The Soldiers Remember - A History of Southfield Auxilary Military Hospital, Duns

Between 1915 and 1919 Southfield Auxiliary Hospital was situated in what is now Southfield Community Centre, and treated the war wounded from the First World War. Among the nurses who provided their services on a purely voluntary basis was Margaret Mary Speedy, and during her time as a nurse there she invited the injured soldiers to record their wartime experiences, how they saw life now and their hopes and aspirations for the future. After the war the Speedy family moved to Edinburgh and for several decades these records were stored in two large boxes kept in a cupboard under the stairs. In the 1970s the papers were rediscovered, and in 2016 they were donated to the Currie History Society who in turn passed them ont to the Dunse History Society. The papers form the basis of this book.

The original records of the Hospital have been lost, but fortunately local newspapers regularly printed the names, ranks and regiments of the soldiers being treated at the hospital, and these records have been used to identify many of the men who were patients. The local populace was also encouraged to make donations to the soldiers, such as food, cigarettes, books and magazines, and these gifts too were recorded in the local newspapers and have been collated and detailed in the book.

The condition of the book is generally very good. The covers have one or two minor scuffs, and some light wear along the edges and corners, but the spine is intact and all pages are clean, intact, unblemished and tightly bound.