Warfare in News

Posted on Friday 20th February
On Tuesday evening, 17 February, Dr Vivien Newman had the privilege of speaking to His Excellency the Belgian Ambassador and members of the Anglo-Belgian Society at the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, London.
The theme of the talk was 'Spying for Belgium, Dying for Belgium', using material from the recently published We Also Served: The Forgotten Women of the First World War (Pen and Sword Books, 2014). The Belgian members of the audience were heartened to hear the author's outrage at the way their country's sufferings have been dismissed or overlooked by countless British historians.
Members of the audience appeared enthralled by the story of two Belgian women who both served and have been forgotten by many historians. One of the duo is certainly the only woman, most probably the only combatant to have received the Iron Cross, the French and the Belgian Legions d'honneur and to be mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig's despatches. Her Iron Cross saved her from the death penalty which was handed down when she was revealed to be a spy. The second woman, a young shop assistant, was less lucky. Despite successfully evading capture for many months, she was betrayed and faced the firing squad. Her defiant words to her executioners and her statue in a main square in Brussels epitomise the attitude of Plucky Little Belgium towards the invaders who cowed and brutally repressed the population but never broke the country's spirit. Posthumously decorated, for years she was held up as a role model to Belgian children but in more pan-European times, she too has been overlooked.
Find out more about the role of women during the First World War here. You can watch video footage of the talk via www.firstworldwarwomen.co.uk, and keep up with Viv on Twitter, @worldwarwomen.
The theme of the talk was 'Spying for Belgium, Dying for Belgium', using material from the recently published We Also Served: The Forgotten Women of the First World War (Pen and Sword Books, 2014). The Belgian members of the audience were heartened to hear the author's outrage at the way their country's sufferings have been dismissed or overlooked by countless British historians.
Members of the audience appeared enthralled by the story of two Belgian women who both served and have been forgotten by many historians. One of the duo is certainly the only woman, most probably the only combatant to have received the Iron Cross, the French and the Belgian Legions d'honneur and to be mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig's despatches. Her Iron Cross saved her from the death penalty which was handed down when she was revealed to be a spy. The second woman, a young shop assistant, was less lucky. Despite successfully evading capture for many months, she was betrayed and faced the firing squad. Her defiant words to her executioners and her statue in a main square in Brussels epitomise the attitude of Plucky Little Belgium towards the invaders who cowed and brutally repressed the population but never broke the country's spirit. Posthumously decorated, for years she was held up as a role model to Belgian children but in more pan-European times, she too has been overlooked.
Find out more about the role of women during the First World War here. You can watch video footage of the talk via www.firstworldwarwomen.co.uk, and keep up with Viv on Twitter, @worldwarwomen.
Further Reading
We Also Served
(Hardback - 191 pages)by Vivien Newman
We Also Served is a social history of women's involvement in the First World War. Dr Vivien Newman disturbs myths and preconceptions surrounding women's war work and seeks to inform contemporary readers of countless acts of derring-do, determination, and quiet heroism by British women, that went on behind the scenes from 1914-1918.
In August 1914 a mere 640 women had a clearly defined wartime role. Ignoring early War Office advice to 'go… Read more...
Of further interest...

Tumult & Tears
Tue 14th JuneA piece written by Tumult and Tears author Vivien Newman for Warfare Magazine Read article...

British at Mons 1914
Wed 23rd MarchThe Great War Illustrated 1914 features hundreds of images that capture the essence of the beginning months of the First World War. They demonstrate the true nature of war and reveal the hardships of life for those who went into the fray at Mons. Some of Read article...


Salamanca - The Peninsula Series
Tue 24th JulyMarking the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Salamanca during the Peninsular War, 22 July 1812. A look at the bestselling DVD from Pen & Sword Digital and BHTV. Read article...