The Crimson Field

What a brilliant opening episode to the new BBC Drama series “The Crimson Field” – a story of the volunteer nurses in the First World War. So little has been presented in the past about these women, many of whom came from backgrounds that left them ill-prepared (but then who could be prepared for such horror?) for the work they were about to undertake. I had never thought before of the resentment felt towards these volunteers by the trained nurses who were already working in the field, and the entire programme rather reminded me of the amazing work of the little-known Marie Simon, a woman from Dresden who overcame a great deal of opposition from the military authorities to establish female nurses in the base hospitals during the Franco-Prussian War. History is written by the victors, but much of history was, in the past, also written by men who often overlooked the part played by courageous women in major events. This series looks set to be absolutely enthralling – thank you to the writers, the actors and to the BBC for such a wonderful programme!