the unit to go to the
Department of Landes in the south of France in order to establish
there a hospital for refugees. The Germans were still advancing
and as the refugees poured into the south the government was
trying to build villages of barracks for them. When Dr. Alice
Gregory with a group of fifteen women, including a carpenter,
plumber, chemist and chauffeur, reached Labouheyre, early in
April, a site had still to be found for the hospital and the
buildings were still to be built, furnished and equipped. The
barracks were erected in due time by the government; the
equipment was the gift of the American Red Cross; the planning,
directing purchasing and installing were done by our women. Dr.
Marie Formad was finally put in charge. Later, at the request of
the French Service de Sante, a 300-bed hospital unit for gas
cases was organized by the Women's Oversea Hospitals and was
started on its way from America to France. This was the first
hospital unit exclusively for gas cases and had a personnel
solely of women. Its principal group in Lorraine cared for 19,307
cases in three months."

The Oversea Hospitals service was divided and sent from point to point
to answer the many demands of war, having charge of hospitals and
treating tens of thousands of cases. "With the signing of the
Armistice," Mrs. Brown's report said, "the great problem in France
became the care of refugees and repatriates, who were returning at the
rate of thousands a day, most of them utterly destitute and in need of
medical care, to homes in many cases completely destroyed." The
hospital and dispensary service was therefore continued. Dr. Finley
and her group were sent to Germany and here met the returned prisoners
of war, who were in desperate condition.

"The work of the Oversea Hospitals has been handled with great
economy," the report said, "and has cost less than was anticipated,
both because of the large amount of volunteer work and because the
units in French military hospitals received French rations. The State
suffrage organizations have contributed most generously." A list was
furnished of the trucks and ambulances given by the women's
organizations in the United States. "The total number of women sent to
France with the hospitals was seventy-four, who came from all parts of
the United States. Several of the doctors received the French
equivalent