot. Doing soft things, sometimes playing the fool at anything in petticoats, furious mad passion, filthy language. Constant sound of big guns. Sky often full of aeroplanes. Often being shelled if Germans. 30th De Lisle Cavalry Division came for rest, their camp sighted & shelled by Germans, 41 casualties. Played 17 Field Ambulance at football losing 2-1 amidst thundering of guns. Letters & cigarettes from Ethel. Excitement for letters, much amusement censoring men’s letters. London & Evans get 60 eggs- much rejoicing.
October 1914 4th After marching all night, marched to Jury 8 till 5 o’clock, lost our way. Stopped half way up a high hill & took 30 mts to stop. Very cold. Stopped at a house with huge dung heap in front as so many have. Big guns all over the place. 6th Moved 300 yards. Nice little Hospital for B Section. 5th Left Juny 7.15. Marched till 1am 12 miles, lost way, going to Belgium it is said. Good billets at San Remy.
Roberts CCN, et al. J R Army Med Corps 2014;160(Supp 1):i24–i26. doi:10.1136/jramc-2014-000301
Downloaded from http://jramc.bmj.com/ on June 22, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
6th Marching at 5pm 13 miles to very dirty farm full of flies, arrived Larginy 1am. 7th Marched 6 to 2am to big chateau thro’ forest. 8th Stayed 12 miles. Stayed in Elincourt. In cottage, made us coffee & tea. 9th March from Elincourt to Longuelle Sur Marne, 12 miles, pretty country. Crossed River Marne by German bridge made of barges- bridge blown up. Leaves of trees beginning to turn, millions of apples & pears on trees. Stayed at splendid house, bedroom with Rammy in house like Hotel. Great dinner with wine. Got a liqueur, Priest & owner there. 10th Marched 7 miles to Estrées St Denis & entrained at 5.30. Went thro’ St Amiens, had good supper. Nearly left on platform. Boulogne & Etaples passed in night. Saw Mr. Harry Walsh in morning. 11th Still in train. Detrained Blendeques, halted lunch at Arques. Marched Wardrecques. Stayed all night in big house. Hopeless confusion in morning. Orders came in night not given by C.O. 12th Marched & stayed Hazebrouck. Had gin & vermouth, cognac & given bottle of champagne by woman. Very nice women at our billet, gave us coffee etc. 13th Marched. Dressed two wounded Germans (testis & back) & fractured femur. House set on fire & children burnt by Germans. Sent out ambulances among firing line 5 till 6.0am in School looking to wounded. Blearily working till 5am. 126 received, 5 died in night. Several for operation. Large proportion serious. Many fractures. Mostly shrapnel. Evacuated all to Hazebrouck by motor ambulances. Working all night except 2 abdominals. 14th Haute Maison. Arrived billets in dark, 5 miles. Saw French artillery, 2 batteries in action & there in middle of French dragoons Jones lost, & formed dressing station by himself. 15th Grande Beau___. Formed dressing station B Section. 17 Pts Evacuated by motor ambulance. Saw aeroplane duel. Arrived in dark at decent billets. 16th Left billets in evening. Sleepy all day & had 5 packages. Got to Sailly and stayed all night in ransacked house next to the burning church. Whole village battered by shells. Went over pontoon bridge & footbridge over Lys. 17th Cold march & long hall [sic] towards Lille, stayed Rue del Pierre. French Chausseur shot German Officer 100 yds away from us. 18th 5am marched rue de Bois. 140 wounded after furious battle. Up all night. 19th Rue de Bois remained all day quiet fighting, small casualties. All wounded cleared by motor ambulances. 20th Fighting nearer, trenches & barracades round hospital. Shells within 20 yards. In evening 279 wounded. Much confusion. I took B Section to Rue del Pierre then again to Fleurbaix where opened by Hospital. Others arrived 6am after a peaceful night. All bearers under heavy rifle & shell fire. Motor ambulances cleared all. Congratulation from everybody on our fine work. Just going to bed when had to go to Rue de Pierre & operate. I didn’t sleep a wink. 22nd Very tired for want of sleep. No sleep for 4 nights. Stayed at farm Rue de Pierre, no work. 23rd Marched in afternoon to Erquinhem, 1 mile. Black Maria shelled Fleurbaix. Few casualties. Bearers not out. 24th Took over all buildings and 3 schools. Expecting heavy night. Sent all Bearers & a tent division to Advanced Dressing Station. Caught two spies & locked them up. Less depressed about Antwerp. Roast pork, soup & peas the size of cocoanuts
[sic]. Good house, 5 bedrooms. 3 Indians came with mule cart having lost way. By Cannonading, 20 or 30 wounded only. 25th Beautiful sunny day. Still at Erquinem. Locked up church steeple. Pretty good beer here. 26th Reid & Krispnell-Jones went to Rifle & Brigade & Sherwood Foresters, only 174 of latter left. Have about 40 or 50 wounded daily. Motor ambulances evacuate our wounded every day. Some awful cases of shell wounds. Bad fractured femurs. Capt O’Connor shelled. Porter of Rifle Brigade cut in two. Operation 2 arms amputated. Astragalus removed for compound dislocation. Many fractures put up under chloroform. 27th-29th Still at Erquinem. 30 or 40 daily. Many officers including Brigade Major with fract. femur put up under CHCl3. Spy catching is CO’s great hobby & closing public houses. More amputations.
November 1914 9th Still at Erquinem. Wounded have gradually diminished in number & sick increased. Several self- inflicted. Sleep all afternoon. Beer or coffee at 12. Ambulances 9.30. Tea at 5. Ambulances go out 5.30. C.O. went out one night amidst ridicule. Shell burst at aid post one night, wounded horse, left ambulance perforated. Evans grazed finger, Sergt Tipoll bruised. Wounded self inflicted going to be duly shot. Alternately depressed & optimistic by news. Ethel’s letter comes regularly almost daily taking 5 days. Sent home pear, pencil, buttons, helmet badge. German wounded say that 5000 are ready to surrender if a chance. Lots of stories about Germans being driven en masse on to our trenches, slaughtered in hundreds & not knowing what to do when they got into the trenches. One officer found himself underneath 2 or 3 Germans in a trench who made no attempt to kill him. One officer surrenders saying “This is not war, this is murderous treachery”. German boy not shot when going to get water but fired on all round. Another German shoots chicken in front of trench & shot dead when going to fetch it. An officer and man go out & get wounded man. Germans did not shoot at them. Germans shell Armentières nearly every day at 4. I go in & get a few shells near. Jones & Reid returned Nov 4th. Church service with tremendous firing. Often fear bombardment going on at night. I write a good many letters, Overrun with chocolate & cigarettes. Twice been to Armentières. Hot bath, good dinner. News alternately depressing & encouraging. German valour stronger than we have expected. Turkey complicates. Ethel’s letter despondent at times. 11th Still little fighting here. Probable duration now longer than anticipated. 17th Life goes on much as usual 5-12 wounded, 12-20 sick. Giving men going back to units hot baths, clean shirts & socks. Good many self-inflicted wounds, probably mostly accidental. Siege guns here with 86 men, 6 traction engines, 290 lbs shells £100 each, 10 000 yards. 12 coming in 14 months. All night to move it and 40 miles a day travelling. Queens Westminsters come up, 850 Territorials. Lord Roberts visits Hospital. Shakes hands with me, I told him I had taken him round at Kimberley & he said ‘that is a long time ago’. Photoed by Chaplain just behind him. He dies from cold caught here in 2 days. Clements visits. CO’s son goes down in ‘Good Hope’. He is as foolish as ever. B Section Hospital working well. News very cheery now. Probable duration of war now 1 year I think. Some say 3 or 4 months, some 3 years. Ethel has found out through Pts that I am here. She is doing splendidly Horsley Hall & I am very proud.
Roberts CCN, et al. J R Army Med Corps 2014;160(Supp 1):i24–i26. doi:10.1136/jramc-2014-000301
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EPILOGUE The diary ends here. Charles went on to become a distinguished paediatric surgeon in Manchester. He edited the surgical section of the 1922 edition of Ashby & Wright’s ‘The Diseases of Children Medical and Surgical’ and devised a method of operation for the treatment of ectopia vesicae.3 He was a popular lecturer in clinical and practical surgery at the University of Manchester and very well known in the field of paediatric surgery.4 He was president of the Manchester Surgical Society.5 His junior doctors found him very supportive, ‘serious when at work, the youngest of them all when at play’.6 A group of students attended Charles’ ward a week late, on account of the New Year merrymaking. With some trepidation they were lined up as though on parade and Charles demanded excuses from them. After faint answers they nervously followed him on his ward round, quickly realising that provided they demonstrate sufficient attention and interest Charles would support them, devoting much of his time to teaching.6 Charles, nicknamed Conky, had a loyal following of old residents whose careers he took a keen interest in, advising them on all manner of subjects. He had a large and devoted crowd at his retirement dinner.6 His son, Charles Arthur Roberts became a general practitioner joining the Royal Navy during World War II. His daughter was killed in a motorcycle accident. In his spare time, Charles enjoyed gardening, keeping chickens and collecting silver, sadly these hobbies were not to be enjoyed for long; he died less than a year after retiring. C Christopher N Roberts,1 T C Nicholson-Roberts2
Correspondence to Lt Col T C Nicholson-Roberts, Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit, Wessex Neurological Centre, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK; [email protected] First author has since died. Competing interests None. Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.
To cite Roberts CCN, Nicholson-Roberts T C. J R Army Med Corps 2014;160(Supp 1):i24–i26. J R Army Med Corps 2014;160(Supp 1):i24–i26. doi:10.1136/jramc-2014-000301
REFERENCES 1
2
3 4 5 6
Obituary: Charles Roberts FRCS. Honorary consulting surgeon, Manchester Royal Infirmary and Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. BMJ 1935; 1:1296.1 Brockbank W. Professor Albert Ramsbottom MC MD FRCP. In: The Honorary Medical Staff of the Manchester Royal Infirmary 1830–1948. Manchester University Press, 1965:172–4. Roberts C. A method of operation for the treatment of ectopia vesicae. Lancet 1921;197:1125–6. Obituary: Charles Roberts MB Lond FRCS Eng. Consulting surgeon, Manchester royal infirmary. Lancet 1935;1:1470. Roberts C. An address on surgical convalescence. BMJ 1927;1:1013–15. Brockbank W. Charles Roberts MB BS FRCS. In: The Honorary Medical Staff of the Manchester Royal Infirmary 1830–1948. Manchester University Press, 1965:162–4.
1
Church House, Withington, Hereford, UK Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit, Wessex Neurological Centre University Hospital, Southampton, UK
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Roberts CCN, et al. J R Army Med Corps 2014;160(Supp 1):i24–i26. doi:10.1136/jramc-2014-000301
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Diary of a World War 1 surgeon C Christopher N Roberts and T C Nicholson-Roberts J R Army Med Corps 2014 160: i24-i26
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Diary of a World War 1 surgeon INTRODUCTION Charles Roberts (b.1874 q.1896 d.1935) was born near Slough and studied medicine at the Middlesex Hospital where he qualified with first class honours and a gold medal in anatomy. He served as a civil surgeon to the South African field force in the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1899, shortly after gaining his FRCS Eng.1 After his South African adventure, he was appointed in 1901 to the Manchester Royal Infirmary and to the Royal Children’s Hospital, Pendlebury, the beginning of a long career in paediatric surgery, and it was said ‘He had a very unusual and striking gift in attracting the confidence of his small patients’.1 He served with the 18th (East Lancs) Field Ambulance, having enlisted at the outbreak of war in 1914. His diary is presented here by his grandson and great grandson, outlining his exploits for his first 2 months in theatre. He worked in B section, a dressing station of the 18th Field Ambulance, making their way by train, wagon and marching across northern France towards Belgium. His diary shows the events and items that interested him on this journey, and how bearing witness to so much destruction and suffering can alter your sense of humour and tolerance of others. Charles married Ethel Annie Nicholson before the war and was always appreciative of the letters and parcels that she sent. His chief companion on tour was Albert Ramsbottam, ‘Rammy’, a physician colleague from the Manchester Royal Infirmary2—always on the lookout for fine food, drink and shelter, they tried to make the best of it. Working in a dressing station near the front, sometimes for several consecutive days and nights, he tirelessly dealt with what was presented to him. The critical attitude to authority, and the constant vigilance for any comforts, will be familiar to many medical officers who have served in austere conditions. Although rebellious and operating at the edge of discipline, when the situation called for it, he dug in and gave his best.
DIARY ENTRIES September 1914 8th Left Cambridge. Train Southampton. Embarked Archimedes. Engineers, also Headquarter staff. Rotten food. Bad treatment by A. D.M.S. Rotten chap. 9th Escort French battleships with band. 10th Unloading. St Nazarre all night. Camp 5am, orders to move 12.30, met other party 18. Very hard to load on train. Free supper at hotel. 11th In train St Nazarre thro English country with hedges. Versailles, outskirts of Paris. Cheery, presents, crowds of people. Good news Germans retreating. 12th Unloading train Marles marched 10 miles. Manchester Frenchman. Refugees all along returning- pitiable. All house shutters & only a few women & children. Barbier Professor of Leeds joins us. 13th Chateau Faremontrey. Beautiful house, lake & grounds & garden with flowers & pond. House ransacked. 14th Malanboust farm. Dirty hole. Slept in lofts. 15th Marched 28 miles. Chateau Thierry, arrived 11. Waking people to get billets. Fire in house. Bacon & eggs butter & wine often. 16th Hartennes bivouacked. Walked 1 mile into wood at night looking for a chateau to stay in. Slept ambulances. i24
Marched 21 miles, saw many wounded in motor transport. French motor ambulances very nice with German officer. Russians said to be 10 miles off. 17th Crecy 6 miles booming guns. Billeted in church, rain all day up to firing line. Small village. Block with horses & transport. Rate of travel 2 miles per hour for men marching well. Bad boots. C.O. losing head & snubbing people & worried to death. Ramsbottom my chief companion. 18th Stayed all day. 18th Brigade marched off leaving us with Divisional troops. French M.P. gave us Telegraph for tin of Bully Beef. Feeding well. Plenty of wine & cheap liqueurs. Fighting going very well. Germans got 150 doz cider here thinking it champagne. 19th Left village 2 o’clock, trekked by ourselves in a round about way. Lost. Rammy billeting officer took us along a lane to a swamp where we stayed all night. Raining & miserable. Had rum ration. Slept without kit in ambulance, very cold. B Section men & waggons left behind & stayed out all night at station. 20th Up 4.30 a.m. to turn & move out waggons by hand. Trekked 2 miles to Bazoche. General French near here. 18th Bgde gone to 1st Division leaving us with headquarters. Marched to Bazoche. Billeted in School house, 6 miles from firing line. Heavy cannonary all day. Our men simply holding trenches. All Division split up to relieve other Division in trenches a few days. West Yorks cutt up on leaving trenches. We saw them march out 1200 strong. 2 hours after going into action only 3 officers & 260 men left. 21th Saw Turcos going through all day, Bazoche. Nothing doing. British holding trenches round Soissons. Biscuits from home, much appreciated by boys. Playing auction. Letter Rickli & David Orr. Raining every day. 22nd Still at Bazoche. Reims Cathedral destroyed, few miles off. 22nd-24th All the time at Bazoche. Several letters. Beautiful weather. 6 miles from front. Padre goes up for a day. See many aeroplanes shot at by English. See plenty of shells falling. Walks & rides. Our trenches 150 yards from German. Their shells deafening & demoralizing. Few casualties in the trenches. We are tired of doing nothing. 25th-30th All at Bazoche. Little or no work. Watson a b [loody] idiot. Doing soft things, sometimes playing the fool at anything in petticoats, furious mad passion, filthy language. Constant sound of big guns. Sky often full of aeroplanes. Often being shelled if Germans. 30th De Lisle Cavalry Division came for rest, their camp sighted & shelled by Germans, 41 casualties. Played 17 Field Ambulance at football losing 2-1 amidst thundering of guns. Letters & cigarettes from Ethel. Excitement for letters, much amusement censoring men’s letters. London & Evans get 60 eggs- much rejoicing.
October 1914 4th After marching all night, marched to Jury 8 till 5 o’clock, lost our way. Stopped half way up a high hill & took 30 mts to stop. Very cold. Stopped at a house with huge dung heap in front as so many have. Big guns all over the place. 6th Moved 300 yards. Nice little Hospital for B Section. 5th Left Juny 7.15. Marched till 1am 12 miles, lost way, going to Belgium it is said. Good billets at San Remy.
Roberts CCN, et al. J R Army Med Corps 2014;160(Supp 1):i24–i26. doi:10.1136/jramc-2014-000301
Downloaded from http://jramc.bmj.com/ on June 22, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
6th Marching at 5pm 13 miles to very dirty farm full of flies, arrived Larginy 1am. 7th Marched 6 to 2am to big chateau thro’ forest. 8th Stayed 12 miles. Stayed in Elincourt. In cottage, made us coffee & tea. 9th March from Elincourt to Longuelle Sur Marne, 12 miles, pretty country. Crossed River Marne by German bridge made of barges- bridge blown up. Leaves of trees beginning to turn, millions of apples & pears on trees. Stayed at splendid house, bedroom with Rammy in house like Hotel. Great dinner with wine. Got a liqueur, Priest & owner there. 10th Marched 7 miles to Estrées St Denis & entrained at 5.30. Went thro’ St Amiens, had good supper. Nearly left on platform. Boulogne & Etaples passed in night. Saw Mr. Harry Walsh in morning. 11th Still in train. Detrained Blendeques, halted lunch at Arques. Marched Wardrecques. Stayed all night in big house. Hopeless confusion in morning. Orders came in night not given by C.O. 12th Marched & stayed Hazebrouck. Had gin & vermouth, cognac & given bottle of champagne by woman. Very nice women at our billet, gave us coffee etc. 13th Marched. Dressed two wounded Germans (testis & back) & fractured femur. House set on fire & children burnt by Germans. Sent out ambulances among firing line 5 till 6.0am in School looking to wounded. Blearily working till 5am. 126 received, 5 died in night. Several for operation. Large proportion serious. Many fractures. Mostly shrapnel. Evacuated all to Hazebrouck by motor ambulances. Working all night except 2 abdominals. 14th Haute Maison. Arrived billets in dark, 5 miles. Saw French artillery, 2 batteries in action & there in middle of French dragoons Jones lost, & formed dressing station by himself. 15th Grande Beau___. Formed dressing station B Section. 17 Pts Evacuated by motor ambulance. Saw aeroplane duel. Arrived in dark at decent billets. 16th Left billets in evening. Sleepy all day & had 5 packages. Got to Sailly and stayed all night in ransacked house next to the burning church. Whole village battered by shells. Went over pontoon bridge & footbridge over Lys. 17th Cold march & long hall [sic] towards Lille, stayed Rue del Pierre. French Chausseur shot German Officer 100 yds away from us. 18th 5am marched rue de Bois. 140 wounded after furious battle. Up all night. 19th Rue de Bois remained all day quiet fighting, small casualties. All wounded cleared by motor ambulances. 20th Fighting nearer, trenches & barracades round hospital. Shells within 20 yards. In evening 279 wounded. Much confusion. I took B Section to Rue del Pierre then again to Fleurbaix where opened by Hospital. Others arrived 6am after a peaceful night. All bearers under heavy rifle & shell fire. Motor ambulances cleared all. Congratulation from everybody on our fine work. Just going to bed when had to go to Rue de Pierre & operate. I didn’t sleep a wink. 22nd Very tired for want of sleep. No sleep for 4 nights. Stayed at farm Rue de Pierre, no work. 23rd Marched in afternoon to Erquinhem, 1 mile. Black Maria shelled Fleurbaix. Few casualties. Bearers not out. 24th Took over all buildings and 3 schools. Expecting heavy night. Sent all Bearers & a tent division to Advanced Dressing Station. Caught two spies & locked them up. Less depressed about Antwerp. Roast pork, soup & peas the size of cocoanuts
[sic]. Good house, 5 bedrooms. 3 Indians came with mule cart having lost way. By Cannonading, 20 or 30 wounded only. 25th Beautiful sunny day. Still at Erquinem. Locked up church steeple. Pretty good beer here. 26th Reid & Krispnell-Jones went to Rifle & Brigade & Sherwood Foresters, only 174 of latter left. Have about 40 or 50 wounded daily. Motor ambulances evacuate our wounded every day. Some awful cases of shell wounds. Bad fractured femurs. Capt O’Connor shelled. Porter of Rifle Brigade cut in two. Operation 2 arms amputated. Astragalus removed for compound dislocation. Many fractures put up under chloroform. 27th-29th Still at Erquinem. 30 or 40 daily. Many officers including Brigade Major with fract. femur put up under CHCl3. Spy catching is CO’s great hobby & closing public houses. More amputations.
November 1914 9th Still at Erquinem. Wounded have gradually diminished in number & sick increased. Several self- inflicted. Sleep all afternoon. Beer or coffee at 12. Ambulances 9.30. Tea at 5. Ambulances go out 5.30. C.O. went out one night amidst ridicule. Shell burst at aid post one night, wounded horse, left ambulance perforated. Evans grazed finger, Sergt Tipoll bruised. Wounded self inflicted going to be duly shot. Alternately depressed & optimistic by news. Ethel’s letter comes regularly almost daily taking 5 days. Sent home pear, pencil, buttons, helmet badge. German wounded say that 5000 are ready to surrender if a chance. Lots of stories about Germans being driven en masse on to our trenches, slaughtered in hundreds & not knowing what to do when they got into the trenches. One officer found himself underneath 2 or 3 Germans in a trench who made no attempt to kill him. One officer surrenders saying “This is not war, this is murderous treachery”. German boy not shot when going to get water but fired on all round. Another German shoots chicken in front of trench & shot dead when going to fetch it. An officer and man go out & get wounded man. Germans did not shoot at them. Germans shell Armentières nearly every day at 4. I go in & get a few shells near. Jones & Reid returned Nov 4th. Church service with tremendous firing. Often fear bombardment going on at night. I write a good many letters, Overrun with chocolate & cigarettes. Twice been to Armentières. Hot bath, good dinner. News alternately depressing & encouraging. German valour stronger than we have expected. Turkey complicates. Ethel’s letter despondent at times. 11th Still little fighting here. Probable duration now longer than anticipated. 17th Life goes on much as usual 5-12 wounded, 12-20 sick. Giving men going back to units hot baths, clean shirts & socks. Good many self-inflicted wounds, probably mostly accidental. Siege guns here with 86 men, 6 traction engines, 290 lbs shells £100 each, 10 000 yards. 12 coming in 14 months. All night to move it and 40 miles a day travelling. Queens Westminsters come up, 850 Territorials. Lord Roberts visits Hospital. Shakes hands with me, I told him I had taken him round at Kimberley & he said ‘that is a long time ago’. Photoed by Chaplain just behind him. He dies from cold caught here in 2 days. Clements visits. CO’s son goes down in ‘Good Hope’. He is as foolish as ever. B Section Hospital working well. News very cheery now. Probable duration of war now 1 year I think. Some say 3 or 4 months, some 3 years. Ethel has found out through Pts that I am here. She is doing splendidly Horsley Hall & I am very proud.
Roberts CCN, et al. J R Army Med Corps 2014;160(Supp 1):i24–i26. doi:10.1136/jramc-2014-000301
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EPILOGUE The diary ends here. Charles went on to become a distinguished paediatric surgeon in Manchester. He edited the surgical section of the 1922 edition of Ashby & Wright’s ‘The Diseases of Children Medical and Surgical’ and devised a method of operation for the treatment of ectopia vesicae.3 He was a popular lecturer in clinical and practical surgery at the University of Manchester and very well known in the field of paediatric surgery.4 He was president of the Manchester Surgical Society.5 His junior doctors found him very supportive, ‘serious when at work, the youngest of them all when at play’.6 A group of students attended Charles’ ward a week late, on account of the New Year merrymaking. With some trepidation they were lined up as though on parade and Charles demanded excuses from them. After faint answers they nervously followed him on his ward round, quickly realising that provided they demonstrate sufficient attention and interest Charles would support them, devoting much of his time to teaching.6 Charles, nicknamed Conky, had a loyal following of old residents whose careers he took a keen interest in, advising them on all manner of subjects. He had a large and devoted crowd at his retirement dinner.6 His son, Charles Arthur Roberts became a general practitioner joining the Royal Navy during World War II. His daughter was killed in a motorcycle accident. In his spare time, Charles enjoyed gardening, keeping chickens and collecting silver, sadly these hobbies were not to be enjoyed for long; he died less than a year after retiring. C Christopher N Roberts,1 T C Nicholson-Roberts2
Correspondence to Lt Col T C Nicholson-Roberts, Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit, Wessex Neurological Centre, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK; [email protected] First author has since died. Competing interests None. Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.
To cite Roberts CCN, Nicholson-Roberts T C. J R Army Med Corps 2014;160(Supp 1):i24–i26. J R Army Med Corps 2014;160(Supp 1):i24–i26. doi:10.1136/jramc-2014-000301
REFERENCES 1
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Obituary: Charles Roberts FRCS. Honorary consulting surgeon, Manchester Royal Infirmary and Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. BMJ 1935; 1:1296.1 Brockbank W. Professor Albert Ramsbottom MC MD FRCP. In: The Honorary Medical Staff of the Manchester Royal Infirmary 1830–1948. Manchester University Press, 1965:172–4. Roberts C. A method of operation for the treatment of ectopia vesicae. Lancet 1921;197:1125–6. Obituary: Charles Roberts MB Lond FRCS Eng. Consulting surgeon, Manchester royal infirmary. Lancet 1935;1:1470. Roberts C. An address on surgical convalescence. BMJ 1927;1:1013–15. Brockbank W. Charles Roberts MB BS FRCS. In: The Honorary Medical Staff of the Manchester Royal Infirmary 1830–1948. Manchester University Press, 1965:162–4.
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Church House, Withington, Hereford, UK Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit, Wessex Neurological Centre University Hospital, Southampton, UK
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Roberts CCN, et al. J R Army Med Corps 2014;160(Supp 1):i24–i26. doi:10.1136/jramc-2014-000301
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Diary of a World War 1 surgeon C Christopher N Roberts and T C Nicholson-Roberts J R Army Med Corps 2014 160: i24-i26
doi: 10.1136/jramc-2014-000301 Updated information and services can be found at: http://jramc.bmj.com/content/160/Suppl_1/i24
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