In founding The Hospice she gave herself first to the women and children round her; later, in the urgent call of the Suffrage movement, she devoted herself whole-heartedly to the service of the women of the country, and so she was ready when the war came. Her own country refused her services; but Providence has a strange way of turning what appears to be evil into great good. The refusal of the British Government to accept the services of medically trained women caused them to offer their services elsewhere; and so she went first to help the French, and then to encourage and serve Serbia in her dire need.
Elsie Inglis (1864-1917) was an innovative Scottish doctor and suffragist. She had the good fortune to have relatively enlightened parents for the time who considered the education of a daughter as important as that of the son. In 1886 the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women was opened by Dr Sophia Jex- Blake and Inglis started her studies there. She qualified as a licentiate of both the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Edinburgh, and the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 1892. She was appalled by the general standard of care and lack of specialisation in the needs of female patients. Despite her already notable achievements it was her efforts during the First World War that brought her fame. She was instrumental in setting up the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service Committee.
Nursing on the Balkan front lines At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the founder of the Scottish Women's Hospitals, Dr. Elsie Inglis, approached the British War Office with the suggestion that her organisation be permitted to travel to the front to work with the R. A. M. C. and other nursing organisations caring for wounded and sick soldiers. It was reported that the War Office official she met told her: 'My good lady, go home and sit still.' Fortunately for thousands of allied soldiers this was not the kind of advice that sat well with Dr. Inglis. Undaunted, her plans to contribute to the war effort pressed ahead and the first 200 bed Scottish Women's Hospital opened at Royaumont, France. In the course of the war thirteen more hospitals followed, in Corsica, France, Malta, Romania, Russia, Salonika and Serbia, staffed by volunteer doctors, nurses, orderlies and ambulance drivers. This unique Leonaur edition principally concerns the activities of the Scottish Women's Hospital unit in the Romanian Campaign, part of the Balkan theatre in the east, where fighting broke out in 1916 and was particularly savage as Romanian forces attempted to regain Transylvania from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Written by one who experienced the campaign at first hand the book describes the work, deprivation and perils of those remarkable women who, driven by irrepressible conviction, undertook their humanitarian work far from home and often in conditions of extreme danger. To add perspective an extract describing the work of the Scottish Women's Hospitals throughout the region during the Great War is also included. Recommended reading for all those interested in nursing in wartime. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.
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