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Australia

Daughter of Henry Cecil SODEN and Emma nee GREEN

Did not marry

Mentioned in Despatches
Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 30 October 1919
Location in Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: Page 1659, position 6
Date of London Gazette: 11 July 1919
Location in London Gazette: Page 8835, position 74

A NURSE'S EXPERIENCES.
Nurse Maude Soden writes as follows from the front to her brother, Mr Claude Soden, of Murchison : --
No. 3 Aust. General Hospital,
Lemnos Island, (Oct. 28, 1915.)  Your very welcome letter arrived a few days ago. It is the one excitement we have here, and so far have had very few letters, but suppose they will arrive in good time. By the same mail I had a letter from a Mrs Toohey (of Murchison) asking me to visit her son, who is in hospital in Egypt where I was at first. I  had about two weeks there and was then sent on here, so if you see her you can tell her I have gone from Egypt, and am very sorry not to be able to do as she  asked. It is very different here from Hellopolis Palace hospital. This latter is a magnificent place. All the state rooms are turned into wards, and over 100,000 patients passed through our hands. Every available corner
seemed to be filled up, and it just used to make my heart ache to look round and see such numbers of sick men. They arrived in train loads, and the poor souls looked so thin and worn out. They are all so grateful for anything you do for them, and you don't mind how hard you work for them. Everything is done to make them as comfortable as possible.
We have to thank the Red Cross for all the comforts. We are on practically a desert inland here, there being no shops where you can get the smallest things, so don't know how we would have fared, but as it is we get almost everything the men want. It is just marvellous how the things have been collected, and we do appreciate it out here. So far I have not heard of anyone having to pay for anything. The whole hospital here is under canvas. It seemed so funny at first working in tents. We have big marquees (three put together) which hold about 36 patients. They are all right in the fine weather, but very miserable when it rains, or is very blowy. I believe we are to go into huts for the winter. They say it is very cold and they get blizzards here in winter, so I don't suppose the tents would stand up. We had a storm last week, and several of the sisters' tents blew down. It isn't funny having to turn out in the middle of the night in the pouring rain, but suppose we will get used to it. We sleep in bell tents, have just the earth floor, no conveniences at all, and we bath and wash in a canvas bucket in about a cupful of water. We get mostly tinned food, bully beef and army biscuits, and just long for a nice hot Australian dinner and some nice hot buttered toast. We don't see butter very often, and when we do mistake it for cheese. This is a much nicer climate than Egypt, and we have some lovely days and the moonlight nights are glorious. We face the harbor, which is very pretty and busy. All the gunboats and hospital ships come in here, and as we are only four hours from the Dardanelles on a clear night we can hear the roar of the guns. Although we are so near we hear very little news. When the men come in they tell us all sorts of stories which make your blood run cold.  A number of my friends have just gone back after resting for a short time. Poor boys, I do feel sorry for them. I am afraid we don't half realise what life in the trenches really is. I don't think any of them look forward to a second term,but it is to be hoped they are successful in achieving their object this time. I don't think we will be home for Xmas dinner this year. I am on night duty at present, and am writing this at 2 a.m. by the light of one candle. One thing I do  miss is a good light. It is very miserable working in the half dark. The floors are so uneven one is always falling into holes, and it is very cold, too. The tents are vary draughty and we have no means of warming them, but suppose we must not expect too many comforts on active service. I am very glad I came here, as everything is so different. It is one of the largest hospitals on the island, and is well equipped. We have well over 1000 patients of all nationalities, including Tommies, Welshmen, Scotchmen and some Australians. They are a bright and cheerful lot, mostly suffering from enteric or dysentery, which is very prevalent here. Several of the sisters are down with it, but am glad to say I am keeping very well. It will be quite funny to be back in civilisation again and see ordinary people, as everyone here is dressed in khaki, and we always go out in our uniforms. There are no other women on the island except the Greeks, who are always very interested in us. Very few of them can speak a word of English. They are very picturesque and remind one of the Biblical pictures. You see the women with the pitchers of water on their heads, and their dresses are of many colors.  There are also the shepherds watching their flocks. Each sheep has a bell on, and it sounds so pretty when you are in the hills. Then they have the dear old donkeys, which constitute practically the only mode of getting about, as there are no trams or buses. Recently we went for a lovely ride to a place called Thermos. It was just lovely amongst the hills. They grow a lot of tomatoes here, but they are of a much smaller Variety  than ours. There also several vineyards and some tobacco fields. You would laugh to see them ploughing. The ploughs are drawn by bullocks, and they just seem to pick out a plot here and there. They want a few Australians to come over and show them how to do things. I do hope you are going to have a good season to make up for the last.

Murchison Advertiser and Mruchison Toolamba, Moorooopna and Dargalong Express Friday 17 December 1915 page 4