n the hands and face, the men and the
guests on the hands, the fiance did likewise; then the engaged couple
stood in the centre of the room and had the ring presented, a gold
ring with a diamond and ruby. The ring was put on the little finger of
the right hand. The engaged couple kissed all the people again; we
then started with refreshments. The girl did everything. A tray was
handed round first with a dish of cakes and glasses of wine; this was
to drink the health of the guests. We only took a sip of wine and the
glasses were put back on the tray; then the girl went out and brought
in another tray, the same wine and cakes; this was to drink the
bride's health; then a third lot was brought in to drink the
bridegroom's health. Then a tray came in with two dishes of jam and
glasses of cold water and spoons. We all eat a spoonful of jam and
drank a little water; the last tray had little cups of Turkish coffee.
After this we sat and talked; the ceremony was over. Fortunately we
were not far from the camp as a blizzard came up with a terrible sand
storm. We rushed round to help with the tents and patients. This was a
difficult task. We got our patients taken away in the motors to our
new building near. The hospital ward tents stood well; as they are all
double, only three came down, and the poles were not broken, so were
soon put up. Fifteen came down in all, the staff mess tent, the men's
mess tent, the kitchen tent and some of the sleeping tents. We had
several of the military authorities helping us. The storm lasted for
two hours and then all was quite calm again. We had a lovely picnic
supper under a large shelter the Government officials had put up for
us. The next day we were busy putting things straight after the storm.
I was not well again, so was sent to bed. I had to get up in the
afternoon to pack, as Dr. Atkinson had arranged for me to go to
Belgrade to the British Fever Hospital. Four of our unit are returning
to England, so they have come with us to Belgrade. Eight of us left
for Belgrade by the 12 train. We had a through carriage, most
comfortable. Dr. Curcin had arranged it for us. The English military
attache, Col. Harrison, came to see us off. A motor took us from the
camp; we had a lovely journey and arrived at Belgrade at 10 a.m. It is
sad to see how Belgrade is destroyed. Our driver was too funny. The
roads were terribly bad; we had quite a young boy to drive us. He
jumped off the box part way to shake h