Elliott had volunteered for service with the
Red Cross in France during
World War I, but the war ended before she was called up for duty. She volunteered for service with the newly-formed
American Women's Hospitals Service in 1918. The American Women's Hospital Service coordinated with
Near East Relief to aide Armenian and Greek refugees following World War I. Elliott was called to duty January 1919 and directed to report to New York. She sailed on the
USS Leviathan with 250 other Near East Relief personnel and physicians and nurses from the American Women's Hospital Service.
Marash, Turkey Elliott's first duty station was in
Marash, Turkey. In May 1919, she set up and directed a three-story hospital that was built by German missionaries. The control of Marash was transferred from British to French forces in December 1919. In January 1920, Turkish forces in Marash loyal to
Mustafa Kemal began their fight for Turkish independence. Elliott's hospital came under fire, forcing her staff to move the patients to the first floor to avoid gunfire. The hospital was under siege in the
Battle of Marash, where thousands of Armenian refugees were massacred. Elliott kept a detailed diary of the siege, wanting to leave a written account in the event she did not survive the ordeal. Her
siege diary served as the beginning of a memoir she would write in 1924.
Return to the United States Elliott sailed back to the United States in May 1920 via France to recuperate from the ordeal with her parents in West Palm Beach, Florida. She decided to return to the Near East for another year of duty with the American Women's Hospital after she was recruited by Dr.
Esther Pohl Lovejoy. She was named Interim Executive Chairman of the American Women's Hospital Service in New York City in August 1920, replacing Dr. Lovejoy, who ran for Congress from
Oregon, but was defeated.
Ismid, Turkey In October 1920 Elliott sailed back to the Near East, arriving in
Constantinople (today's
Istanbul). Nearby, on the
Sea of Mamara, Elliott set up a hospital in
Ismid, Turkey in an old Turkish Hospital that had been used as army barracks. Tensions again began to rise with Mustafa Kemal's revolutionary forces attacking Ismid and Bardizag, a nearby village. Again, Elliott was holed up in a hospital, being fired upon and threatened. Thousands of Armenian refugees descended upon the city, leaving Elliott as the only physician in the city. The American Women's Hospital Service decided to close the hospital in Ismid shortly thereafter. In Alexandropole Elliott set up three "towns" as orphanages, each town housing six to seven thousand Armenian orphans. Children were fed, schooled, and taught vocational skills. Several infectious diseases were rampant in the children, including
trachoma,
typhus,
tuberculosis,
favus, and
scabies.
Athens, Greece Elliott's next duty station was at
Athens, Greece as General Medical Director for American Women's Hospitals for all medical work in Greece in 1922. After a few weeks leave in Europe and making a speech at an international conference in
Geneva,
Switzerland Elliott hastily returned to Greece in the wake of the
burning of Smyrna in September 1922. Elliott set up hospital facilities for 40,000 Greek and Armenian refugees. Elliott assisted refugees on the island city of
Mytilene, where refugees were pouring in from the mainland, trying to escape Smyrna. She worked closely with fellow American physicians including Esther Pohl Lovejoy and
Ruth Parmelee, and set up a quarantine station on the island of
Macronissi. The Greek monarchy decorated Elliot with several medals, including the Greek War Cross, and Gold and Silver St. George medals in February 1923. In July 1923 Elliott resigned her position as General Medical Director for American Women's Hospitals, citing interference from certain members the American Women's Hospital governing board. She returned to the United States in October 1923. == Memoir ==