Women at War

'My good lady – go home and sit still’ suggested the man from the War Office when confronted by a feisty Scottish doctor, Elsie Inglis, who wanted to offer her services for the war effort in 1914. Sitting still is not, however, in women’s nature. Particularly not when there’s a war on. Despite the traditional view of women as nurturers and carers whose role is primarily to keep the home fires burning, there is a long history of female warriors and other women for whom war has been a turning point.