Learn from Literature: women in the First World War

As a history student, I’m no stranger to women being invisible players in history, with people often not appreciating that women, like their male counterparts, faced hardships and interesting experiences. This is true even moving into contemporary history. One of the biggest events in the 20th century, I would argue, was the First World War. It drew millions into conflict which affected the political landscape of not only Europe but the rest of the world. While it is important to appreciate the experiences of the men who shaped the conflict, the experiences of women offer a new and fresh perspective to a historical event which is so often covered in literature and film.

I found Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth to be the book that offered me the fresh perspective I was craving. At the time of the novel’s publication in 1933, it was similarly recognised by publishers as original. It was one of the first publications to appear that was firstly by a woman and secondly by a pacifist who, following the Great War, became active in these circles.

Despite the book covering more of her life than her time as a nurse, I think readers can take the most away from this section 

The book, consisting of her memoirs from 1900-1925, allows the reader to learn about her life in a middle-class family and her ambitions to attend Somerville College at Oxford University which was the only college admitting women at the time. Her life, seemingly already planned, is then interrupted by the outbreak of the war which sees her fiancé, brother and two close friends sent away to fight. In response to this, Vera trained to be a Voluntary Aid Detachment Nurse and subsequently worked in London, Malta and Etaples.

Despite the book covering more of her life then her time as a nurse, I think readers can take the most away from this section. Brittain rightly does not censor what she saw for her audience who, on the most part, would be unable to relate to her accounts of the horrific injuries of the soldiers she was expected to treat. While it proved uncomfortable reading, I found myself wanting to further understand what life must have been like for her and the other women who had signed up to help wounded soldiers and were so near the front lines.

The idea of returning to normal life and expecting to act as though nothing happened is a theme that is increasingly touched upon

For Vera, who lost her brother Edward, fiancé Roland and two close friends Victor and Geoffrey, you truly realise the size of the conflict as you see how many people were lost by one person. I feel I now not only know more about individuals like Vera, but have a greater appreciation of how the Great War was a similarly traumatic and harrowing experience to so many women.

The rest of the book details her life including her return to Oxford, a place where she had so longed to attend university, disillusioned by the war. Her subsequent interaction within pacifist circles, involvement in journalism and her marriage to George Catlin shows the expectation following the conclusion of the war that people would return to their lives and learn to rebuild. The idea of returning to normal life and expecting to act as though nothing happened is a theme that is increasingly being touched upon and it is evident in Vera’s story.

If like me, you love you to learn about events in history through looking at the lives of the people who were involved, I would thoroughly recommend reading Testament of Youth and other pieces by Vera Brittain. If you do, I hope you find it as engaging and enlightening as I did when I read it.