 In 1915 Sandes struggled persistently to get to the front (despite the efforts of people such as the British Consul, who instructed her to return to safety), eventually joining the ambulance of the Second Regiment at the Babuna Pass.During the Great Retreat through Albania, all the other ambulance staff fled or were killed.Sandes could no longer make herself useful as a nurse and was enrolled as a private by General Miloš Vasić.