American Serb History 101

(Click on record to hear this famous WWI song)

 The Frontispiece features a portrait of President Woodrow Willson, with other illustrations of Theodore Roosevelt, King Albert of Belgium, Samuel Gompers and Major St. Clair Stobart, all whose works are "selected for their intellectual comprehensiveness, moral elevation, restrained feeling and rhythmic quality, as in Lincoln's speeches."  Other authors included in this school edition are Bret Harte and Katherine Lee Bates.  There were FOUR selections about Serbia in this book.  I will offer just two.

This is TREASURED GOLD proof for our younger generations, as today's shameful revisionists of history would have our children believe that the Serbs (and not the Germans and Austrians) were the "evil" in WWI because of the death of Archduke Ferdinand.  Not so, not so.

SERBIA'S SACRIFICE by Major St. Clair Stobart. (Spirit of Democracy, 1918.)  (Read the NY Times archives to learn more about the FIRST Woman to command a flying field hospital! Aug. 25, 1917, p.5. Major St.Clair Stobart took part in the famous Albanian Golgatha retreat of the Serbian Army, with its epidemics of smallpox, typhus, diptheria, scarlet fever, marching on stony rugged cliffs and mountains over 8,000 ft. high!)

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 "As Serbian politicians looked from the heights of the Serbian mountains upon the glories of their fertile land, a land of corn and bread, a land of wine and vineyards, they must have heard the Tempter's words, whispering as of old, "All these things will I give you if----IF---you will fall down and worship militarism and the Central Powers."

"But with one voice the Serbian people answered, "Get thee behind me, Satan.  It is written in our hearts, 'Thou shalt worship Freedom: her only shalt thou serve.'" *

"Thus Serbia, the latest evoked of the European nations, perceived with an insight at which history will one day marvel, the inner, the true interpretation of the word 'nation.'  She perceived that the life force of a nation is a spiritual force, and is not dependent on material conditions for existence.

"Serbia had existed during five hundred years of material annihilation under Turkish rule.  Through all that wilderness of time, the ideal of Freedom had been her pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, but a free and united spirit.  That is the only definition which allows of the indefinite expansion which will some day include all human kind in one united nation.  Serbia is full of faith and hope because she knows that she is not, and never will be, deprived of nationhood. pointing to the Promised Land.  Serbia is again in the wilderness, and the same light guides her and cheers her.  She is full of courageous faith, because she understands that a nation means, primarily, NOT physical country (mountains, rivers, valleys), NOT State, not Government,

"In some minor ways Serbia may, in her civilization, have been behind other nations in the west of Europe, but she was AHEAD of Western Europe in that one thing which is of REAL importance, that one thing which cannot be copied or learned from other nations, of which is therefore either innate or unachievable:  Serbia is ahead of other nations in her power of sacrificing herself for nationhood.  All nations are ready to sacrifice life for nationhood.  Serbia made first this common sacrifice, but when that did not avail, she voluntarily, for the sake of an abstract and spiritual idea, made the supreme sacrifice, the sacrifice of country, the sacrifice for which other nations make the penultimate sacrifice of life.  The Serbian people sacrificed their country rather than bow the knee to militarism and foreign tyranny; they sacrificed their country in Utopian quest for the right, both for themselves and for other Slav brethren, to work out their own salvation in spiritual freedom.  A people with such ideas, and with such power of sacrifice, must be worthy of a great future."

*From The Flaming Sword in Serbia and Elsewhere 

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Beloved old King Peter leading the "Albanska Golgotha."  Thousands of civilians and soldiers died along the way, but the remainder "ghosts" were able to recoup on the island of Corfu in Greece, and come back and win the war!

It was at great sacrifice, as the Serbs lost 1/3 of their population, 1/2 of their male population in this horrible war, from which they never recovered.

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This WWI postcard was recently purchased on EBAY.

SERBIA HAS LOST ALL-BUT HONOR & VALOR!

SHE HAS NEVER KNOWN FEAR

(above 2 quotations from N.Y. Serbian Relief Committee of American, 1918)

Today, 2/20/09, I had occasion to get our my old set of NY TIMES Current History of the European War books and read again about the Serbian Mission in America.  The article was written by Milivoy S. Stanoyevich and about how the Mission addressed the U.S. Senate after it was introduced by U.S. Vice Pres. Thomas Marshall.  The most brilliant thing to remember was the ending..... "Besides arousing America to take an interest in South Slavic political affairs, the Serbian Mission has achieved other valuable results:  It has effected a fuller understanding between two nations, geographically far segregated, but spiritually akin in their democratic ideals."

Dr. Vesnitch of The Serbian Mission in America gave a speech in St. Louis to an assemblage and said, "The Jugoslavs should make no distinction between the U.S. flag and the flag of Serbia, but they should be under one of them..... One of the first causes of this war is found in the fact that the Serbians and the Jugoslavs represent the spirit of America; they oppose German autocracy and tyranny with the spirit of Liberty..... Democracy means that the individuals of nations must live together as equals in every respect; autocracy means that one shall command and all others shall obey.  Germany believes that she is destined to command and that the rest of the world must obey. Serbia has opposed and always will oppose this idea."

When the Serbian Mission in America went to Boston, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Massachusetts and the Governor McCall paid tribute to Serbia for its age-long struggle for freedom, first against the Mohammedans, now against both Mohammedans and Germans, calling upon the U.S. to assist in rebuilding the little nation, which is "Small in stature but mighty in spirit."

To which Dr. Vesnitch replied of the enemy Teutons, "They have been able to destroy our bodies, but have not been able to reach our hearts and our souls."

And I'll end with this one by Dr. Vesnitch---- "Since the first days of our tragedy the Central Powers have attempted to corrupt us by proposing to our Government a separate peace;  we have never been able to understand that language, because we have never doubted that their peace would mean slavery to us; we have never been able to understand their insinuations, because our history of fifteen centuries has never know treachery to our friends and allies."  Ziveli!

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Dr. James F. Donnelly & Servia

New York Times, 5/22/1915

Dr. James F. Donnelly was an American Red Cross suregeon who died of typhus in Serbia.  The day before he died, Dr. Donnelly asked that if something happened to him, his body be wrapped in the American Flag that was attached to his field hospital, along with the Red Cross flag.  Dr. Samuel Hodge attended him through his illness.  The person conveying the story was Sir Thomas Lipton who had brought many nurses from England to Servia.  When Sir Thomas had bidden the 2 nurses and good doctor farewell in Gevgelija (near the Greek frontier), he never thought when he returned in a few days, he would find Dr. Donnelly dead and both of the nurses sick with typhus!  Sir Thomas Lipton said the surgeon's bravery is not surpassed by the men who stand and die in the trenches.

Read more about The American Red Cross and Servia from this WWI site.   (Scroll down to PART III)

Dr. Ernest Pendleton Magruder of Washington, DC, died April 9, 1915, in Belgrade, of typhus fever helping the Serbs, the American Red Cross Director of the Hospital Units in Serbia, Dr. Reynold M. Kirby-Smith announced.(NY TIMES April 10, 1915.)

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TYPHUS

http://www.vlib.us/medical/serbia.htm

 Dr. James Johnston Abraham, an experience General Surgeon in Dublin and London with the First Red Cross Mission to Servia:

"My own special orderly, Edwardes, whom I particularly liked because he was so kind, so gentle with the patients, so absolutely dependable - Edwardes got it. We isolated him in the gate-house of the nunnery where we were quartered. We put a special orderly on to him. We did everything we could, with our chief physician in charge and Banks in consultation. He lived for seventeen days; he ought to have pulled through but he did not.

   "The Serbs gave him a military funeral, complete with band playing the Dead March, and a salvo over the open grave. The Serb Commandant made a funeral oration over him which the Little Red Woman said was beautiful. I wept like a child. He was the first.  More followed until out of the original twelve orderlies we were down to eight. The doctors began next. The first was Benbow, one of our physicians. When he became delirious he was full of the most dangerous delusions, hid a Kruger pistol under his pillow and tried to use it. Holmes got it next. This was almost inevitable. He was our chief physician. He too became delirious. He thought his head was coming off, and somehow managed to get a heavy chain and padlock from somewhere, which he hung round his neck to keep it on. We borrowed Sister Fry, a nurse from the Lady Paget Mission. She was an old friend of mine from West London Hospital days, who volunteered to come to us in our extremity. It was a most courageous thing to do, for we wore naturally treated as pariahs. Then the Little Woman got infected and refused blankly to come into our quarters to be nursed. We pointed out to her that our quarters were already infected and carried her in by force. Then she broke down and wept with relief More orderlies got it. We put them in tents in the garden of the nunnery. I think that saved three from death."

 Again, from the treasures of Steve Kozobarich of Cleveland come these wonderful recordings!  I'm sorry you can't hear the music/speeches/poems that amazed me and filled me with pride for being of Serbian heritage!   The top one here is a speech given by King Peter I to his troops and speaks about Liberty, Life and Dying......This webpage is about SACRIFICE.  Serbia suffered so much during the Balkan Wars, WWI and WWII and then again from 1990-2009.  In WWI alone, Serbia lost 55% of her male population fighting for liberty and freedom.  Serbs are NOT warring people, but they will defend to the death that what is theirs.  

Bottom:  Is that an early record about Kosovo and the Serbs?  So early?  Of course, Kosovo is Serbia!  Serbian History revolves around Kosovo.  Make sure you know your history or others will steal it away from you! 

 Songs don't play anymore. I'm working on problem.

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3/8/09  You can read the whole book below printed by Nisbet & Co. LTD, 22 Berners Street, W. London ON LINE, thanks to the Library of the University of California, Los Angeles at the Newberry Library in Chicago!

From a lecture entitled

THE SPIRIT OF THE SERBS

by R.W. Seton-Watson,

delivered at King's College, London,

March 10, 1915.

"This magnificent rally of the Serbian arms, which
will unquestionably go down to history as one of the
finest achievements of the great war, was, above all,
due to the timely arrival of those munitions of war
without which no soldier in the world can hope for
victory. But an important contributory cause — of
the kind calculated to influence so impressionable a
race as the Serb — was the gallant behaviour of the
old King, who, though infirm and broken with rheu-
matic gout, hurried to the front at the most critical
moment and gave a stirring address to his troops.
Classical authors were fond of composing elaborate
summaries of what various generals and statesmen
ought to have said, but most probably did not say,
on similar occasions; but in this case I can vouch
for the general sense, though not for the actual words.
" Heroes," he said (for in the Serbian language the
usual form of address is not " soldiers," but " heroes "
— the fine old medieval "junaci"), "heroes, you
have taken two oaths : one to me, your King, and one to your country. From the first I release you, for the situation is far too grave to justify me, an old man on the edge of the grave, in holding you to it. From the oath to your country no man can release you. But I promise you that if you decide to return to your homes, and if fortune favours our cause, you shall not be made to suffer. But whether you go or stay, I and my sons remain here." Need-
less to say, the effect of such a speech was electrical,
and not a man left his post.

On the last occasion on which I told this anecdote,
my chairman reminded me of the resemblance to
Henry V's famous speech before Agincourt ; and it is certain that King Peter, who as a young man
translated Stuart Mill's essay on Liberty into Serb,
knows his Shakespeare also. But I cannot help wondering whether the splendid response which met his words did not recall to his mind another incident but little known to Western readers — the cry of the Serb nobles to the greatest of the Serbian Tsars, Stephen Dusan: "Wherever thou leadest us, most glorious Tsar, we will follow thee."

There is the true spirit of the Serb.


In this connexion (connection) I cannot help quoting another thoroughly characteristic incident which also occurred at the same low ebb of Serbia's fortunes. General Stepa Stepanovic, one of Serbia's ablest generals, had been made a Voivode, or Marshal, for his services at an
earlier stage of the campaign. When the retreat
became general and spirits fell, he called up one of
his favourite regiments and addressed them as fol-
lows : " Heroes, it is to your valour and achievements that I owe my appointment as a Voivode.  You are no longer worthy of your past, and unless you mend your ways, I shall tear off these epaulettes and fling them at your feet ! "

That, too, is typical of the Serbian spirit.

What, then, does Serbia's achievement mean to the common cause ? To begin with, the Serbs were the first to deal a blow at the prestige of Austria-Hungary, and, conjointly with Belgium at the other end of Europe, they supplied eloquent proof of what national feeling can do against heavy odds. Secondly, they kept fully occupied large military forces which might otherwise have been diverted to the Western or to the Galician fronts. According to a Hungarian official
estimate — an estimate which, coming from the enemy, is hardly likely to err on the side of over-statement — the losses incurred by Austria-Hungary against Serbia alone up to November 1 were no fewer than
148,000 (38,438 killed, 92,955 wounded, and 17,208 prisoners).  During the fighting last November and
December, at least 100,000 more must have been
(Morning Post, November 18, 1914)  and it is a notorious fact that the beaten Austrian army was so completely demoralized as to be useless for any further offensive movement. Thus we shall not be guilty of exaggeration if we assume that Serbia has from first to last accounted for half a million of the enemy, including those killed, wounded, captured, and broken in moral.

Above all, Serbia has formed a rampart between the Central Powers and Turkey, a fatal flaw in the design which extended from Berlin to Bagdad, from Vienna and Budapest to Salonica.  (Does this sound familiar to you?  Germany's desire of a route from Berlin to Bagdad???  The above was written in 1915 and sounds so 1990-ish.)

The operations at the Dardanelles are revealing to the man in the street what ought even before to have been fairly obvious — the true value and significance of Serbia to the allied cause. Her destruction would enable the Germans to relieve the beleaguered Turks, to replenish their dwindling stores of ammunition, and even to stiffen their army with fresh troops ; it would
drive Bulgaria willy-nilly into the arms of the Dual Alliance; it would finally isolate Russia and
Roumania from Western Europe, and, by cutting off the latter's war supplies, would virtually force her to abandon her dreams of conquest ; and incidentally it would place the Central Powers in possession of one of the most valuable copper mines in Europe.

Thus our own vital interests are clearly involved.

In the final rout of the Austrians the Serbs took 37,000 prisoners, exclusive of several thousand wounded soldiers whom the enemy had to abandon in their haste. There were already 17,000 prisoners. This gives a total of 54,000 unwounded prisoners, or close on 60,000 all told.

Serbia has borne the burden and heat of the day, she has rendered signal services to the allied cause, and her valour has finally dispersed the calumnies with which her enemies so long assailed her reputation.

At this stage I cannot do better than say some-
thing of the Serbian army. It does not merely
typify, it is identical with, the Serbian nation; for
nation and army are one in a sense which we in our island fastness still only dimly comprehend. 

To a Scotsman there comes a natural temptation to recognize among the modern Serbs some of those rugged fighting qualities which his ancestors developed under the inspiring leadership of Wallace and of Bruce. Two years ago I had an opportunity of observing the Serbian army at close quarters ; for I spent five weeks travelling in Serbian Macedonia on the eve of the second Balkan War, made the acquaintance of a great many officers of all ranks, was repeatedly
entertained at mess, and visited many of their camps and garrison towns. No one who has had such an experience can fail to be struck by the almost ideal relations which exist between officers and men, the charming blend of discipline and comradeship. Some people may think this natural enough in an army where a captain may often have his brothers and cousins in his own company; but there are other peasant armies where it is not to be found.
But certainly the Serbian army is permeated with the democratic spirit in the best sense of the word.
Just as it is customary to address the troops as a
whole as " heroes," so the officers summon their
men to the fight, not as " men," but as " brothers."
After the day's work was over, it was pleasant to
see officers and men together dancing the Kolo, the famous national dance of the Serb, and yet to realize that this — according to Prussian standards — monstrous familiarity did not for a moment impair the strict discipline which is indispensable to every army.
Those who judge armies by the goose-step or by
parade uniforms will not have much praise for the
Serbian army (though even here it is worth pointing out that its field-kit is one of the smartest in Europe) ; but as a fighting machine, seasoned by the rough- and-tumble experiences of two recent campaigns, it cannot be valued too highly within the limits prescribed by a country of four million inhabitants.

Here are a few anecdotes to illustrate these
democratic relations and the primitive outlook
which underlies them.

In the first Balkan War a Serbian regiment found
itself threatened by superior forces of the enemy
and was forced to retire. Of the men serving the
machine-guns, all but one were killed or wounded ;
but this man, instead of withdrawing with his com-
rades, continued to work his gun with fiendish energy
and did great execution among the advancing Turks.
At last the latter, not realizing that he stood alone
and fearing a trap, retired in their turn, and thus
on that section of the front the situation had been
saved by the courage of a single man. His exploit
was duly reported to the general, who sent for him
next day. The gunner came, saluted, and stood
before him. The general greeted him with a fero-
cious scowl, and said, " You're a terrible fellow.
What's this I hear of you? They tell me it was a
regular massacre. How many men did you kill ? "
The gunner, much perturbed at such a reception,
stammered out his belief that certainly well over a
hundred men must have fallen victims to his machine-
gun. "Well," said the general, still frowning,
"there's nothing for it but to make you a corporal."
" Oh, general," exclaimed the man, who had expected
some kind of punishment. " And now. Corporal, I make you a sergeant." " Oh, general,"

gasped the man, speechless with astonishment.

" And now, Sergeant ," the general went on,

" I make you a lieutenant." The new officer burst
out crying. " And now," cried the general, " now
embrace me I "

Surely there is something Napoleonic about such
a tale as this. It is redolent of the days of Ney and
Murat and Bernadotte. But my other anecdotes take
us many centuries further back. I remember being
told by a charming Serbian major what difficulties he
had experienced during the Balkan War in holding
his men back under artillery fire. They were always
for rushing on at any risk. Once, when he remon-
strated seriously with them for their folly, some of
them explained that they did not mean to disobey
orders, they merely wanted to "get inside the curve "
(of the shells!).

One of the chief concerns of the Serbian soldiers
is to avoid being wounded in the head; and
some of them, in the early days of that war, find-
ing from practical experience that the effect of
shrapnel fire was very greatly reduced by earth-
works, tried to apply the same principle to them-
selves, by plastering their caps with a good layer of
mud!

At the battle of Bakurna Gumna the Serbian
infantry had to advance across an open plain, with-
out a particle of cover, against entrenched Turkish
positions. On one of the hills above the battlefield
is perched the ruined castle of Marko Kraljevic,
Mark the King's son, the most famous hero of
Serbian legend, whose name still lives in the popular
poetry of the race. The Turkish positions were
stormed, and next day some officers visited their
wounded men in the field hospitals and praised them
for their gallantry. The answer came : " With
Marko Kraljevic to help us, it was easy enough";
and it transpired that more than one soldier had
seen Marko on his famous grey charger, Sarac,
splashing through the mud before them and waving
them on to victory. No argument could shake their belief.

(There is a famous poster I have somewhere of this exact WWI scene, of the soldiers laying wounded and dying, but upon seeing Marko Krajlovich on his horse, they were imbued once again with their heroic hearts and won the day!

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From the textbook called SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY:

Here's poem simply called SERBIA by Amelia Josephine Burr, taken from The Poetry Review in EVERYBODY'S MAGAZINE.

Hark, from the East a keen and bitter cry---

New tears are flowing in the furrows of old sorrow.

On your wasted fields your dead drift like fallen leaves;

Only the Pale Havester garners heavy sheaves.

How have you the courage to struggle toward tomorrow, Serbia, Serbia, land that will not die?

(and Serbia answers...) 

I have stood for freedom---freedom can not perish.

I have stood for honor---honor must endure.

But my children starve, the children who should cherish

For the world's to-morrow, my spirit flaming-pure.

You who sit in safety, you whose babes are fed.

You who by the perils of other men are free,

Listen to my living, ere the hour be sped,

Lest you hear forever the silence of the dead.

Serbia, Serbia!  God hears.  Do we?

The Queen heard!  Her Majesty, Queen Mary and King George were very patriotic in their duties during WWI, not only to England, but to Serbia as well.  The Serbian Relief Fund's first Patroness, was HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, followed by the President of the Serbian Relief Fund-The Lord Bishop of London.  Chairman was The Lord Henry Cavendish Bentinck, M.P.

Vice Chairman was Mr. Glynne Williams, the Hon. Treasurer was The Right Hon. The Earl of Plymouth, C.B.; the Hon Secretary was Mr. R. W. Seton-Watson, D. Litt; the Hon. Financial Secreaty was Mr. Francis A. Cooper, C.M.G. and the General Secretary was Mr. F.M. Scott.  The Headquarters for the Serbian Relief Fun was 5 Cromwell Road, London, S.W. 7.

"There is a moral obligation to Serbia that every Briton should do something to fulfil. Now when Serbia needs our aid, it is little to ask that we should give it generously and freely.  The SERBIAN RELIEF FUND-the organization that is helping to wipe off our debt to Serbia, needs aid in cash or in kind.  The great work cannot go on without money.  The Serbians gave life itself to help the Allies.  Will you give your moey to help Serbian and thus keep Britain's honour bright?"

(Serbia's Cup of Sorrow)

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Serbia, Serbia!  God hears, do we?

President Woodrow Wilson heard! 

        President Woodrow Wilson       (from Wikipedia)

"The war not not yet ended when President Woodrow Wilson made an unprecedented  gesture in recognition of the sacrifices of the Serbian nation towards the common war effort.  His unique eulogy to he Serbs was expressed in the invitation to Americans of all faiths and creeds to pray for the Serbs, whose lands had been devastated and their homes despoiled, but whose spirit has remained unbroken.

'Here is an account given by Frank Columbus in his article "SERBIAN AMERICANS."

"Sunday, July 28, 1918 was a hot muggy day in Washington DC like most others.  But not quite!  Above the White House and ALL public buildings in Washington, DC the Serbian flag proudly flew unfurled.  President Woodrow Wilson sent the following message to the American people which was read aloud in the churches throughout America and published in almost all major newspapers:

"To the People of the United States on Sunday, 28th of this present month, will occur the fourth anniversary of the day when the gallant people of Serbia, rather than submit to the studied and ignoble exactions of a prearranged foe were called upon by the war declaration of Austrai-Hungary to defend their territory and their homes against an enemy bent on their destruction.  Nobly did they respond.

"So valiantly and courageously did they oppose the forces of a country ten times greater in population and resources that it was only after they had thrice drived the Austrians back and Germany and Bulgaria had come to the aid of Austrai that they were compelled to retreat into Albania.  While their territory has been devastated and their homes despoiled, the spirit of the Serbian people has not been broken.  Though overwhelmed by superior forces, their love of freedom remains unabated.  Brutal force has left unaffected their firm determination to sacrifice everything for liberty and independence.

"It is fitting that the people of the United States, dedicated to the self-evident truth that is the right of the people of all nations, small as well as great, to live their own lives and choose their own Government and remembering the principles for which Serbia has so nobly fought and suffered are those for which the United States is fighting, should on the occasion of this anniversary manifest in an appropriate manner their war sympathy with the oppressed people who have so heroically resisted the aims of the Germanic nations to master the world.  At the same time, we should not forget the kindred people of the Great Slavic race---the Poles, the Czechs and Yugo-Slavs, who, now dominated and oppressed by alien forces yearn for independence and national unity.

"This can be done in a manner no more appropriate than in our churches.  I, therefore, appeal to the people of the United States of all faiths and creeds to assemble in their several places of worship on Sunday, July 28, for purpose of giving expression to their sympathy with this subjugated people and their oppressed and dominated kindred in other lands, and to invoke the blessings of Almighty God upon them and upon the cause to which they are pledged."

Woodrow Wilson, President, The White House, July, 1918. [Columbus: 145-146]  Petrov, Dr. Krinka Vidakovich. "The Serb National Federation the Champion of Serbdom in America," SERB NATIONAL FEDERATION, FIRST 100 YEARS, Serb National Federation, July 2001, pp. 50, 51.

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to read about Emily Louise Simmons 1888-1966, an unsung Heroine in the Great War.  "Served as a nurse and relief worker in Serbian and the Balkans under the Serbian and American Red Cross.  Her remains lie near this location in an unmarked grave.  Bravery Beyond Compare." (Oct. 6, 2006)

Ms. Simmonds was a BRITISHER, but graduated as a nurse from Roosevelt who held the rank of Lieutenant in the Servian army.

"Being a Britisher, I could not belong to the American Red Cross, and being an American trained nurse, I could not belong to the British Red CRoss.  When I was in London and an appeal was made, I said I wanted to go, but I was unable to pay my expenses. Mrs. Helen Hartley Jenkins financed my trip. I was one of eight who started from England what is called THE FIRST ENGLISH MISSION. It took us 18 days to reach Servia and stopped at Kragujevatz, a day and a half's journey from Belgrade where the wounded were being brought in day and night.  There was no hospital in the place.  In two old buildings that had been used as barrackswe put 1,800 wounded.  There were only two Servian doctors, but they were very efficient surgeons, one trained in France and the other in Germany."

To read the rest of the story, read the NY TIMES Jan.15, 1915  <---------

"Nurse in Belgrade When Shells Fell: Miss Emily Simmonds Tells of Servian Hospitals Without Equipment. No Dressings for Wounds."

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Mme. Grouitch Gives American Red Cross Credit for Relieving Distress: 

Dr. Ryan HERO OF BELGRADE

Crown Prince Voices Nation's Gratitude

NY TIMES, Jan. 30, 1915   (<-----click here)

"When Servia was first invaded by the Austrians at the beginning of the war the country was practically out of anestetics, and bandages were so few that woulds could be dressed on an average only once a week.  So depleted was the stock of anesthetics that many major operations were performed with the subjects in full consciousness."

"These statements were made by Mme. Slavko Grouitch, wife of the Servian Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs at a meeting in the Red Cross offices, 661 Fifth Avenue, yesterday afternoon.  Mme Grouich is here as the official representative of the Servia Red Cross and in a semi-official capacity represents the Servian Government.

"In the early days of the war more than 50,000 Servians were wounded in battle, and their sufferings, Mme. Grouitch said, were beyond description.  In some hospitals there were three patients to one blanket, and such delicacies as are needed so much in the sickrooms were almost wholly lacking, so suddenly was Austria's attack made.  To the American Red Cross more than any other agency was the improvement of conditions in Servia due, said Mme. Grouitch.

A SERVIAN'S GRATITUDE

"As an instance of Servian gratitude Mme Grouitch cited the words ofa wounded Servian soldier to his American nurse:

"You are a better friend than even my father and my mother.  It was their duty to care for heir son, but you had no such obligation.  Instead you crossed the seas to help me, and I know that God and you are my best friends."

"Mme. Grouitch also praised the British and Russians for sending doctors, nurses and supplies to Servia.  Russia was in straits for medical supplies, she said, but when Servia sppealed to Petrograd, the authorities drew generously on their limited store and sent a large consignment to Servia.

"Of Dr. Edward Ryan, head of the American Red Cross in Belgrade, Mme Grouitch spoke in the highest terms.  The Crown Prince has publicly acknowledge the debt Servia owes to Dr. Ryan and his American nurses and physicians.

"The hospital at Belgrade is one of Servia's great national institutions and it was to take charge of it in a city that was and still is, she said, under constant bombardment, that Dr. Ryan was assigned.  She said the Servians looked upon Dr. Ryan as largely instrumental in saving Belgrade from complete destruction when it fell into the hands of the Austrian invaders.  In the period between the arrival and departure of the invaders, Dr. Ryan cared for more than 15,000 desitute non-combatants unable to get away.

DR. RYAN BELGRADE'S HERO

"Dr. Ryan was without question in sole authority in Belgrade during that terrible period.  He commandeered all the food in the city and threw open the gates of the hospital reservation to all the people.  I assure you that Servia with never forget the American physician, Dr. Edward Ryan.

"The suffering in Servia, Mme. Grouitch said, was more severe than at any time in Belgium.  She referred to the isolation of the country and added that if there is another Austrian invasion, which is now threatened, it will call to the battle line every man who can stand on his feet, as well as thousands of women.  She also spoke of the grave danger of fever, smallpox, and other diseases when warm weather comes.

"Mme. Grouitch, before her marriage, was Miss Mabel Dunlop of West Virginia.  She has not come to this country to beg money, but to get wheat, corn, oats, barley, vegetable and other seeds in the effort to raise another crop from the war-devastated fields of Servia."

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TYPHUS

http://www.vlib.us/medical/serbia.htm

 Dr. James Johnston Abraham, an experience General Surgeon in Dublin and London with the First Red Cross Mission to Servia:

"My own special orderly, Edwardes, whom I particularly liked because he was so kind, so gentle with the patients, so absolutely dependable - Edwardes got it. We isolated him in the gate-house of the nunnery where we were quartered. We put a special orderly on to him. We did everything we could, with our chief physician in charge and Banks in consultation. He lived for seventeen days; he ought to have pulled through but he did not.

   "The Serbs gave him a military funeral, complete with band playing the Dead March, and a salvo over the open grave. The Serb Commandant made a funeral oration over him which the Little Red Woman said was beautiful. I wept like a child. He was the first.  More followed until out of the original twelve orderlies we were down to eight. The doctors began next. The first was Benbow, one of our physicians. When he became delirious he was full of the most dangerous delusions, hid a Kruger pistol under his pillow and tried to use it. Holmes got it next. This was almost inevitable. He was our chief physician. He too became delirious. He thought his head was coming off, and somehow managed to get a heavy chain and padlock from somewhere, which he hung round his neck to keep it on. We borrowed Sister Fry, a nurse from the Lady Paget Mission. She was an old friend of mine from West London Hospital days, who volunteered to come to us in our extremity. It was a most courageous thing to do, for we wore naturally treated as pariahs. Then the Little Woman got infected and refused blankly to come into our quarters to be nursed. We pointed out to her that our quarters were already infected and carried her in by force. Then she broke down and wept with relief More orderlies got it. We put them in tents in the garden of the nunnery. I think that saved three from death."

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From the Library of Congress photo files, Serbian (Servian) officer refugees during WWI.

God bless and keep their heroic acts forever to the fore!

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Many, many years ago, I purchased the Report Book of Dr. R. Archibald Reiss, published in 1916, of the atrocities commited by the Austro-Hungarian army during the first invasion of Serbia.  It cost $130.00 then as it was such a rare book.  

How surprised and satisfied I was to see that segments of this book was recently put on the Internet by Srpska Mreza, including this photo of Serbian villagers hanged by the Austrians.

These were innocent women pulled from their homes. There are MANY of these kinds of photos found throughout the book I have. This was done in village after village to scare the others into submission.

Read more about it here:

Serbian Suffering in WWI

Serbs were NOT paranoid about what happened to them in WWI and WWII.  They saw the same thing happening in 1988, 89, 90 and by 1991, it was already too late. 

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Here's another WWI hero to Serbia--- Englishman and Oxford graduate, Canon Edwin Sidney Savage.

Feb. 28, 1862-Oct. 26, 1947. 

He was rector of Hexham Abbey   1898-1919, during which he rebuilt much of the Abbey.

As Chief Commissioner for the YMCA in the Mediterranean, he served on 21 Ships during the Great War.

For his services to the Serbian Red Cross and for the relief of the civil population he was awarded the Order of St Sava and the military rank of Major by King Peter I of Yugoslavia. The Holy Orthodox Church confired on him the Order of the Golden Cross the insignature of which, a massive pectoral cross of repousse gold, he habitually wore. He also served on the International Commission to report on the Bulgarian Atrocities.

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Serbia had help from the famous American woman nurse Clara Barton during the war of 1878...... she was decorated by Queen Natalie with one of the highest medals you can receive.

American Surgeon General Gorgas, who conquered the Yellow Fever in Panama, was also noted for all of his work in trying to stem the tide of typhus in Serbia.  One of the medals he received from the King saved him one day as a bullet ricocheted off it. 

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Draza Mihailovich in WWI

A picture of the young Draza Mihailovich (later General Draza Mihailovich and rescuer of over 500 U.S. Airmen with his Serbian Chetniks, is seen here on the Solunski front in World War I.  A wonderful early photo!