Search by theme, personal stories or events

    Conditions on Lemnos

    The weather affected the sick, the wounded and the able-bodied alike.

    During the arid summer flies were at plague proportion. They made daytime sleep difficult for convalescing patients. Come summer’s end, plummeting temperatures, storms and heavy rains replaced the heat.

    Flooding rains would drench mattresses and the fierce winds were a particular problem. Hospital tents would collapse or tear in Lemnos’s gales, forcing staff to quickly re-erect them before tending their patients. ‘I don’t think I shall ever get over my dread of wind’, wrote Staff Nurse Louise Estelle Young, ‘night after night, every bit of canvas creaking, shaking & straining & your mind always wondering which would collapse next’.

    Living conditions were primitive for all.

    ‘We felt the blizzard ourselves and we don’t know how we endured it, because we have no proper shelter. We still work in tents and have to run out into the cold and bleak wind all the time. We were nearly all crippled with chilblains, but it was nothing to the state of the boys.’

    – Staff Nurse Emily B. Taylor, The Maitland Daily Mercury, 12 Feb. 1916
    Night sisters Blundel and Walpole return to their tent after stormy night to find it no longer standing.

    NIGHT SISTERS BLUNDEL AND WALPOLE RETURN TO THEIR TENT AFTER STORMY NIGHT TO FIND IT NO LONGER STANDING. STAFF HAD MANY EXPERIENCES OF THIS KIND, WHICH DID NOT SEEM TO DISHEARTEN THEM. nX6DekVY - STATE LIBRARY NSW

    Staff Nurse Evelyn Davies’ wet-weather gear is a reminder of Lemnos’s often inclement weather during winter.
    Nurse Evelyn Davies’ raincoat is a reminder of Lemnos's often-inclement winter weather. A05374 - Australian War Memorial
    The flooded rest camp of the 1st Battalion, September 1915.
    The flooded rest camp of the 1st Battalion, September 1915. C02022 - Australian War Memorial
    Under a strong summer sun, the first patient is carried to 3AGH’s operating tent.

    UNDER A STRONG SUMMER SUN, THE FIRST PATIENT IS CARRIED TO 3AGH’S OPERATING TENT. nM7Bo6ZY - STATE LIBRARY NSW

    An overnight storm has flattened the staff recreation tent and upturned furniture and equipment.

    AN OVERNIGHT STORM HAS FLATTENED THE STAFF RECREATION TENT AND UPTURNED FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT. nM7Bo6ZY - STATE LIBRARY NSW

    A marquee is re-roofed following damaging weather.

    A MARQUEE IS RE-ROOFED FOLLOWING DAMAGING WEATHER. nM7Bo6ZY - STATE LIBRARY NSW