The Kossuth County
Genealogical Society is hosting an exhibit entitled “WWI-Kossuth County Answers
the Call” November 4th-19th at the Algona Public
Library. As a part of that salute to the
100th anniversary of the entry of the United States into the war, we
are sharing stories of a few of the brave men and women who served. Here is Part I of a two part installment.
Although
the United States did not officially enter World War I until 1917, many
American citizens found ways to serve early on.
One of those from Kossuth County was Burt native, Nellie Mae Stahl. After graduating from high school, she
entered training to become a nurse. The
beginning of the war found her working at a hospital in Chicago.
 |
| Nellie Mae Stahl |
The
British Armed Forces were desperately seeking medical personnel to staff their
war hospitals and made a plea to the Chicago hospital where Nellie was employed. Single and 26, volunteering to serve must
have seemed like the adventure of a lifetime to a girl who grew up in small
town Iowa. She would go on to document
her service in the letters that she wrote to those back home, many of which were
published in county newspapers. They
contained interesting descriptions of her life despite censorship and were
eagerly anticipated by local readers.
On
June 11, 1915, Nellie was one of a group of 110 Chicago doctors and nurses who
boarded the Dutch passenger ship, Nieuw Amsterdam, in Hoboken bound for Falmouth,
England. The voyage itself was fairly
uneventful. Nellie mentions that she did
not suffer from seasickness, but the precautions taken to avoid submarine
attack during the last night left her somewhat unsettled. Everyone on board was instructed to sleep
fully dressed and all lights on the ship were extinguished with just a few exceptions.
Upon
arrival at Falmouth, the group immediately boarded a night train bound for
London. Nellie described it as the
fastest train she had ever seen. To
avoid aerial attacks, the train traveled in complete darkness. Once in London, the doctors and nurses were
quartered in a hotel and were given a week to enjoy the sights and sounds of
London. They were even entertained at a
traditional English tea by the Duchess of Marlborough, Lady Churchill, and
other members of the “Upper Crust.”
At
the end of the week they entered Boulogne, France after crossing the English
Channel. They were taken by motor cars
to their station. As they traveled they
saw the poppy fields in full bloom which added to the beauty of the French
countryside. The camp was located 20 miles
from Boulogne near Etaples on the coast.
The hospital itself was situated about a quarter of a mile from the
sea. Their housing consisted of a series
of canvas “huts” they came to call shacks which were set up in the middle of a
poppy field. They had board floors but
Nellie noted “I can lie on my cot, and
pick poppies.”
 |
| Nurses in front of a "hut" tent similar to those described by Nellie |
“Our dining room—‘mess tent’ they call it—is
a big tent like a circus tent. It has a
partition, and on the other side is our living room. We have room for just about fifty at a time
at the dining tables. The food is quite
good. Our life here is just like camping
out all the time. I am getting to be as
brown as an Indian.”
By
the end of August the group had settled into their new homes. Their huts were located near the rail yards
and they observed an average of ten to fifteen troop trains a day pass by headed
to the front. Laughing and singing, the
men would wave as they passed. Nellie
wrote of knowing that some of them would soon be back, but in a different
condition. “It makes my heart ache when I see them and hear the tread of their
feet marching off to the front. I always
think of that old song, ‘Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the boys are marching.’”
 |
| Headline from one of Nellie's letters |
Nellie described the camp church: “It was in a hut built for a rude, plain board altar, and board benches, a little organ about the size of a cracker box. One of the patients played while everybody sang without books. All services are closed with ‘God Save the King.’” She also gave the following description of a nearby cemetery. “In my other letter I told you about the little cemetery not far from here. It was little then, as it was just started, but is growing fast, and when we think of two in each grave we realize how large it really is. It is kept up beautifully by the boys. Each grave is marked by two wooden crosses, each has a metal plate with their name and regiment number. I wish I could take a picture of it home, but as I told you before our cameras have been taken from us.”
By
November of 1915 the British government issued an “urgent invitation” to the
Chicago Unit to extend their service.
Their group had received high praise for the caliber of care provided to
their patients—so much so that some of the British hospitals were quite jealous
of them. Nellie mentioned that “Our hospital is very busy now, so much
rheumatism, pneumonia and frosted feet and hands and we are all working hard
these days.” Another letter stated, “We had another big convoy last night and
forty some were frozen, feet and hands, standing in mud and water to their
knees and sleeping in those wet clothes.
It certainly is a wonder how they live at all.”
 |
| The hospital where Nellie served. |
The
doctors and nurses (referred to as Sisters by the boys) were still living in
their little canvas huts. It rained
nearly every day and the nights were cold and damp. However, each hut had a small oil stove which
kept them quite comfortable and they often slept with the doors open. They were delighted to have had green
vegetables all summer and were still enjoying lettuce and radishes in
November. They did miss American coffee
and almost every letter pleaded for more to be sent. Sadness did settle over their camp when they
lost one of their own Sisters to illness.
She was buried in the officers’ section in the same cemetery described
above with a full military funeral. The
black box in which she was buried was wrapped in the Stars and Stripes and
topped with a blanket of green leaves and white chrysanthemums made by her
fellow nurses.
After
particularly heavy fighting, patients would be brought in with gunshot,
shrapnel or bayonet wounds. Others were
treated for injuries from breathing mustard gas. Still others were suffering from
shellshock. The nurses became much more
to the boys they cared for than simply a medical caregiver. The Sisters shared their coffee and sweet
treats from home, held parties and dances for entertainment, and often took the
patients for walks. They read the
letters from home to them, wrote letters for those who were not able to write
their own and too often had to write to the mothers of soldier boys who did not
survive. Nellie wrote to her own mother,
“Mamma, you may be more than thankful
that you haven’t any boys to go off to war.
All of these nice, young boys, that go home, are going with an empty
coat sleeve or pants leg. And of course
very few go home compared with the number that go out.”
Nellie
was a well-respected nurse and must have shared stories of her family back home
with her soldier boys. Her young nephew,
William Mann, received a letter from one of Nellie’s patients praising her
care. “Well, I think you are a very lucky boy to have such a nice aunty. Do you know she makes me all kinds of nice
things to drink and when she dresses my wounds she is so good and gentle that
she hardly hurts me at all.” The
soldier, George William Ashbrook, went on to tell the youngster some stories of
his own youth and encouraged him to be a good boy.
The
medical unit did stay on into June of 1916 to assist with casualties. Nellie sailed home on the S.S. Lapland later
that month, arriving in the States on June 30th. Over
the next few months, she shared the stories of her experiences. We do not know whether or not she had any
intention of going back, but when the U.S. declared war on Germany in April of 1917 whatever her prior intentions were, she immediately felt compelled to return—this
time as a member of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.
One adventure may have ended, but another was about to begin.
Watch for Part II of
the story next week. And
plan to attend the exhibit “WWI – Kossuth County Answers the Call” which will
be on display November 4th-19th at the Algona Public
Library during regular library hours and on Sundays from 1-4 p.m. Join us at the opening reception this Sunday, November 5th, at 2 p.m. in Room A of the Algona Public Library to hear Darrek Orwig present on his best selling book, "Somewhere Over There - The Letters, Diary, and Artwork of a World War I Corporal."
Until
next time,
Jean, a/k/a Kossuth
County History Buff
If you enjoyed this
post, please don’t forget to “like” and SHARE to Facebook. Not a Facebook user? Sign up with your email address in the box on
the right to have each post sent directly to you.
Be sure to visit the
KCHB Facebook page for more interesting info about the history of Kossuth
County, Iowa.
Reminder: The posts on Kossuth County History Buff are ©2015-2017 by Jean Kramer. Please use
the FB “share” feature instead of cutting/pasting.
No comments:
Post a Comment