i
There was a girl
Flora Sandes,
Born in 1876, North Yorkshire -
Flora was a
daughter of an Irish
Clergyman Samuel
Sandes.
A middleclass
background
Of likely genteel
upbringing,
Did nothing for
the determined
Young girl, who did
not favour
Girl's dolls or
sewing - to only
Wish she might
have been a boy.
Formative years
of Flora Sandes
Saw her family
move to Suffolk,
Where she favored
hobbies
Of shooting and horse
riding.
Dreams of
adventures filled
Her young mind, as she
charged
Across fields on
horseback with
An imaginary
sword of Crimea
Status to attack
Russian rank -
Her father loved
Flora's spirit.
A proper education for
a young
Lady could do
nothing to stay
Victorian values
of feminine
Pursuits, to
favour masculinity.
18 in 1894 Flora
undertook
To train as a
stenographer -
A drive for adventure became
Funded by money
left her from
A wealthy uncle, allowing her
To undertake
travel passion.
She took a route
through Cairo,
Across the Atlantic, to travel
To Canada’s
British Columbia
And Unites States
of America.
Here the gun totting
Flora shot
A man - the act she
described
As self defence - returning home
To London she
learned to drive
And bought a French racing
Car, while joining a shooting club.
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Flora by 1912 was
in Serbia for the
Brief Balkan
war - where a league
Of Greece, Montenegro, Bulgaria
And Serbia faced Ottoman Empire.
The First Aid Women’s
Yeomanry
Assisted to bring
aid to wounded -
Originally from
Omdurman battle
Of 1898 - here a
wounded sergeant
Saw how many died
from lacking
First aid; his idea was a new corps.
This would be
mounted nurses,
Who could ride
onto the field
After battle, to
render first aid -
This evolved into
the Yeomanry.
As war ended in
1913 Flora was
Back home, to live
with her old
Father and nephew
Dick, where
Her boredom was evident
from
Chaotic household, until August
1914 - a fresh
war had emerged.
28 July had seen Serbia
invaded
By Austria
Hungary - within
Seven days Flora Sandes
had
Travelled into
the danger zone.
Led by Mabel
Grouitch, a unit
Of St John's
Ambulance made
Of 36 women in
Kragujevac -
On the front line
Flora nursed
In varied military
hospitals; within
A year she could
speak Serbian.
In October 1915
Flora joined
Serbian Red Cross,
alongside
The Iron Regiment, the Serbian
Army’s 2nd
Infantry Regiment.
With odds against
them Serbia
Was being forced
to retreat - escape
Could only be by
Albanian heights.
Infantry and the Red
Cross made
It to a stage where
ambulances were
Unable to pass - Flora took decision.
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In a declaration, Flora stated
She would become
a private
In the 2nd Regiment, taking
Off her Red Cross
badge.
A report of a
wounded soldier
Brought to notice
the unusual
Wounded fighter, in a Salonkia
Hospital filled
by male soldiers.
12 December 1916, reporter
F. Calvert met the
brown eyed
Fresh faced, cropped grey haired
Lady, at No 41
military hospital
Camp, to
accommodate 1,600
Men; Flora Sandes sat
up in bed.
Lying in the
nurses ward Sandes
Smiled to explain
the bandages
On her right hand
arm - along the
Shoulder to knee - had been injured.
Broken bones and
torn flesh were
Result of Private
Sandes encounter
With a Serbian hand
bomb - when
Assiting Serbes
clerance of a trench;
Her bravery had
been rewarded
Given by Prince
Regent of Serbia.
Days before on
behalf of the Prince,
A Royal
aid-de-camp visited Flora,
To ceremonially
award her a gold
And Silver Cross
of Kara-George.
In Serbia The
Order of Karađorđe's
Star was
that country’s highest
Decoration - for
bravery in combat -
Flora Sandes
reached under her
Pillow and held
up decorated cross
For inspection by
the reporter.
Flora’s story was
relayed to say
How she had first
entered the war
As a nurse - by the autumn retreat
Of 1915, she was
rear guard private.
iV
Private Sandes
actions led to gain
Of promotion to
Sergeant Sandes.
The army reached
Corfu to find
Recuperation - Flora was involved
Next on
Macedonian front to fight
In campaign; 12 September
1916.
More than ninety
days passed as
Sergeant Sandes fought alongside
Serbian men, every
hour filled
With frontline
acts of gunfire.
High ground made
the front,
With foe of
Bulgaro-Germans
In fight north
from Gornitchevo
And Kaymakchalan, to Hill 1,212.
Snow lay on
ground- they waited
For order to rise
up and attack.
Flora and her
soldiers paused
For some time, when order came
To attack at 7
a.m. - as officer she
Led the way, but
admitted a flaw.
Her men were faster to arrive first.
Sergeant Sandes
closed as fast
As she could to
the Bulgarian line
With some others when a grenade
Was thrown into
their midst - two
Others in
explosion fell wounded.
Close by an officer
saw her fall
And crawled across snow to Flora
And dragged her
back to rocks;
Pulled by a
broken arm caused pain.
Dressed on field
and taken away
By stretcher, she
praised her rescuers.
Grenade splinters
had caused some
25 wounds - with
some yet to be
Removed - reporter
Calvert spoke
Of her high
spirits and her request.
Asking Calvert to
gain her a volume
Of Rudyard
Kipling especially to read
'If' again; 'the
finest poem written'- words
To challenge a
son to become a man.
by Jamie Mann.
