Tracey-Ann Knight

‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ the posters declared - an example of the stoic qualities of endurance and forbearance that the British Government wanted to encourage in those left behind on the home front in the Second World War. But it soon became clear that this conflict would demand much more of the female population of Britain than ever before. It would take decisive action, bravery and sacrifice, to which the women of Britain stepped up. The National Service Act called women into vital war work in both military and civilian organisations. Despite their non-combatant status they performed dangerous tasks in life-threatening situations, often without the means to defend themselves from the enemy. From the dangers posed by explosives and chemicals in the munitions factories and the Air Raid Precautions officers who would run into burning buildings, to the women of the Air Auxiliary Transport who flew Spitfires and Hurricanes unarmed, and the secret agents of the Special Operations Executive who were dropped behind enemy lines - ‘Proudly She Served’ pays tribute to the everyday acts of heroism and the contribution to the war effort that the women of Britain accomplished; without which the war simply could not have been won.

After her beloved husband was forced to fight for William III, Mrs Christian ‘Kit’ Welsh was not going to let her happy home be torn apart by war. Instead, she donned her husband’s clothes and joined the Duke of Marlborough’s Dragoons. Under the name of Christopher Welsh, she began her pursuit of her ‘brother’ Richard, which took her across Europe, onto the battlefield throughout the Nine Years War and the War of the Spanish Succession, and through an exploration of her own identity as a woman, wife, mother and soldier. Women Warriors explores the compelling lives of ten extraordinary women who rejected the limits that society placed upon their sex, by dressing as men and entering the masculine worlds of the state and military. These women fought, slept, grumbled and caroused alongside their fellow soldiers, all without discovery over various time periods – from weeks to decades. Despite the restrictions on women in close combat in the military, which still hold today, these women were involved in pivotal battles throughout history, including Ramillies, Bull Run, the fight for colonial India, and in the trenches of the First World War. They were wounded, taken prisoner, fought duels and risked life and limb for their country alongside their male comrades.