The Hospital is Born, Forcibly Adopted, and Returned to Its Parents
Per the plans made before departure, Mary Gladwin continued to lead as Hospital Supervisor, with young Dr. Edward W. Ryan aiding her as Chief Surgeon. The nurses were each allocated responsibility for certain wards. Given the anticipated number of casualties, wards were set up not only in the buildings, but also in the open pavilions that connected them. Mary Keller became Night Supervisor for the entire hospital.
Healing and saving people in a city under constant attack proved to be as demanding as imagined. The hospital was for everyone, whether civilian or military. During November, Austro-Hungarian forces advanced, and wounded men from both armies were brought to the hospital. Later in November, things looked so grim for Serbia that it ordered Belgrade evacuated. It was expected that invaders might single out wealthy and high-ranking enemy civilians and their families, so the British and Serbian hospital administrators left-but before going, they appointed Dr. Ryan as Chief Surgeon for all the hospitals in Belgrade.
On December 2, Austria-Hungary officially took control of the city, including the American Red Cross Hospital. Its doctors brought their own instruments and regimens with them, but things went surprisingly well despite their also bringing with them a backlog of thousands of Austro-Hungarian casualties. The hospital was crowded, which was good: a great many people in need were being helped.
Less than two weeks later, Mary Keller was on night duty when all “The Austrians” (as the Americans called the new doctors) arrived unexpectedly. They had come to collect their medical instruments and personal items, because Austria-Hungary was abandoning Belgrade! Keller awoke Mary Gladwin to alert her. The vast Empire had overextended itself, stretching its armies unsustainably thin. Typhus (not treatable, often fatal) was spreading among the starving troops. The armies would retreat; the doctors would flee Belgrade before the Serbs could capture them.
On December 15, beloved King Peter made a triumphant return to the city, cheered by many returning Serbs. This “Return of the King” scene was spoiled only by the unspoken thought that the artillery barrages might resume later.
Mary Frances Keller in her domain, with wounded patients, fellow nurses, aides,
orderlies, and perhaps a priest and a doctor or two
During one prolonged break in the shelling, Mary Gladwin wrote that the silence was as unsettling as the shelling. She envied “Nurse Keller,” who said that she fell asleep more easily during the shelling than the pauses. I don’t know whether this picture was taken during such a pause, or after “the Austrians” had left, but it does not reflect any of the terror which all these people must have experienced during the barrages. They all look just happy to be alive. People are resilient.
When Red Cross Dr. Edward Ryan finally left Belgrade, he took with him some souvenirs of his stay, including a "dud" incoming artillery shell. His next project was in Hungary; when moving his luggage through the main Budapest railway station, the luggage cart toppled over, and his souvenir shall detonated, causing much damage. He was uninjured, but he was angrily interrogated for quite a while.
