There is one thing that makes Britain (and Ireland) great, the women that it has grown, nurtured and inspired to change the world. Some did good things whilst others will be remembered simply for their courage and determination. Of course there are those whose actions themselves may not be worthy of praise, yet the repercussions led the way to a better life. Many of these women you might already know of, some may have been previously overlooked. They will however be names that you should never forget. After all, for many of us, our lives would be a lot different had they never lived.

Friday 7 February 2014

Dorothy Lawrence 1896 - 1964

Dorothy Lawrence
“I’ll see what an ordinary English girl without credentials can accomplish.”

Dorothy Lawrence was an English reporter who posed as a man to become a soldier during World War 1.  She was an inspiring journalist and had already had some articles published in The Times.  At the outbreak of war, she approached some of the Fleet Street newspapers in the hope of becoming a war reporter but was turned down.
            In 1915, Dorothy travelled to France and tried to volunteer as a civilian employee of the Voluntary Aid Unit, but was rejected once again.  She then tried her luck as a Freelance War Correspondent until she was arrested by the French Police, who ordered her to leave.  Unwilling to accept defeat, she then decided to disguise herself as a man in order to get the story she wanted.
            Dorothy befriended two British Soldiers and along with her ‘Khaki accomplices’; ten men who helped to smuggle her a khaki uniform, she altered her appearance in order to look more like a man.  With false papers in her pocket, Dorothy Lawrence headed to the front lines, as Private Denis Smith of 1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment.
            After ten days of liberty working in the trenches, the stress of hiding her true identity, along with the hard-working conditions was beginning to take its toll on her health.  She began to suffer from constant chills, rheumatism and soon fainting fits.  It became clear to her that she would soon require medical aid, which would lead to her secret being found out.  The men who helped her would all find themselves in danger within the army.  Dorothy decided that the only thing she could do, was to present herself to the Commanding Sergeant, who placed her under military arrest.
            Dorothy Lawrence was taken to the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) Headquarters where she was interrogated as a spy, before being declared as a prisoner of war.    They also made her sign an affidavit, so that she would risk jail if she wrote anything about her experiences on the front line.
            On the way back to London, Dorothy shared the same ferry as Emmeline Pankhurst, who invited her to speak at one of her Suffragette meetings.  She also tried to write about her experiences but was silenced by the War Office, using the 1914 Defence of the Realm Act. 
            In 1919, she published an account of her experiences entitled; ‘Sapper Dorothy Lawrence: The Only English Woman Soldier.’  It was well received in a number of countries, despite being heavily censored by the War Office.  Despite her efforts, she never managed to receive any real credibility as a journalist.

            Dorothy Lawrence spent the final thirty-nine years of her life in an asylum, before being buried in a pauper’s grave.

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