On this day the hospital's hot water system failed , and from then onwards all hot water had to be fetched from the galley and surgical instruments had to be boiled over a large four - jet primus stove .
The ward work had now become much heavier . Fortunately the hospital possessed a special spinal bed in which the wounded officer could be nursed . This patient was so heavy and had so many wounds that to move him in any other way would have been impossible .
Date(s) of events described