August 13, 1916: Spinal injuries on the Italian Front

Radiographers Gleichen & Hollings at work 

Lady Helena Gleichen and Nina Hollings were English radiographers who worked on the Italian Front during World War I. The following letter excerpt, dated August 13, 1916, gives Gleichen's impressions of tragic spinal injuries sustained during the Battle of Gorizia. The letter was later included in Gleichen's memoir, Contacts and Contrasts. 

"What has been so horrid since this advance is that we have been called to nearly every hospital to decide about fractured spines. Of course, if metal is lying on the spine an operation may help, but if, as we find nine times out of ten, it has passed through the spine and lodged in the other side of the body, it means that no operation will help and the wounded man just has to wait a fortnight, three weeks, or even three months to die. And they always ask us if their backs are broken, nearly always. It is so hard to answer, but I have become such a hardened actor, andso has Nina, that we invent whatever we think will give them confidence. We had five at Dobra yesterday all the same and all going to die, and three at Crauglio and three more to-day."

From pages 202, Contacts and Contrasts, by Lady Helena Gleichen

The story of Helena Gleichen's work on the Italian Front is included in the young adult collective biography, Women Heroes of World War I.