The following observations were made by
me while I was serving as a Captain in ihe R.A.M.C.
with the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force. Shortly
after my arrival ill Mesopotamia, in May 1916, I was
sent up River to Mmara, which is a town situated on
the left bank of the River Tigris, about 76 miles
up River from Basrah.
During 1916, when the British Front Line
was situated below Eut-el-Amara, Amara acted as advanced Base, and was, therefore, from a military
point of view, of greater importance than during the
following years, when it became merely a station
along the long line of communication from Basrah to
Baghdad.
There I was attached to a small unit which
was , in reality, a detached section of a British
General Hospital - namely Section 'D' , E2nd British
General Hospital. Its function, at that time, was
confined to the care of British troops who were suffering from communicable diseases, such as Enteric
Group infections, Dysentery, Diphtheria, and the like.
Early in August 1916, our unit was detailed to take over the treatment of Cholera. This entailed the moving of the whole of the personnel and
equipment to what was then known as - 'The Cholera
Camp' , at the same time relieving the Field ambulance which had been in charge there.
in addition to the care of all Cholera
cases, we were to continue to receive all cases of
communicable disease - except enteric group infections, and dysentery - occurring in or brought to
the Amara area. Both British and Indian troops came
under our charge, and accordingly our unit was renamed 'The Isolation Hospital'.
The capacity of the Hospital was 250 beds,
125 beds being allotted to the British Section and
125 to the Indian.
With the exception of four huts (50 beds
in all) in the British Section, the whole Camp was
composed of tents (E.P. ) each tent accommodating 6
beds fairly comfortably.
The four huts in the British Section were
far from ideal, from the point of view of the treatment of a disease such as Cholera.
In the first place, they were mere shells
of matting made locally, by the Arabs and known as
'chittai'. The roofs too, were composed of this,
fragile material and consequently it was possible
to spread only a thin layer of mud and straw -
(Bhoosa) on top, providing but the slightest opportunity to keep the temperature lower than that of
the outside air.
it will be appreciated, therefore, under
what adverse conditions those who suffered from high
temperatures in the reaction stage of cholera, attempted to pass safely through that critical period c
of the malady.
As to the staff of the unit, there were at
first (up to November 1916), three ITedical Officers,
including the Commanding Officer, sixteen British
(Nursing Orderlies, and some eighty Indians (Nursing
Orderl ie s , hard Boys, etc. ).
The nursing of all patients was carried
out by men. This, I think, is as it should be, when
one considers to what an extraordinary degree the
nursing of cholera demands physical strength to move
these helpless, collapsed patients.
