Margarida Portela - Military Historian
Jaime Cortesão: a doctor in the Great War
Margarida Portela (HTC - NOVA/FCSH, CH - FLUL & CINAV - EN)
Jaime Cortesão is not a stranger to Portuguese Historiography. His name is, for many, synonymous with “writer”, “politician” and “historian”, being well known both in Portugal and Brazil, where he spent many of his years in exile. This was the Jaime Cortesão I learned to know when, in the 1990s, I completed my degree in History: the historian who approached in his works the odyssey of the Portuguese Discoveries.
However, there is a period of his life that, even today, remains largely forgotten: his participation in the First World War with the Portuguese Expeditionary Force [PEC]. If his presence in Flanders is little known in Portugal, outside its borders Jaime Cortesão is an unknown character. This is deeply unfair since he knew the international intricacies of his time. And this is one reason I consider now so just that his work as a war doctor is internationally known, revealing part of his traumatic experiences on the European Front.
For those who know him, Jaime Cortesão is the author of "Memórias da Grande Guerra" [Memoirs of the Great War], one of Portugal’s best-known personal accounts of this conflict. Through his words we learn about the daily life of a frontline doctor, as well as stories of the Portuguese participation in this war theater. Belonging to the 23rd Infantry Regiment – the “Artists Regiment” – he lived this war amidst other well-known characters of his time, such as André Brun and Augusto Casimiro, prominent writers in the beginning of the 20th century. And he also knew Adriano de Sousa Lopes, "honorary member" of the “23, má figura nunca fez” [23, the regiment that never misbehaved], since it was with these men that the "PEC Painter" lived, in order to produce sketches for his monumental paintings of the Great War.
Jaime Cortesão went to war with the best man of his time. And he will later remember how important this conflict was to his transformation into a humanist and historian, revered today but profoundly persecuted during Estado Novo (1933 – 1974). But who was Jaime Cortesão? And how did he end up on the front line with PEC? This is what we will uncover while revealing his most tragic moments on the Western Front of the Great War.
A troubled beginning
Jaime Zuzarte Cortesão was born on April 29, 1884, in Ançã (Cantanhede) but soon moved to São João do Campo, near Coimbra, accompanying his parents and siblings. After completing high school, he had a somewhat troubled academic trajectory, which clearly demonstrates his search for knowledge (and his strong indecision about the future). He studied Greek and Law, Mathematics and Philosophy, before deciding on a medical career, enrolling at the Faculty of Medicine of Coimbra.
Considering most of his teachers of modest quality, Cortesão moved to Porto, where he continued his studies in a less than passionate way. He preferred to dedicate as much time as possible to poetry, visiting the most vibrant places in the city's artistic and intellectual life, and nurturing new friendships with great names of his time like Leonardo Coimbra, Álvaro Pinto or Teixeira de Pascoaes.
It was also in Porto that his interest in politics grew, with Cortesão joining the Republican Party in 1908. From then on, he will be actively involved in several revolutionary plots that aim to overthrow the Portuguese Monarchy, a regime that soon would be replaced by a republican government.
Fighting for a good cause
Moving to Lisbon – where he finally finished his medical studies! – Jaime Cortesão was caught up by the events. Realizing that Republicans were being persecuted by the police, he fled to his father's house near Coimbra, where he was arrested on the eve of the republican revolution. But not all were flagged down and arrested, and the revolutionary coup went ahead anyway, with the Portuguese constitutional monarchy falling on October 5, 1910.
In 1911, Cortesão ran in the first Portuguese Constitutional Elections. By that time, medical practice had been already removed from his life. And even though he was not elected, he already considered himself a "full-time" writer and politician. So much that he even decided to become a Freemason (though he was never a regular member of his masonic lodge). He was also elected one of Porto´s delegates on June 13, 1915, moving once again to Lisbon, where he noticed the embarkment of Portuguese troops to Africa. Acknowledging the importance of those moments and adding up to the turmoil lived in the Capital, he took the time to regret his homeland diminished role, defending Portugal's entry into the First World War alongside France and Great Britain.
As so many Republicans, he dreamt of Portugal's presence in Flanders fields. It will therefore be no surprise that, upon learning of the German declaration of war on Portugal, Cortesão rejoiced. Eager to leave for France and fulfil his patriotic duty, he remembers his medical training, and, for the first time, he truly considers putting it at the service of his country. Coming forward as a volunteer, he hoped to serve on the frontline. Little did he know how dreadful the Portuguese participation in this conflict would be, being equally unaware of the tragic role this war would have on himself.
Jaime Cortesão and his "memoirs"
His journey to the frontline set the tone for some vivid and eloquent war recollections, registered in the memoirs of a frontline doctor that, as so many, almost died in those WWI trenches. Sometimes with a tone approaching martyrdom – or, at least, of a kind of mystical journey for the author himself – the published work would end up being just the memory of the original memoirs, as Jaime Cortesão had to rewrite them after losing his notes during the harsh battle of April 9, 1918.
These are the words of a Great War frontline doctor. They are one of a kind in Portugal and, on an international level, probably one of the most complete. For these aren't just Cortesão's recollections as a dedicated professional. They are the words of a gassed man. And doctors know what the outcome can be when treatments fail. We can only imagine how horrible that must have been. The fear of dying combined with the anxiety of apparent disability, due to a more or less permanent blindness… A real burden for any doctor – and, certainly, an overwhelming reality for Jaime Cortesão.
Heading out for the Western Front
Nevertheless, in the beginning, Jaime Cortesão knew nothing about the ordeal he would endure. He could only recognize that, in March 1916, when Portugal officially entered the war, the Portuguese had troops in two African operational theatres: Angola and Mozambique. The Portuguese Government maintained a kind of non-belligerent belligerence, while the country kept its supposed “official neutrality”. And what a charade this was for Jaime Cortesão. What an uncompromising position, so unworthy of the soldiers fighting for their country. Troops should be sent to the Western Front as soon as possible, to defend the French Republic and the ideals of Freedom, in danger due to Germanic dictatorial tendencies. Portugal had many Germanic supporters, but Cortesão, far from being one of those Germanophiles, aspired to more vigorous relations with Great Britain and France.
Therefore, as I told before, when Germany declares war on Portugal, Cortesão could not be more pleased and swiftly decided he would participate in it, no matter what. Remembering his medical training, he soon realized that PEC would need doctors to look after those men. And, already as a volunteer, he refreshes his knowledge during a practical internship that would allow him to collaborate with the Military Health Services, sent to France in 1917. His re-education was carried out by attending classes at a military hospital in Lisbon, while Portugal trained some recruits in Tancos. Holding the Montalvo Military Parade on July 22, 1916, Portugal stated that PEC was ready for the European war theater – even if we now know this was not the case.
Even so, at the beginning of 1917, the first soldiers were embarked for the European front. Jaime Cortesão – exceedingly optimistic with those events – describes blissful men, willingly marching to their ships. Something that, in the end, even though he firmly believes it, did not really occurred. But what does that matter when he anxiously awaits his participation in this war? Watching his fellow comrades – mainly writers and politicians – leaving for Flanders fields, he aches in anticipation, longing for his own journey to the Front. And, in August 1917, when it finally arrives, he boarded his train with not a shadow of a doubt, leaving promptly for France, as it was expected.
On arrival, the first shock. How disappointing! He was assigned to serve in the rear, away from any real action. How could he fulfil his destiny, so far away from the trenches, where his hardship companions were already at work? Even so, as he was assigned to several PEC ambulances, Cortesão was not discouraged, demanding to be transferred to the trenches. When is request was finally accepted, he could not be more delighted, for he was at last where he wanted to be: at the frontline, working with those who would fight the Boche! Better still, as he was accepted into the 23rd Infantry Regiment, something that sent him over the top, as he would be able to work with friends he greatly admired. Time is of the essence, and Jaime Cortesão quickly packed his bag and headed to the Portuguese sector. And, according to his memories, when he got there, he felt reborn!
He then recalls many names, both of comrades and locations, as he evokes the compelling and dangerous life in the trenches, where he worked in a Regimental Aid Post. A mud-filled dugout in-between the living and the dead, called “Ponte da Torreira” or Tower Bridge – a name that really summons up the efforts to raise that location above its muddy and earth-filled situation. Not so different from his rear aid station, that he ironically calls Greenbarn, although the only “green” it had was to provide a little rest to regimental doctors, and being a small sanctuary among so much death.
Danger was everywhere and this frontline doctor shares it with his men, as he lives the same uncertain future as they did. He doesn't try to escape the hard work, but he fears that many soldiers will die because of the unsanitary conditions, shrapnel and gases. Some fall ill, others go crazy. Many were traumatized, some maimed in body and soul. But they remained fighting, even when they were sick and tired. And, upon seeing their bravery, courage and suffering, he declares: “Ah! Rapazes! Como vocês são grandes!” (Oh Lads! How great you are!).
From doctor to patient
This was the harsh life of a trench doctor. The same as of any other soldier, tired of mud, with no sleep, no warm food and no sanitary conditions. The shrapnel was as deadly for him as it could be for those men. And, as many of his comrades, he could be poisoned by gas. Almost all of PEC soldiers were slowly gassed in those trenches. Their lungs damaged by chemical components, abundantly sent by the enemy. Cortesão wrote down how they were all “corroded by gases” in a slow and dreadful process that horrify him. However, as a regimental doctor, his hands were tied, for he could not sent them all to some base hospital. There would be no one left to fight!
What an awful situation, to see those men lingering between life and death, exhausted, breathless and in pain and, as a doctor, not being able to do anything about it. What on hell could he do? He had instructions. And his orders compelled him to keep as much men as he could in those trenches. Was this what he signed for? Probably not. But, as all of those men, he had to endure. And, in the end, he was also being slowly poisoned by gas, even when he preferred not to think about it.
While providing care for the maimed and wounded, or evacuation for the most severe medical cases, he was also putting his life on the line. The new year brought intensified dangers, with the Portuguese Sector under constant attack. The enemies' main objective was to overturn the existing blockade on the Western Front. Several military manoeuvres were being prepared and Germany´s final push was programmed for Spring, with operations Michael and Georgette set to start in March/April 1918.
The climax of war had arrived. In March 1918, Cortesão wrote: “Hell is breaking loose. It is palpable and intense!”. Poison gas was becoming a weapon of choice. But not the only one. The number of injured increased by the day. Meanwhile, Cortesão's only helper was Baldaia, a noble and altruistic male nurse, as exhausted and sleep deprived as his superior. Nighttime was horrifying, and dawn always revealed gigantic rows of men waiting to be attended in his tiny Regimental Aid Post. The vision was as awful as it could be, and the stench of death and gas was unbelievably dreadful.
Slowly, poison gas was taking its toll on him as well. It was time to fell into “The Abyss”, as he recalls in his memoirs. In-between 18th and 21st of March, Cortesão notices that his clothes and advance aid station were completely saturated with gas. He is drained, as he coughs a lot, felling his lungs heavily burned. He continues to work, anxiously waiting for a long-anticipated military leave. On March 21st he receives orders to evacuate to some field ambulance. His vision had begun to fail, as he sees everything increasingly blurry and cloudy. As a doctor, he can recognize the symptoms. He knows he is also poisoned, but he does not want to give up, even though life is starting to give up on him.
Jaime Cortesão is too exhausted to work. His main desire is to sleep and recover. As opposed to heading towards that field ambulance, he chooses the path that leads him to Locon, where he has a house with a cozy warm bed. He needs some time off, to sleep and put the horrors of trench life aside for a couple of hours. And, as he tries to rest, all he can think about is returning to his men. But little did he know he would never see them again, because, just in a few hours, he would be completely blind!
Just another gassed man
Being a doctor, one can only imagine the horror and anxiety he had to overcome. While he was preparing for bed, he starts to feel very sick, coughing blood and copiously vomiting. He can hardly move his body, disturbed by his deep lack of strength. He feels his eyes profusely wet, almost as they were burned. Sobbing in a most uncontrollable way, he closed his eyes, just to find out his eyelids glued to one another. He knows he must keep them open, and he tries to do so by using his own hands. That´s when, for the first time, fear overcomes him, while he grasps in one horrendous possibility… All seems to be pitch black. His he blind? Maybe he is. And the descent into the abyss begun. As he recalls:
“I didn't see. A terrible suspicion haunts my soul: am I blind?! I pull my eyelids away again. Horror! I don't see! I don't see! I'm blind! The heart beats like crazy hammers. I sit on my bed and try to control myself. I tell myself it's probably a temporary inflammation. But since I don't see and only touch now guides me, in the dizziness of my affliction, I stagger and stumble over everything.”
He tried to rest, tried to sleep, but affliction took over him and, as he sat down once again in is bed, shouted for the owner of the farm. “Madame! Madame! S'il vous plait! Je suis aveugle!”, sending her in search of a doctor.
What he recalls is profound and tenebrous, because we must not forget he himself was a doctor, and he knew exactly what was happening to him. Poisoned men could lose their sight, and this could be reversible… or not! The odds did not favour him since he was continuously gassed for days, putting himself in grave danger. Maximiliano Cabedo, another PEC doctor, came to his rescue and, after due examination, covered his eyes and gave him a shot of Pantopon (a pharmacological substance almost as strong as pure morphine). And off he went, like any other gassed man, looking for treatment in some field hospital, away from the trenches that almost got him killed.
The voyage was curious, to say the least, for he was completely drugged by that Pantopon injection. He could fell extreme urgency in Maximiliano Cabedo´s voice, as he tried to calm him down, saying he had to be moved with absolute urgency to the Portuguese “Hospital de Sangue nº 1” [N. º 1 Blood Hospital] situated in Mervile. There was an ophthalmologist working there, and he should check in as fast as he could. Almost undressed, covered with a blanket, he was put on a stretcher and transported to a mobile ambulance, waiting outside to take him away.
Without all of his senses, and with blurred perceptions due to the use of morphine, Cortesão loses track of his surroundings, saying time stood still (but the car moved very fast). He is just one more soldier, traveling with two other companions who moaned quite loudly all the time. The man, the doctor, the politician and the poet were all dissolved in him, leaving only the patient, looking for medical treatment. And his ordeal … Was just beginning!
Feeling hopeless at Merville
In just a few hours, Jaime Cortesão arrived at the Portuguese N. º 1 Blood Hospital in Merville. Upon arrival, like any other patient, he is taken to the “waiting room”, as he needs to pass the triage. During all that time, Cortesão often becomes unconscious, due to the drugs that flow through his system. Nevertheless, as he fells in and out of that induced sleep, he can feel his pulse being measured or being taken close to a burning stove, to keep him warm. He also recalls drinking coffee and champagne. Even though his perception may be blurred, we must recall he is an officer, and many stated being used to drink that luxurious sparkling wine. This may sound uncommon here, as he was being taken care in a hospital, but we must also remember that their treatment was usually different from that of an ordinary soldier.
He is also taken to a room, where he is placed on a bed and gently watched by the medical lieutenant Ramon Nonato de la Féria who, recognizing him, tries to cheer him up. But not all of his colleagues are like this. Another doctor, whom he will not name in his memoirs, will also come to observe him. And Cortesão can feel boredom in his voice. “The ophthalmologist is not here”, he says, “he is in a specialists' conference in Paris”. And, while doing so, he vigorously lectures the nursing staff, by stating that “this man” should not have been sent to this blood hospital. He speaks with contempt and coldness, as if the patient was a “thing” and not a human being. Cortesão knows who he is... And he's not surprised. Because, in war, as in any other place, not all professionals are good human beings. And he knows it.
As they start debating where to move him, Germany increased its offensive in the Western Front. Chaos was accentuated when, in the early hours of March 23, the hospital was also bombed, as the enemy decide to attack Merville. It chills his soul to be blind, trapped there without being able to help. He feels transported through hallways and stairs, in a dull panic, as they transfer him to another location. And all this times, he asks himself: "If a shell falls here, who will remember me?".
Moving to Saint - Venant
Jaime Cortesão is placed once again in a mobile ambulance. This time, his destination is Saint-Venant, where the Portuguese “Hospital de Sangue n. º 2” [N. º 2 Blood Hospital] was situated. As the bombardment continues, he can feel the impacts of shells and grenades, as they get closer and closer to him. Suddenly, he felt the car stop and everyone getting out, leaving him alone. The motor was running but there was no one nearby. He calls out: "Oh! Stretcher-bearer! Oh! Driver! Is anyone there?" and acknowledges he is alone. His heart freezes while the attack continues. Wind enters through the opened back door of the ambulance, and he trembles, in cold and in fear, feeling empty and helpless.
"My God! What horror! Blind, alone, naked and with no strength to even stand up! Oh! To die like this! Dying without seeing and without saying goodbye to the light, the sun, the earth! That's dying a thousand times. It's dying in Hell”.
Finally, the stretcher bearer and driver return, but not empty-handed, as they carried an agonizing wounded and also a dead man. As they were the most recent English victims of this attack, they passed by an RAMC hospital and, after that, off they went to Saint-Venant, to deliver that frail and weak man that, once, in a recent past, was used to be the one sending soldiers to those hospitals.
From March 24th to April 9th we know that Jaime Cortesão is there, at the Portuguese N. º 2 Blood Hospital, called “Hospital das Doidas”, as it was located in a former asylum for insane women. How ironic, since Cortesão feels himself nearly going crazy. Memories are scarce and confused, with cough bringing the bitter taste of blood, amidst loneliness and abandonment. He has a room of his own, but he spends hours calling out to someone. He wants to talk, desperate for some company, but the only thing he achieves is losing his voice.
With Saint-venant also being targeted by bombs, there was increased panic and work. Everyone was too busy, so Cortesão asked to be transferred to another room, favouring the company of a mildly gassed Lieutenant Frazão, to his loneliness. His body was recovering but gas wounds started to appear. Even so, he felt happy, as he managed to open his eyes and see a shy flash of light. And, as a doctor, this kind of fog, which seems like a sweet, bright and diffuse ghost, finally manages to give him some hope.
The Battle of La Lys
The reason why Cortesão's memoirs are among the best known in Portugal takes us back to his references to April 9, 1918, the deadliest contemporary battle for Portuguese soldiers. Because he's not just a doctor turned into a patient. He bears witness to History. He is not alone, not even among PEC doctors. Many were present and wrote about the Battle of the Lys. Many doctors have been to France. In the Portuguese case, nearly 400 professionals, some of them working in BEF hospital units. But Jaime Cortesão ironically holds a unique view of that battle, which he calls the “Alcacér Quibir” of the Portuguese troops.
Still hospitalized, and with small glimpses of vision, Cortesão would receive news that a major German attack had devastated the British and Portuguese lines, with a huge impact on PEC´s 2nd Division, the only one that still garrisoned the Portuguese Sector. In reality, those soldiers were very tired, as Sidónio Pais´ coup – which occurred at the end of 1917 and changed the Portuguese political regime – led to serious problems in their rotation. Adding up, many officers left France, under cover of this new regime now called "Sidonismo" – one that had also in its ranks many defenders of a reduced Portuguese participation in the European Front, if not of total neutrality, considering Portugal's entry into the Great War a big mistake.
Cortesão knew it all, as he kept himself informed in hospital. He was even told that a major relief would be held in the Portuguese Sector, crucial to end some small uprisings amid lower ranks – mostly due to the absence of rest for this foot soldiers. This problem would be recognized by BEF´ leadership who, with PEC, predetermined the removal from the lines of all Portuguese troops (and due replacement by fresh British troops in-between April 9 and 10).
With the above-mentioned withdrawal of troops still ongoing, and PEC's 1st Division already absent, the German attack took place in the early hours of April 9th, devastating huge portions of those frontlines, in something that would lead to a blame game and a fierce exchange of arguments between the British and the Portuguese that, unfortunately, continues to this day. Because some argue that the Portuguese troops should have died on the B Line, and others that they all fled the scene as Germans appeared in the horizon. And there are those that almost deny that hundreds of deaths in the 2nd Division validate the presence of PEC in those trench lines. In the end, many still defend that Germans' entry into the Lys area was only due to the cowardice of Portugal's soldiers and deny the massive German offensive was equally deadly for the BEF troops in those frightful days.
As a doctor, Jaime Cortesão helplessly witnesses this national ordeal, with is partially recovered vision, but still uncapable to help. And, as a Portuguese, he can realize that many of his fellow countrymen are injured and dead, while the number of victims of this German offensive continues to arise in his hospital. Shadows seem to move, making everything scarier for a man who would like to be fully recovered, so he could help the injured that arrive all the time. Many stretchers, full of wounded, remain on the floor, with their uniforms stained with blood and mud. He hears their moans as they try to move, shouting for water and help.
Suddenly, a motionless mass haunts his vision. It seems that someone is lying on the ground, as Cortesão understands that there is a dying man there… And a priest, saying to him his last prayers. As he continues to move through the blood hospital, he is informed that three surgical teams are now working there, around the clock, in a deadly triage that sometimes singles out those who are less wounded, leaving the extremely injured waiting for their turn. He is not envious of this horrifying work, as this is undoubtedly a macabre dance for survival, which chooses those who can be saved, leaving for later some attempts to recover men who, probably, could not be redeemed from death.
More gassed men
If, as a doctor, Cortesão was unable to help, as a patient the following days reminded him of his own illness, with many gassed soldiers being sent to this hospital. The use of gas had been massive and, as an officer, he observed the arrival of others, mainly lieutenants and second lieutenants, who were on the front line with their men. With hospital lodgings separating high and low ranks, he was unable to meet soldiers who had been gassed in this battle. But war and gas do not discriminate, neither choose colors, creeds or social classes. Therefore, everyone who could walk arrived in those rooms awaiting treatment, throwing themselves on a bed, their faces burned, their lungs on fire, filled with mud, without strength and vomiting. With lost eyes, they sometimes remembered the horror they had witnessed, the death they had seen so close, filled up by fatigue and discouragement.
Queiroz, an infantry captain, arrives supported by two soldiers, saturated by mud, crazed, painted with blood and gunpowder. Cortesão manages to take care of him and, even though he has a poor sight, helps him take off his filthy clothes, so he can later be examined by a doctor. He has shrapnel wounds in several places, but what suffocates him is the gases. Cortesão also remembers how this man arrived with his soul contaminated by battle, by a vision of hell that almost drove him crazy, saturated by screams that almost deafened him, and shivering with a cold wind that no one else could feel. Sometimes Queiroz screams, remembering how bullets seemed to rain, recalling the intense machine gun fire, the storm of iron that lasted for hours, and the grenades and shells that fell everywhere, lifting the earth that, enraged, almost seemed to boil.
Hundreds of Germans then invaded those obliterated lines, killing the wounded and shooting those who tried to flee, behaving as a barbaric horde. When they saw they were unable to resist, many Portuguese had to escape, covered by fog, gas and smoke, by now floating all over those death camps. For many did not want to be taken as prisoners of war, preferring to die rather than be caught alive.
Leaving Saint - Venant
The injured continued to arrive, with the hospital, located in Saint-Venant, now the target of German artillery attacks. Men that Cortesão knew from the trenches, and some of his friends, also arrive, with wounds on their faces and disfigured by shrapnel. Others have burnt hands and bodies, faces as white as wax, and feverish eyes. The evacuation order comes out, without this doctor being able to do anything to help. He is a patient, not an active-duty medical officer. And this would mark him for the remainder of his life.
Like everyone else, he needs to get out, as Germans could arrive at any moment. A terror grips these men, capable of fleeing the scene without help: what will become of those who, too injured, almost bloodless, are still laying on those hospital beds? Cortesão has a friend hospitalized there, second lieutenant Leote do Rego, and he cannot go out on his own. He finds him feverish, trembling with fear, begging not to be left behind. Could all these men, in due course, be evacuated? One can´t help but wonder: if they had to be left behind… What would become of them when the Germans reached Saint Venant?
He had to trust that everyone would be evacuated but it had become urgent to abandon Saint-Venant. And it is with horror that he describes his departure, the friends he leaves behind, lying helplessly on a bed, without knowing if they would survive or not. He leaves this location with many others. With Lieutenant Frazão, with his nurse Baldaia, and with so many other gassed, injured and sick combatants. And recalls:
“On the road we will join the long procession of those withdrawing: rags of regiments, civilian families with children on their laps, carts carrying the remains of their homes, Chinese workers, and, in grim groups, Portuguese, English, Australian soldiers, all in one rushing, silent torrent, devoured by common drama.”
This was a long line of people, damaged, crippled in body and soul. And he was now part of a bloody tide of men seeking protection far away in some base hospital at Ambleteuse. This was his new destiny. And it was to Ambleteuse that a sick and blind Jaime Cortesão dragged himself, as well as the rest of his traveling companions.
From chaos to repatriation
Ambleteuse was the location of the Portuguese base hospitals. In reality, on the eve of this battle, only one of two major national hospitals was fully operational. The other started to work a few days later, after April 9th (with the same happening with the Portuguese Red Cross Hospital, completed almost a week after this events). Therefore, this was the chaotic place where Cortesão arrived, in the company of so many other gassed men, wounded bodies, blind people, feverish soldiers, invading every possible space, just to fall into the first available bed or mattress. In the end, in one single night, hospitals were full, with all available wards profusely overcrowded.
Extremely ill, feverish and, once again, almost blind, Cortesão looked for a place to stay, wandering unsuccessfully through Ambleteuse. Luckily, at the end of the day, he came across Major Azevedo Gomes, a doctor belonging to the Portuguese Red Cross. Gomes took him under his wing, and brought him to his house, shared with other doctors from that same hospital unit. There, he was treated by a nurse until he managed to get a place in the Portuguese Red Cross Hospital. And it was there he could finally recover, starting the process of repatriation to Portugal. His school of suffering in France was about to come to an end. Or, at least, that's what he thought, when he finally managed to rest, among friends, and in the hands of thoughtful Red Cross nurses.
Nevertheless, the repatriation process was superbly painful, with countless bureaucratic problems weakening the Portuguese Healthcare System. Obstacles were mainly solved by the laborious intermediation of Lieutenant Colonel Eduardo Pimenta, the physician responsible for the Military Healthcare Service installed at the Portuguese Base. And, of course, by the prominent Portuguese Republican, Major Maia Magalhães, also involved in this task. Cortesão praises both. But, above all, Magalhães´ efforts, for this was not an ordinary man. His story, by then, was already full of adventures. But those were only the beginning. For, in a nearby future, Maia Magalhães would return to Portugal to rest, only to find himself persecuted and fleeing to France, to the Frontline. A curious thing to see, for there where so many other officers that, by then, did the exact opposite, returning to Portugal under the cover of “Sidonismo”. Cortesão was, above all, a Republican at heart. And, for him, Maia Magalhães was also a republican star for these troubled times.
From recovery to exile
Arriving in Portugal, Cortesão was presented to a military medical committee. Due to his visible incapacity, it was determined a full military discharge, releasing him from all duties. With the help of his friends, Cortesão sought rest from his ailments, so he could fully recover his vision (which, at this point, was beginning to return). He even tried to find a sanatorium but, in the end, was unable to get proper rest, as the new political regime began to arrest his opponents. And he was clearly part of the target list.
These were troubled times in Portugal. Maia Magalhães and other republicans had to escape to France, so they could continue to help the Allies. For it was known that Sidónio Pais was never in favour of this war and was often called a Germanophile by his adversaries. Those who backed his political coup were 100% convinced this war had to end. If not for the Allies, at least for Portugal. And thus started a very ruthless persecution of those who defended Portuguese participation in WWI. Some were already in Portugal, resting. Others needed to return to France after some short-term military leave. This lead to some bizarre war experiences, with several prominent figures fleeing to France, only to be safe, and others remaining in the frontline with the British and the French. Still, many were arrested, as well as prevented to speak or leave the country.
As we know now, Sidonismo – considered to be a pre-fascist regime – possibly opened the door to a larger movement, one that occurred several years later, in the beginning of 1926. A coup and a new military regime that lasted until 1933, when Oliveira Salazar took over the destinies of this small European country. Estado Novo is not a direct consequence of WWI but has some of its roots in the discontent of some portions of Portuguese society. Many had no desire for a Portuguese participation in the European war theater. Countless Portuguese politicians did not share the opinion of Jaime Cortesão. And many militaries aimed only to defend the African Colonies of Angola and Mozambique. War in Europe should have never been a national problem. For many years this divided the Portuguese society, being at the origin of events so important as Fatima´s miracles, also a clear response to Republican anticlericalism and this “Republican war”.
In this process, Jaime Cortesão, a doctor that shared the fate of so many others in those European trenches, had already put his life on the line, and was injured by an enemy with no intent of sparing men, women, militaries, civilians, doctors, nurses, or even hospitals and other medical facilities. Even so, this meant so little for the Government that he was also arrested and treated as a common criminal, a state enemy, whose words and experiences should be contained. Regardless of his injuries, he was sent to prison, out of simple suspicion of defending some undefendable “republican ideals”. All of this during violent times, when so many were threatened, houses were invaded, property was destroyed, newspapers were vandalized and hundreds arrested and thrown to prison without formal charges.
Still in the beginning of his recovery process, Cortesão was imprisoned in an unsanitary cell, where his health condition deteriorated at the speed of light. Once again he lost his sight, becoming so ill that, after only fifteen days, he had to be sent to a military hospital, where he had to convalesce for three long months. Nevertheless, and by this time, the damage was already done, and Jaime Cortesão never fully recovered his health. And even if his sight was recovered, we can say he probably suffered from health complications associated with gas poisoning for the rest of his life.
Curious enough, during his time in that military hospital, Cortesão was always treated as a prisoner, and questioned several times over more than a month. All of this until General Paulino Correia determined he was innocent, sending his report to the Portuguese War Office. However, as Correia would understand, his conclusions meant nothing, for Cortesão´s captivity was still determined has necessary by his superiors. And he would even remain in military custody for several months to come. So many that, while he was a political prisoner, news of an Armistice finally came and, at last, Cortesão could witness the end of the «war to end all wars».
The war to end all wars... Or maybe not!
As Jaime Cortesão wrote in his memoirs, those who had fought to end Portugal's participation in the Great War would, by then, receive the laurels of victory, while so many of those who fought in it were imprisoned – and remained like that for many months to come. With all he had witnessed, Jaime Cortesão was never the same again. All due to this absurd and horrific conflict, but also because of the behaviour that so many had towards those poor soldiers who fought in it.
Because of it, he increasingly became a resistant to all dictatorships. He took part of a coup that tried to overthrow the established Military Dictatorship and, after that, exiled himself in Paris, with several of his republican comrades. After that, during WWII, he left for Brazil, where he dedicated himself to the research of Portuguese Discoveries, writing several books that made him the successful historian we all know.
Remembering the Great War, he always stated that it was the backbone of his integrity and political courage, shaping his worldview and the desire of ending despotism and tyranny. He was a fighter for freedom, and WWI was very important because it shaped him as a fighter for this great cause. Ironically, when he returned for a short period of time to Portugal, he ended up being imprisoned once again. So, he felt appreciated and loved in Brazil, but profoundly rejected by the country he loved the most. Even so, he continued to praise the Portuguese in the Great War. And never forgot the experience of being with so many of them in those dreadful muddy trenches.
Jaime Cortesão was a politician, a writer, a poet and a humanist. And, during this war he was a doctor. But, above all, maybe he was a patient of the Portuguese Military Healthcare System in France. And a gassed man from the trenches. Medical knowledge gave him the possibility to save lives but almost led him to insanity, for he knew he might not survive. And he knew why! How terrifying this must be, if we put our minds in it. But, in the end, Cortesão gave us one of the most important testimonies of what it was being gassed during WWI.
Maybe Jaime Cortesão was, above all things, a Portuguese and a patriot. And we may state his memoirs echo this. But, when we read him, his words mean so much more… For they are undoubtedly an ode to Humanity. The same that, unfortunately, even today, prefers war to peace. And a hymn to hope, in a better world and a better man. Something that, probably, we are still in great need, every day.