Nursing through shot and shell

Nursing Through Shot and Shell is the previously unpublished memoir of Beatrice Hopkinson, who served in France as a Territorial Nursing Sister from 1917-19.

Beatrice worked close to the front line at casualty clearing stations, and her poignant account reveals the intense strain: 'I never realized what the word "duty" meant until this War.

To stand at one's post, never flinching and trying to keep the boys cheerful; all the time wondering when our time would come.' **The memoir reveals the lighter side of wartime life, with entertainments, travel and enduring friendships.

Beatrice also describes the practical realities of war in vivid detail - sleeping in dug outs, dodging bombs and avoiding rats 'as big as a good sized kitten'.

A fascinating, close-up view of one women's life during wartime.