Prior to the Bulgarian invasion, Lady Paget worked closely with Serbian authorities and other aid agencies to stop the spread of typhus. After the invasion she developed what she called “mutual civility” with the Bulgarian Commandant to ensure that her charges were properly cared for. The hospital insured quality aid for both Serbian and Bulgarian forces, supplied the city of Skoplje, kept thousands of civilians from starvation, and finally secured safe passage home for the Serbian Relief Fund.
After caring for, inoculating, and cleaning the barracks of Austrian POWs, international relief workers found an ally in the Austrian Army. (MSS 97 Item 56, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware. , Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.)
Although the Geneva Conventions were in place in 1915-1916, neither Lady Paget nor Stanley Osborn of the American Red Cross, specifically recounts relying on the terms of the Conventions for their safety. Prior to the occupation of Skoplje, the Lady Paget Hospital depended, perhaps unintentionally, on the Bulgarians to abide by the Conventions when they “relied on our Red Cross Flag” for their defense. It is equally possible that the Bulgarians knew of their responsibilities under the conventions, and relied instead on practicality to determine their course of action. It would not have been expedient for the Bulgarians to intern the staff of the only functioning hospital, regardless of the nationality of its staff. Whatever they knew of international treaties, the relief agencies and Bulgarians were operating without a road map as they forged a relationship. Belgrade was occupied by the Austrian Army for thirteen days in 1914, but the army was focused on repelling the advancing Serbian army, rather than administering Belgrade as an occupying force. As the Bulgarians sought to preserve their national interests, the relief fund sought to serve the international community that needed aid in Skolplje. At the close of World War I, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross singled out the treatment of civilian prisoners of war as one of the biggest pressing concerns for the Red Cross in the future, based on the experience of the war. Perhaps if he had known of the corporation of the Bulgarian Army and the British Relief Fund, he might have used it to exemplify a working relationship between the occupied and the occupiers. Whether or not they meant to, the Bulgarian and international medical workers in Skoplje did abide by the outlines of the Conventions. The Bulgarian Army protected the Red Cross and Relief Fund from harm, while the hospital continued to supply neutral aid to all who were in need. Together in war, they fashioned a place of civility and mutual respect, where even in the midst of war, humanitarianism won out.
Doctors Beyond Borders: Serbian Relief in 1915 
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