ISBN 0 333 36647 6 SB 318 pages £9.99To the average man on the street the Great War revolves around the Western Front and the slaughter in the trenches. In “The Roses of No Man’s Land” Lyn Macdonald opens the eyes of the reader to those behind the lines. Those who served did so with a silent, determined courage in conditions far removed from the safety of ‘Blighty’.
Macdonald, in her best style, weaves together the accounts of numerous doctors, nurses, VAD’s and orderlies to provide a moving and extraordinary story of bravery and endurance.
The Genteel daughters of England were ready and waiting to do their bit for the soldiers at the front. They were called upon to do the jobs previously only carried out by staff from below stairs. Professional pride was set aside when the overwhelming number of casualties flooded in from the front. Peacetime staff quickly realised that to cope they must work with the well-meaning amateurs.
Many of the girls were kept locked up within a strict military style discipline, to be protected at all times from the wandering eyes of the Tommies, Officers and any wandering male.
To many the Americans were 3 years late in fighting the war. Macdonald quickly lays this ghost to rest. Although it was 1917 before they took up arms, many civilians were working behind the front in hospitals and aid posts. They were to be found driving ambulances in all theatres of the war.
In writing this book Lyn Macdonald has drawn together a wealth of personal memories, oral and written. They illuminate the humanitarian battle on the Western Front. The men who suffered could only marvel at the courage of the ‘Roses’ who struggled to save them from the destruction of No Man’s Land.
Reviewer: Martin Hornby
