A number of us went to this event so it was a bonus to meet old friends.
It was a very interesting lecture which told of the hardships that nurses endured in WW1. Their trials also included trying to achieve a status as professionals and their skills being recognised. Issues of gender and training made life very difficult in some areas. There was a huge volunteer force who were not qualified but these included many very well educated, competent women. The experience gained in the field was put to good use post war and gave nurses a voice demanding for professional recognition and funding for training schools. Our collective comment afterwards was that we were sorry the lecture was, in the main ,read from notes which gave it less life. Christine Hallett is about to publish a book of the same title which will be available on Amazon soon. She was Historical Advisor and Script Consultant to the BBC programme ‘The Crimson Field’ and was able to talk about the series with inside information.