The evocative diaries of a young nurse stationed in northern France during the First World War, published for the first time. A rare insight into the great war for fans of CALL THE MIDWIFE.
Dorothea Crewdson was born in Bristol in July 1886 and brought up in Nottingham. In 1911 she enrolled in the British Red Cross as a VAD nurse and passed her exams the following year. In May 1915 she received instructions to be stationed in Le Tr port in northern France. She spent the rest of the war nursing at the frontline in various field hospitals and was awarded the military medal for her bravery. She died in March 1919 after contracting peritonitis, just before she was due to return home to England. Her diaries are edited by her nephew, Richard Crewdson.
These warm, charming diaries of a young nurse, who witnessed scenes
no one should ever have to see, are a remarkable testament to the
resilience of the human spirit in the face of tragedy and savagery.
* CHOICE *
This is a book of real charm and magnetism, enchantingly
illustrated with Dorothea's tiny sketches... Dorothea describes her
world with compassion, humour and a very sharp eye -- Victoria
Clark * THE LADY *
a rare insight into the conflict that engulfed Europe from 1914 to
1918... [Crewdson] witnessed extraordinary events but her diaries
sing with vibrant optimism and high-spirited observations,
interspersed with charming illustrations... her impressions are
compelling and these diaries enchant * THE FIELD *
a vivid account of the juxtapositions of war: long walks in the
countryside, the hospitality of French farming families, flirting
with the doctors, the icy blasts of winter in a bell tent where the
nurses lived and which could blow away in a gale. And all the time
an endless stream of convoys brought the wounded from the trenches
a few miles away - from which the noise of gunfire and exploding
shells echoed as a daily background to the work of the hospital...
a fine addition to the growing literature on the multi-faceted
experiences of the First World War -- Juliet Gardiner * THE TIMES
*
an incredible insight into the working life of a nurse who 'patched
up' the men who passed through the hospitals on their way to
convalesce in 'good old Blighty' * YOUR FAMILY TREE *
In a similar vein to Vera Britten's Testament of Youth,
chronicling the realities of war and military hospital life, this
offers an insight into the battlefield, medicine and society. Most
surprising is the calm approach that Dorothea brings to her work,
her consistent good spirits and simple pleasures derived from a
good meal or a trip into the French countryside * DISCOVERING
BRITAIN *
the frank, moving diaries of a nurse who would witness and record
some of the most horrific passages of the war and, tragically,
would die just before she was about to return home from the
battlefield * CHOICE *
The pages of [Dorothea Crewdson's] diary offer a rare glimpse of
the incredible work of a nurse in this conflict and the view of the
war from a female perspective * BRITAIN AT WAR *
Richard Crewdson has discovered a seam of gold for family
historians: a continuous narrative by an ancestor who was involved
in historic events... In this diary Dorothea describes four years
of nursing with a spirited, gossipy tone, interspersed with weeks
of fatigue and genuine danger...charming but harrowing * WHO DO YOU
THINK YOU ARE? magazine *
The single voice of a young nurse in World War I rings poignantly
from the pages of this diary...Her bright, warm personality shines
through as we read first-hand of her life employed in military
hospitals and revel in the hand-drawn illustrations that punctuated
her diary...This is an incredible legacy not only for her family
but for all those with an interest in the work of women in World
War I and her original diaries have now been donated to the
Imperial War Museum * FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE *
Dorothea Crewdson spent nearly four years nursing in France during
the First World War, her vibrant, effervescent diaries happily
having come to light courtesy of her nephew...are a sparkling and
intimate chronicle that manage to chart life's many challenges
without ever losing any native optimism...her account of wartime
life, enhanced by many of her own delightful pen-and-ink drawings,
is a welcome addition to existing memoirs of the era * GOOD BOOK
GUIDE *
an acute and engaging observation of all that was happening around
her. There are accounts of her struggles to cope with the
overwhelming tide of casualties and what life was like outside the
wards... The diaries contain the brief self-deprecating note she
made when she received the Military Medal for bravery during an
enemy air raid, in which she continued to dress patients' wounds
despite being injured herself... This beautiful book forms a
fitting tribute * NURSING STANDARD *
The book gives a very good insight into the role of the VAD nurse
in comforting and patching up the casualties on their way back to
'Blighty'. * STAND TO! The Western Front Association *
Frustrations of work, flirtations with doctors, gossip, the
enjoyment of precious days off - reading about all of this helps to
gain insight into what it was like to go through the First World
War. This is a book that will fascinate many readers * CHURCH OF
ENGLAND NEWSPAPER *
As well as seeing the constant dangers, difficulties and frequent
heartbreak - although it is far from being all doom and gloom - we
discover the warm, optimistic, good-humoured personality of a real
heroine * THIS ENGLAND *
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