My War Experiences in Two Continents | Page 9

safest place, and
as long as we stayed with the wounded they minded nothing. We sat
there all night.
The English sergeant said that at daybreak the firing would probably
cease, as the German guns stopped when daylight came in order to
conceal the guns. We just waited for daybreak. When it came the firing
grew worse. The sergeant said, "It is always worse just before they
stop," but the firing did not stop. Two hundred guns were turned on
Antwerp, and the shells came over at the rate of four a minute. They
have a horrid screaming sound as they come. We heard each one
coming and wondered if it would hit us, and then we heard the crashing
somewhere else and knew another shell was coming.
The worst cases among the wounded lay on the floor, and these wanted
constant attention. The others were in their great-coats, and stood about
the cellar leaning on crutches and sticks. We wrapped blankets round
the rheumatism cases and sat through the long night. Sometimes when
we heard a crash near by we asked "Is that the convent?" but nothing
else was said. All spoke cheerfully, and there was some laughter in the
further cellar. One little red-haired nurse enjoyed the whole thing. I saw
her carry three wounded men in succession on her back down to the
cellar. I found myself wishing that for me a shot would come and finish
the horrible night. Still we all chatted and smiled and made little jokes.

Once during that long night in the cellar I heard one wounded man say
to another as he rolled himself round on his mattress, "Que les anglais
sont comme il faut."
At six o'clock the convent party came over and began to prepare
breakfast. The least wounded of the men began to steal away, and we
were left with between thirty and forty of them. The difficulty was to
know how to get away and how to remove the wounded, two of whom
were nearly dead. Miss Benjamin went and stood at the gate, while the
shells still flew, and picked up an ambulance. In this we got away six
men, including the two dying ones. Mrs. Stobart was walking about for
three hours trying to find anything on wheels to remove us and the
wounded. At last we got a motor ambulance, and packed in twenty
men--that was all it would hold. We told them to go as far as the bridge
and send it back for us. It never came. Nothing seemed to come.
The ---- Vice-Consul had told us we were under his protection, and he
would, as a neutral, march out to meet the Germans and give us
protection. But when we enquired we heard he had bolted without
telling us. The next to give us protection was the ---- Field Hospital,
who said they had a ship in the river and would not move without us.
But they also left and said nothing.
We got dinner for the men, and then the strain began to be much worse.
We had seven wounded and ourselves and not a thing in which to get
out of Antwerp. I told Mrs. Stobart we must leave the wounded at the
convent in charge of the Sisters, and this we did, telling them where to
take them in the morning. The gay young nurses fetched them across
on stretchers.
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About 5 o'clock the shelling became more violent, and three shells
came with only an instant between each. Presently we heard Mrs.
Stobart say, "Come at once," and we went out and found three English
buses with English drivers at the door. They were carrying ammunition,
and were the last vehicles to leave Antwerp. We got into them and lay
on the top of the ammunition, and the girls began to light cigarettes!

The noise of the buses prevented our hearing for a time the infernal
sound of shells and our cannons' answering roar.
As we drove to the bridge many houses and sometimes a whole street
was burning. No one seemed to care. No one was there to try and save
anything. We drove through the empty streets and saw the burning
houses, and great holes where shells had fallen, and then we got to the
bridge and out of the line of fire.
We set out to walk towards Holland, but a Belgian officer got us some
Red Cross ambulances, and into these we got, and were taken to a
convent at St. Gilles, where we slept on the floor till 3 a.m. At 3 a
message was brought, "Get up at once--things are worse." Everyone
seemed to be leaving, and we got into the Red Cross ambulances and
went to the station.
9 October.--We