‘Oh, yes they did.’ How First World War nurses put on a pantomime
Our Red Cross nurses saw untold horrors and worked themselves to exhaustion during the First World War – but many still found time to put on a Christmas pantomime. As most of us settle in for another...
View ArticleTestament of Youth: one volunteer’s memoir of a lost generation
A film documenting the First World War experiences of Red Cross VAD Vera Brittain is released in cinemas this week. Rebecca McIlhone delves into her memoir, Testament of Youth, to read about love, loss...
View ArticleNurse’s First World War diary: treating Gallipoli’s wounded men
“When one takes a walk one always meets with the same thing: yells, smells, bells.” Louisa Higginson kept a diary of her work as a British Red Cross nurse in the First World War. Louisa left her family...
View ArticleAgatha Christie: the mysterious case of the refugees and the volunteer who...
This week marks the 125th anniversary of the queen of crime fiction: Dame Agatha Christie. But did you know her career and her encyclopaedic knowledge of poisons are both rooted in her time as a...
View ArticleValentine volunteers: love stories from World War I
From flirting soldiers to a tragic marriage, indulge in some love stories from the First World War. Young Red Cross nurses spent hours on the wards tending to wounded soldiers. The men’s conversations,...
View ArticleBlood and traffic jams: remembering brave ambulance crews at the Battle of...
Blood, gunfire and traffic jams: driving ambulances during World War One took some guts. Yet plenty of brave British Red Cross volunteers were ready to risk their lives helping injured soldiers from...
View ArticleThe heroic women of WW1: a nurse’s diary
Groans and moans. Blood and pus. It must have been a shock swapping life in Surrey for a hospital tent in France. But that’s exactly what Peggy Arnold did during the First World War. Exactly 100 years...
View ArticleThe volunteers who played a crucial role in the Battle of the Somme
During the Battle of the Somme, our volunteers were up to their knees in mud helping the wounded. From carrying casualties and searching for the missing to providing hot water bottles and cigarettes,...
View Article3 September 1916: raising funds from the ashes of a Zeppelin
A huge ball of flames fell from the sky on 3 September 1916. This burning mass was the first Zeppelin to be shot down on British soil. The SL-11 was one of 16 airships taking part in what was then the...
View ArticleThe record-breaking teenager who was the ‘Little Wimbledon Wonder’
This is a story of sporty siblings, a tennis court and a formidable Wimbledon champion. But we’re not talking about Serena and Venus, or Andy and Jamie. We’re talking about the youngest person to win a...
View Article
