Florence Farmborough, July 21, 1916 (Russian calendar)

Florence Farmborough, Imperial War Museum Q 107169

Florence Farmborough was a British nurse who worked on the Eastern Front with the Russian Army. The following is the July 21, 1916 entry from her diaries, published as With the Armies of the Tsar: A Nurse at the Russian Front, 1914-1918.  

"The patience, the sustained endurance of the heavily-wounded is heart-rending. They may be in the same position for hours, seldom asking for anything, unless it be 'Water! Water!' If anyone should ask me what I consider the outstanding qualities of the Russian soldier, I would have no hesitation in replying: patience and endurance. Sometimes, as I watch them lying there on their beds of straw, so still and composed, despite the pain which their wounds must be causing them, I try to imagine what they are thinking; I am sure that in spirit they are back in their homeland, surrounded by those whom they love.

We have to be thankful for the lovely, dry weather, otherwise we should be at a loss to know where to put all our wounded for transport is still a great problem. In one nearby yard, some 800 men are awaiting transport; it is, we know, dangerous to keep them so close to the Front Lines, but there is no alternative...

We have just been told some exciting news: that Tsar Nicholas may be coming to our Front. I am sure our soldiers will go wild with joy at seeing their 'Little Father' in their midst. It is said that he is anxious to thank them in person for their wonderful loyalty and courage...

There are funerals here every evening; we seldom have time to attend them. Our orderlies lay the bodies side by side, cover their faces with their military coats, or with strips of white sheeting, strew on them leafy twigs and wild flowers and, when the earth has been flattened over them, often drop to their knees and bow their heads in prayer...

The soldiers, themselves, have not seemed over-elated by the success of their recent attacks; they say that, in reality, very little has been achieved. In one engagement, they succeeded in occupying three lines of the enemy's trenches, but were beaten back; they pressed forward and occupied them for the second time; again they were driven back. They describe the enemy's gunfire as being terrible and devastating; but in some sectors our shells and grenades had managed to destroy many complicated lines of the Austrian wire-entanglements..."

From pages 215-216 of With the Armies of the Tsar by Florence Farmborough