“The Angels of Bitola” and the impeccably clean American Hospital after the end of the First World War

The end of the First World War did not mean the end of the suffering of the population in Macedonia. Although the military operations had ceased, the devastated land and property, poverty, and infectious diseases remained for a long time. The shortage of medical personnel and medicines was particularly evident due to the presence of infectious diseases such as typhus, influenza, smallpox, malaria, cholera, etc., and there were frequent cases of venereal diseases and problems with unhealed wounds. One of the few missions that helped the population in that period was the mission of the AWH (American Woman’s Hospital) in cooperation with the American Red Cross.

With America’s entry into the First World War on the side of the Entente on April 6, 1917, a large number of women doctors offered their help to the military. At that time in America, less than 6% of all doctors were women. Although many of them were successful and proven in their profession, they were accepted into the army only as nurses and auxiliary staff. In 1917, a special commission of the American Red Cross visited Thessaloniki, where they were impressed by the successful story of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. Thus, in cooperation with AWH, it was decided that a similar mission would be sent to the Balkans.

The two cousins, Dr. Regina Flood Keyes from Buffalo and Dr. Frances Mabel Flood from Elmira, New York, accepted the invitation and were soon sent to the town of Vodena (Edessa), Greece, near the Macedonian Front, where they opened a hospital.

Dr. Regina was a renowned surgeon and had previously worked as a gynecologist at the main hospital in Buffalo, USA. She was appointed director of the hospital in Vodena, which was housed in an old abandoned building. Although they had funds to renovate the neglected facility, procurement was difficult due to the poor situation in the Balkans and the danger of Austro-Hungarian attacks on supply ships sailing across the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, they were well equipped with medical instruments, and with the help of local craftsmen, the hospital was soon renovated and put into operation with about fifty hospital beds.

The town of Vodena at that time was filled with refugees sleeping in the streets, and although they had escaped the military operations, they could not escape infectious diseases. Not far from the front line, the American doctors began another war — against an enemy that the uneducated local population did not understand. It was a battle against infectious diseases and the ways they were transmitted. The hospital was thoroughly renovated and cleaned, and surgical gauze was stretched across the windows as protection against mosquitoes and other insects.

Dispensaries were also opened, where the doctors, together with two American nurses and local staff, worked from morning until night, and by the beginning of 1918 they were examining about 3,000 patients per month. Women doctors were something new, especially in the Balkans, but with their self-sacrificing work they soon gained the sympathy of the local population and provided great help during the influenza epidemic that broke out in the autumn of 1918.

At the invitation of the French Army during the breakthrough of the Macedonian Front in September 1918, Dr. Regina temporarily worked in a mobile field clinic near the front line, close to Dobro Pole. She performed surgical interventions continuously for several days in a tent next to which wounded soldiers were waiting, and near which several shells fell. For her work, she was later decorated by the French government.

After the breakthrough of the front, the hospital from Vodena was moved to Bitola (Monastir), a city that for two years had been constantly bombarded and largely destroyed.

Photo gallery – consequences of the bombing of Bitola during the First World War

When the doctors arrived in Bitola, the place was an open grave. Packs of wolves and dogs roamed the hills, digging up and gnawing at the remains from shallow graves. In many places, scattered human remains could be found, and in the villages lived people like skeletons, wrapped in rags, digging in the soil for roots to survive.

Bitola was full of orphaned children, for whom no one knew where they came from or how they had managed to survive the war. Many of them appeared naked in the Red Cross food lines, while others were found huddled in the ruins, slowly dying from influenza, typhus, or hunger. Soldiers and prisoners returning to their homes posed an additional problem with their neglected and improperly treated wounds, and among the female population, venereal diseases were a clear issue.

“We won the war, and now we must win the peace” was the motto of the American mission, and they immediately set to work.

One of the buildings that fortunately remained undestroyed was the Clock Tower and a large building right next to it, which according to the American Red Cross archives had been an old Turkish school. After the interior was arranged, the hospital began operating and quickly gained a reputation as one of the best hospitals in the Balkans.

As in the hospital in Vodena, special attention was paid to hygiene conditions in the building and for the patients being treated. The hospital was also known as “The Flyless Hospital of the Balkans.”

An outpatient clinic, a bathhouse, and a special disinfection section were also opened. Soon the doctors had their hands full and were examining over two hundred people per day.

Aid in food, medicine, and clothing also arrived from America, and food cards were distributed to ensure proper allocation. There were also cases where deceased family members were hidden or buried in homes so that their families would not lose one Red Cross meal ration.

Dr. Regina Keyes worked as a surgeon and director of the hospital, while Dr. Frances was responsible for non-surgical cases, such as patients infected with typhus and influenza. Among the local population, the two cousins became known as the “Angels of Bitola.”

Soon other doctors and aid missions arrived from America, and besides the hospital in Bitola, hospitals were opened in other cities of what was then Serbia. Medical and agricultural equipment, food, medicines, and clothing were sent to the impoverished population.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two doctors left Bitola in 1920.

Dr. Frances Mabel Flood returned to the USA in 1920 and married Alfred Heath of Liverpool, England, whom she met on the ship during her return. They lived in Elmira, where Mabel reopened her private practice, and in 1922 their daughter Marjorie Louise was born. She died on April 26, 1923, from complications after an appendectomy. On May 3, 1927, she was posthumously awarded the Order of St. Sava by King Alexander of Serbia, which was received by her daughter, who died two years later from pneumonia.

Dr. Regina Flood Keyes married Quincy F. Roberts, who was deputy U.S. consul in Thessaloniki in 1919–1920. She accompanied him on many diplomatic missions around the world, and during their stay in Fiji, Regina again distinguished herself with her humanitarian work, helping the local population. Before the start of the Second World War, they were interned by Japan. Regina died during a diplomatic exchange between Japan and the United States on July 23, 1942.

She was buried at sea.

In a way, the First World War was the culmination of the poor conditions that affected the population of the Balkans at the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to military operations, the movement of armies facilitated the spread of infectious diseases, which claimed far more lives than bombs and bullets.

Part of the catastrophe was alleviated thanks to individuals who, unfortunately, are largely forgotten today, whether they were locals or members of foreign missions. Today, few monuments are erected in their honor, and they are not found in textbooks, which instead glorify rulers and generals. This short work is a small effort toward correcting that injustice, with the hope that the work of the “Angels of Bitola” will not be forgotten.

Author: Jove Pargovski, Bitola, December 2018

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