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51

on the telephone & he came around to see me.  He & Mr Bacon heartlessly decided that there were lots of unoccupied nurses in Paris & that my unit could not be broken up - we did not know for how long it might be.

Compiengne ^[[although it is some distance away was]] naturally brought to my mind for all the horrors and the having of the struggle which took place in these parts all through these dark days.  Think of that retreat of the Allies, the retirement was in good order to be sure but one hears little details of it, little bits from people who have taken part in it which give a picture never to be forgotten.

We passed through Creil ^[[40 K from Paris]] which seems to be the nearest point in this direction which large numbers of German's reached.  The bridge had been blown up, & the town presents a scene of great devastation. Many many houses are destroyed, burned, dropping [[strikethrough]] tl [[/strikethrough]] to pieces or hopelessly wretched.  This damage is not supposed to have been done by shells but by bombs or some