Volume 1

The Imperial Yeomanry Hospitals in South Africa, 1900-1902 / edited by the Countess Howe.

  • Imperial Yeomanry Hospitals Committee.
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: The Imperial Yeomanry Hospitals in South Africa, 1900-1902 / edited by the Countess Howe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    convenient. The total number of these postal-order payments amounted to about 7000, the average during several months being 150 per week. I also made arrangements through the local secretaries for the payment to the members of the staff in South Africa of moneys received from their relatives at home, and special banking facilities were offered to the staff' for the payment, either in South Africa or the United Kingdom, of their savings and arrears of pay. It would be impossible to get a more conclusive proof of the efficiency of our Field Hospital and Bearer Company, and of the high opinion in which they were held by the military authorities, than the fact that when the Committee was contemplating the recall of this unit owing to the approaching termination of the contracts of the staffs, the War Office specially requested that it might have the use of their services for a further three months, and handed 3000/. to the Committee to defray the extra expense, preferring to leave the management exactly as it was before. When, owing to the continuance of the war and the terrible outbreak of enteric among our troops, it was found necessary, early in February, 1901, to obtain additional sums for the extension of our hospitals and their maintenance for a further period, the Chairman again appealed to the public through the Press, with the result that a further sum of 15,000/. was collected. With this additional assistance we started our Elandsfontein Hospital, which subsequently proved so serviceable. In view of the substantial balance left in the hands of the Committee at the termination of the work of their hospitals, I ought here, perhaps, to point out how impossible it was at the time of our Chairman’s second appeal to foretell the duration of the guerilla warfare then being so obstinately waged, nor to predict the rapid diminution of enteric, which diminution saved our country so many valuable lives, and the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital Committee so much expenditure. On April 1st, 1901, our Base Hospital at Deelfontein was taken over by the Government, who, after careful valuation, paid a sum of 15,000/. for the hospital as it stood, with all its fittings and stores, and this price, coupled with the 9000/. paid several months later for our Pretoria and Elandsfontein Hospitals, completely justified the policy of the Committee in only purchasing articles of the best quality, as they were able to dispose of them again at very little below cost price. My brief survey of a few features of this great undertaking has hitherto prevented me from alluding to the ladies, who worked so ably on the various committees, but there cannot be the least doubt that the brilliant success of the